Spider-Man and MJ webslinging after their wedding
By
Ambrose Tardive
Published 14 minutes ago
Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor.
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Marvel had to break up Spider-Man and Black Cat in a hurry in order to have Peter Parker pop the question to Mary Jane Watson. In retrospect, Peter and MJ's marriage feels like it must have been a long overdue milestone. In fact, when it finally happened, it was fast-tracked by Marvel's editors, and it got kind of messy.
Popverse has been revisiting the events surrounding Peter and MJ's 1987 engagement and marriage. That includes Mary Jane spending the night before "The Wedding" with a rich guy named Bruce.
However, Peter was no saint himself. Due to Spider-Man's tricky timeline, he was technically still hooking up with Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, when he proposed to MJ.
Spider-Man Was Sort Of Still Dating Black Cat When He Proposed To Mary Jane
Amazing Spider-Man #289, Written By Peter David; Art By Alan Kupperberg; Amazing Spider-Man #290, Written By David Michilinie; Art By John Romita Jr.
Peter popped the question in Amazing Spider-Man #290, published in March 1987. "The Marriage" took place in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, published just three months later. It was a huge storyline for Marvel, putting a definitive 'they will" stamp on 23 years of "will-they-won't-they" drama for Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.
The problem? Peter was still sort of dating Black Cat at the time. In fact, Amazing Spider-Man #289 ended with them about to sleep together. It sounds like juicy drama, but actually, the messiness was more a product of Marvel's publication schedule. At the time, Amazing ran contemporaneously with Spectacular Spider-Man.
It was in Spectacular that Peter and Felicia's romance storyline played out, ending with Black Cat betraying Spidey and reverting to villain status. All of this is meant to have happened between Amazing Spider-Man #289 and #290, but the books' overlapping release dates make it seem more scandalous than it is.
Uncertainty About Peter And Mary Jane's Relationship Behind The Scenes At Marvel Led To Great Drama On The Page
The Parkers' Marriage Was A Swerve, But It Worked
Even if Peter Parker wasn't really together with Felicia Hardy at the same time that he proposed to Mary Jane, it's still true that he was right beforehand. That is to say, Peter and MJ weren't a couple when he proposed. It was a melodramatic turn of events that is only really satisfying in long-term storytelling like comics, or soap operas.
Behind-the-scenes, the Parkers' marriage was an editorial decision that was finally pushed through after years of debate and pushback at Marvel. That's why it happened so abruptly, and while Peter was in the midst of a totally different romance. Yet that ultimately works in the drama's favor. The impulsiveness of Marvel's editors is reflected in Peter's state of mind on the page.
Peter Parker and Mary Jane's engagement might be Spider-Man lore at its most soap operatic. The couple is idealized by Marvel Comics fans now, but the truth is, their marriage was messy, and so was everything leading up to it. The truth is, though, that is exactly what makes them such an iconic pop culture power couple.
Spider-Man
Created By
Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
First Appearance
Amazing Fantasy
Alias
Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
Alliance
Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
Race
Human
Franchise
Marvel, Spider-Man
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Comics
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