CBR Poll... Spider-Man married or single?

[Ultra Lantern]

Married.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Married.

 

[JewishHobbit]

You hate it because it's true....

Not really. The spectre of Spider-Man always coming between him and anything positive means that the character can progress in no way whatsoever. He can't get a good job, can't fall in love, can't get married, can't have friends, can't join a team or six, can't walk down the street without stubbing his toe.

Personally, Marvel always tries to make Peter out as the every man who everyone should be able to relate to (and the marriage was somehow hurting that?) but this spectre stuff so that he can never move forward in life and the fact that he's a genious kinda negates that in my opinion.

I've always felt that Peter shouldn't be the person we relate to but rather the person we should look up to. He should be the underdog who made it, not the underdog who continues to be the underdog and can never be anything better than the underdog. That's just depression.

 

[Themanofbat]

I've always felt that Peter shouldn't be the person we relate to but rather the person we should look up to. He should be the underdog who made it, not the underdog who continues to be the underdog and can never be anything better than the underdog. That's just depression.

How can you NOT look up to a man that continues to DO THE RIGHT thing in SPITE of getting kicked in the nuts all the time...

The reason many of us like Peter Parker is because he can make the tough decisions that many of us only WISH we could do... if Peter had an opportunity to bed with MJ and police sirens went off in the background, he's jump outta bed without missing a beat while many of us would take a few seconds to debate whether we should stay or go (my apologies to the Clash)...

That's admirable. That's the kind of person we should all be looking up to.

And that's not to say that Peter can never have a happy ending on occasion... Spider-Island was fantastic because after nearly 50 years of Spidey stories, Peter was the one that saved all the millions of people of Manhatten... and rightfully ackowledged by his peers... that was a fantastic ending... but of course, the reason it was so great is because it was the exception rather than the norm.

Peter keeps doing the "right thing" in spite of how it'll affect his personal life... it's why Dr. Strange told Tony & Reed suring OMIT that Peter was better than all of them... because he does the right thing... all the time.

That's a pretty damn good reason to look up to Peter Parker in my opinion.

And if he gets a cookie at the end of a story once in a while, that's fantastic... because you're right... it would be depressing if it were ALL THE TIME... and with MJ comfortably at his side as his wife, those happy endings are ALL THE TIME... and that takes so much away from what makes Peter Parker the remarkable man that we've all grown up with.

At least... that's my opinion.

 

[Themanofbat]

Not really. The spectre of Spider-Man always coming between him and anything positive means that the character can progress in no way whatsoever. He can't get a good job, can't fall in love, can't get married, can't have friends, can't join a team or six, can't walk down the street without stubbing his toe.

Methinks you're exagerating here.... but the reality of what you say has some merit.

Peter CAN fall in love, and in fact, has fallen in love a few times... but his being Spider-Man will interfere and has interfered with that.

Peter CAN get a good job, and has had good jobs... but his being Spider-Man will interfere and has interfered with that.

Peter did get married... and we all know how that turned out.

Peter has good friends... but his being Spider-Man has interfered with that many times.

Peter wants a normal life... he craves a normal life, but his guilt driven responsibilty to do the right thing as Spider-Man will always interfere with that.

But he keeps trying... and you gotta admire that.

 

[Themanofbat]

I love this picture... it bests represents what I've been talking about... from ASM #30...

 

[runawayboulder]

Yeah, it's been recreated several times. Here's Wilson getting in on the action:

There's more out there but I can't remember what title/issues.

 

[dkamphaus43]

How can you NOT look up to a man that continues to DO THE RIGHT thing in SPITE of getting kicked in the nuts all the time...

The reason many of us like Peter Parker is because he can make the tough decisions that many of us only WISH we could do

And you're saying he can't be depicted like that if he has a wife

 

[dkamphaus43]

Peter did get married... and we all know how that turned out.

The ending of his marriage seemed to have less to do with his being spider-man but more to do with a completely misguided and narrow-minded editor in chief who had Peter and MJ do something completely out of character for both of them just in order to fulfill his vision of a perpetually single spider-man.

 

[Themanofbat]

And you're saying he can't be depicted like that if he has a wife

No... because having a loved one that will comfort you and keep you warm at night is seldom the recipe to doing the right thing in spite of real life kicking you in the nuts. The aforementioned scenario is life handing you a bowl of cashews... so no matter how difficult your decisions as Spider-Manwill be, life will be good at home as Peter Parker.

Even if he has to make decisions that will be difficult for Peter (and his wife), he has someone at his side to comfort him throughout that difficult process.

When you're alone... those decisions are much more difficult to make... and making those tough decisions is what makes Peter that much more admirable as a person.

It boggles my mind that some of you cannot see this...

We all want Peter to be happy....

I want Peter to be happy...

I was happy that Peter was the big "ackowledged" hero during Spider-Island...

But as I stated before... that's the exception and not the norm.

Peter Parker works better as a character when he struggles to constantly do the right thing in spite of his personal dreams and delights

And that's my opinion.

 

[Themanofbat]

The ending of his marriage seemed to have less to do with his being spider-man but more to do with a completely misguided and narrow-minded editor in chief who had Peter and MJ do something completely out of character for both of them just in order to fulfill his vision of a perpetually single spider-man.

Of course... we all know that...

BUT... the events of OMD would not have happened if Peter wasn't Spider-Man... or if Peter had never married Mary Jane.

My statement is not false... but I think we can all agree that the story was a result of Marvel's desire to have their flagship character back to a scenario that makes him work better in the long run.

 

[Themanofbat]

This poll will be flawed, because the people that prefer a "married" Spider-Man have stopped reading the book, so they can't compare what they remember to the "new single" Spider-Man status...

Having said that, I am aware that some pro-marriage people are reading the book...

 

[dkamphaus43]

No... because having a loved one that will comfort you and keep you warm at night is seldom the recipe to doing the right thing in spite of real life kicking you in the nuts. The aforementioned scenario is life handing you a bowl of cashews... so no matter how difficult your decisions as Spider-Manwill be, life will be good at home as Peter Parker.

Even if he has to make decisions that will be difficult for Peter (and his wife), he has someone at his side to comfort him throughout that difficult process.

When you're alone... those decisions are much more difficult to make... and making those tough decisions is what makes Peter that much more admirable as a person.

It boggles my mind that some of you cannot see this...

We all want Peter to be happy....

I want Peter to be happy...

I was happy that Peter was the big "ackowledged" hero during Spider-Island...

But as I stated before... that's the exception and not the norm.

Peter Parker works better as a character when he struggles to constantly do the right thing in spite of his personal dreams and delights

And that's my opinion.

Again, he can still be portrayed as a man who has to make the difficult decisions in life and deal with the problems, annoyances and hard luck situations that we all have to deal with if he has a wife. And it doesn't necessarily mean that life will ALWAYS be good at home for him as Peter Parker, his duties as spider-man can still cause problems with his marriage.

And being spider-man can still cause plenty of other conflicts with other aspects of his life if he's married. There have been plenty of stories over the years which have demonstrated that. Having a wife isn't necessarily going to always make those conflicts any more or less bearable.

 

[SuperFerret]

If the "spectre of Spider-Man" keeps ruining everything good in Parker's life, wouldn't the most responsible thing be to give up being Spider-Man?

 

[dkamphaus43]

My statement is not false... but I think we can all agree that the story was a result of Marvel's desire to have their flagship character back to a scenario that makes him work better in the long run.

As an immature, directionless loser who's even viewed as a slacker by his Aunt May?

 

[Themanofbat]

Again, he can still be portrayed as a man who has to make the difficult decisions in life and deal with the problems, annoyances and hard luck situations that we all have to deal with if he has a wife. And it doesn't necessarily mean that life will ALWAYS be good at home for him as Peter Parker, his duties as spider-man can still cause problems with his marriage.

And being spider-man can still cause plenty of other conflicts with other aspects of his life if he's married. There have been plenty of stories over the years which have demonstrated that. Having a wife isn't necessarily going to always make those conflicts any more or less bearable.

You're absolutelt correct in saying that even if Spider-Man has a wife, he will be subjected to all kinds of problems.

However, and I'm going to emphasize on the bold part, even though those conflicts will happen, when you have a partner, a confidente, a soul mate to share those emotional conflicts with at the end of the day, it does make life a somewhat easier bitter pill to swallow... and not so easy when you're alone.

The best part about the current direction is that Peter STILL has Mary Jane to confide in... he just doesn't have any physical benefits.

 

[SpideyInATree]

Wish that there were more choices than Yes or No. As a of right now my answer is a lot more than just a straight Yes or No.

Since I started reading Spider-Man comics regularly in 1993 I never really cared for Mary Jane. It's not like I hated the character but I suppose it was the time frame I started reading but she just wasn't an interesting character. That's also when they started the Clone Saga and right away I LOVED Ben Reilly and wanted to see Ben Reilly be the one true Spider-Man. We all saw what happened there...

Through JMS' run I actually didn't mind MJ because he wrote the characters so well but it still was not enough to sell me on her. So I always have wanted to see a single Peter Parker. Did I want a horrid storyline like One More Day? No. There are a hundred different ways it could have been done but they decided to choose the worst of them.

Thought Brand New Day was really fun and a lot of those stories were refreshing because it was just Spider-Man being Spider-Man. There wasn't that constant MJ is worried about Peter and sitting at home like a policeman's and fireman's wife. It was just FUN Spider-Man stories.

Then I'd say from about March to the beginnings of Spider-Island Dan Slott really seemed to think that the book should change from the Amazing Spider-Man to the Amazing Carlie Cooper. Yes, almost dropped the book. Thankfully, Slott took things in a much better direction near the end there and started to kind of start a subplot, at least I hope it's a subplot, where Pete and MJ seem to almost be "getting those feelings back".

So, it's a Yes and a No for me. I kind of like what Slott's opened up in the world of Spider-Man since he took over at the beginning of Big Time, minus the Carlie Cooper saturation. If Peter and MJ got back together it'd be some really great writing by Dan Slott and would be the first writer that actually would make me give a damn about the Peter/MJ marriage. So...we'll see.

 

[Themanofbat]

If the "spectre of Spider-Man" keeps ruining everything good in Parker's life, wouldn't the most responsible thing be to give up being Spider-Man?

Yes... but if Peter stops being Spider-Man (which we have seen many times when it gets too much for him), the general good that Spider-Man brings to the world would be removed, and Peter's guilt driven responsibility would make him feel terrible, so the good he gets in his personal life wouldn't be worth it to him...

 

[SuperFerret]

But you can't claim to be responsible if you aren't acting responsible towards yourself. It's not responsibility that drives Pete anymore, it's martyrdom.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

The simple fact is they split them up because they had stories they couldn't tell with a married Peter. So far, that's been him getting "drunk" and banging his roommate, going on a couple of failed dates (including with Ms. Marvel), having casual sex with Black Cat (who also had decades of character development thrown out the window), and dating one of the blandest new characters ever.

Now, this is EVERYTHING that has come out of Peter being single. These are the "stories" that couldn't be told with him married. Everything Spider-Man has done, however, has no direct correlation to his life that would make a lick of difference if he was single or married. Grim Hunt could have still been done. Spider-Island could have still been done. The hundreds of forgettable filler stories between BND and now could have been done. Aunt May joining FEAST and marrying JJJS could have been done (though I rather it hadn't).

Now, were those Peter moments REALLY ones that NEEDED to be told so desperately that they had to go through OMD and BND? Have they REALLY brought something to the table that could absolutely NOT have been done with them married?

And I want an honest, objective answer to that. I don't want anti-marriage shippers to say "yes" simply because THEY hated the marriage. I want them to look at the stories AS A WHOLE, and based on their individual merits answer the question. If you look at each story individually, you come to the realization that the reasons were a load of hooey to justify the unjustifiable.

 

[Themanofbat]

As an immature, directionless loser who's even viewed as a slacker by his Aunt May?

That's your opinion.

He's only seen as a "slacker" to his friends and family becasue he has never lived up to his potential... though that's been changed during the last year with his scientific job at Horizon Labs and getting science papers published... but Peter can't live up to that potential with a real job because of his outings as Spider-Man.

If you were reading the books, you would know that May is currently very proud of her nephew and that he is definitely not a slacker.

I think Marvel prefers to view him as a responsible hero who will give up the luxuries of his personal life to make sure that he can be there for those in need as Spider-Man.

With great power comes great responsibility.

 

[SuperFerret]

Too bad he's not living up to Ben's motto.

 

[Themanofbat]

But you can't claim to be responsible if you aren't acting responsible towards yourself. It's not responsibility that drives Pete anymore, it's martyrdom.

Maybe... but clearly Peter feels that he's being responsible for the well being of those he saves as Spider-Man.

 

[SuperFerret]

At the sacrifice of his own happiness. Hence him being a martyr.

 

[Themanofbat]

The simple fact is they split them up because they had stories they couldn't tell with a married Peter. So far, that's been him getting "drunk" and banging his roommate, going on a couple of failed dates (including with Ms. Marvel), having casual sex with Black Cat (who also had decades of character development thrown out the window), and dating one of the blandest new characters ever.

Now, this is EVERYTHING that has come out of Peter being single. These are the "stories" that couldn't be told with him married. Everything Spider-Man has done, however, has no direct correlation to his life that would make a lick of difference if he was single or married. Grim Hunt could have still been done. Spider-Island could have still been done. The hundreds of forgettable filler stories between BND and now could have been done. Aunt May joining FEAST and marrying JJJS could have been done (though I rather it hadn't).

Now, were those Peter moments REALLY ones that NEEDED to be told so desperately that they had to go through OMD and BND? Have they REALLY brought something to the table that could absolutely NOT have been done with them married?

And I want an honest, objective answer to that. I don't want anti-marriage shippers to say "yes" simply because THEY hated the marriage. I want them to look at the stories AS A WHOLE, and based on their individual merits answer the question. If you look at each story individually, you come to the realization that the reasons were a load of hooey to justify the unjustifiable.

Well, I can't speak for Marvel... but yes... for the most part, with a certain tweak here and there, these stories could have been told with a married Spider-Man... though the ones were he's banging the Black Cat might have raised an eyebrow...lol

For the record, I had no issues with the marriage, but it was only AFTER BND that I realized how much I missed the pre-marital Spider-Man.

But I said "tweaks"... there have been moments where his "love life" dynamic was brought forth... like MJ watching Spidey & Black Cat suck face on the big screen in Times Square (or whereever in NYC that was), moments between MJ & Carlie, Peter waking up in bed with Michelle... thinking he slept with her even though he didn't... these may seem like minor quips and small story nuances, but it's these very same little things that help with the melodrama that is Peter Parker's personal life that you cannot really have with a married Peter... or at least, a successfully married Peter... the most melodram we got during their 20 year marriage was a time when MJ smoked and was almost having an affair with that blonde guy whose name I forget...

The generic super hero stories can be told regardless of relationship status.

But in MY opinion, you can have more persoanl life melodrama when he single.... or just dating.