WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin and Joe Caramagna, in stores now.


Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley's Amazing Spider-Man #1 starts Peter Parker's fresh start with a scene that might look familiar to longtime Marvel readers. Peter, wearing the classic black Spidey suit, is on top of the Empire State Building with Mary Jane. His hands cover her eyes until he slowly pulls them back, revealing the full breadth of the New York City skyline under a beautiful setting sun. The narration tells us this scene is lifted from a story Peter tells himself, when everything all seems wrong, because being with Mary Jane makes him believe that everything is going to be okay. And then, he wakes up.

Amazing Spider-Man Sensational Spider-Man scene

If it feels like you've seen this particular scene before, it's because, well -- you have. The opening of this week's Amazing Spider-Man is the exact same scene we saw unfold in The Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1, written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Salvador Larroca, which was published in the summer of 2007. The annual told a one-and-done story that dealt with the fallout of Spider-Man joining Captain America's side in the superhero civil war, but more importantly, it told a quintessential story about the unshakable bond of trust and love between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.

As Spider-Man fans would later find out, Fraction and Larroca's story was actually a love letter to the long and storied relationship of Peter and MJ before it would all be undone.

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As Marvel fans know all too well, the end of 2007 would bring one the most talked-about and controversial Spider-Man stories in the character's history with J. Michael Straczynski and then-Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada's One More Day. The infamous storyline saw Peter Parker strike a deal with the King of Hell, Mephisto, in order to save the life of his dear Aunt May. The cost? Peter and MJ's marriage was erased from the timeline, the rich history and the character evolution of both characters scaled back decades in order to return the Spider-Man mythos to a previous status quo. To this day, One More Day still enrages a bevy of devoted Spider-Man fans, who long for the day where Peter and MJ's relationship will once again be brought to the forefront, and where the events of the controversial story will be undone altogether.

Well, you don't have to hold your breath anymore -- it looks like that day might finally be coming. Peter's dream about pre-One More Day events is no an accident. In fact, it might even be a payoff.

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A Lie That's Been Unraveling for a While

One More Day was a means to an end, the solution in Marvel's wish to bring Spider-Man back to basics. With writer Dan Slott at the helm of the title, Amazing Spider-Man was re-branded with a new direction labeled "Brand New Day." Slott carried the title for a decade, sticking his guns to the story he was telling. It didn't matter that part of the Spider-Man fandom called for a return to the pre-One More Day era.

Over the years, Slott's story took surprising turns, but something peculiar began to happen. In his title, as well as other Spider-Man-related books like Spider-Man/Deadpool, readers would come across a line of dialogue or an exchange that referenced back to the events of One More Day, and the continuity prior to it.

We saw it happen in Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness' Spider-Man/Deadpool #5, when a dead Peter Parker faced Mephisto in Hell. Later, Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli's Amazing Spider-Man #14 reminded readers that Peter and MJ had lived together in Stark Tower for a while, during the events of Civil War. Then, Spider-Man/Deadpool #33, by Robbie Thompson and Scott Hepburn, saw a future version of Deadpool tell Peter Parker about his previous married life -- and these are just the high points of the clue being laid for years that One More Day may end up a reman at of the past.

RELATED: Slott’s Final Amazing Spider-Man Brings Things Back to Brand New Day’s Start

Over the past few years, there have been an increasing amount of references to One More Day, and it now appears as if they were all building to Spencer and Ottley's Amazing Spider-Man #1. With its opening page, the latest issue of Spider-Man calls back to one of the most iconic Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson stories, from an issue that took place in an era before their marriage was erased from the timeline. This can't be a mere throwaway. After all, this is how Spencer chooses to start his Spider-Man run -- with a reference to events that took place before it all disappeared. If this memory is seeping into Peter, then it means he is truly starting to remember his life prior to his deal with Mephisto.

But this is only the first hint in an issue filled with them.

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Subtle Hints That Aren't So Subtle

Later in Amazing Spider-Man #1, Peter Parker attends a conference at Empire State University, where his old schoolmate Cindy Lawton is giving a presentation on how the university plans to fight the rising use of plagiarism in its students. She dubs this initiative, "brand new day." As mentioned before, "Brand New Day" was the name of the new direction given to the Spider-Man titles following the cataclysmic events of One More Day. Spencer knows the connotation these words hold, especially in a Spider-Man context, and it's no accident that he uses them here. Following the opening flashback scene of Peter and MJ, namedropping "brand new day" reaffirms the connection at play in the book.

Then, as Cindy Lawton continues her presentation, she uses three examples of students resorting to dubious means in order to graduate. The third and final example references a young man named Ricky London, who struck a deal with Mephisto, trading his soul for a passing grade. How curious, to remind readers of the notion that Mephisto is out there, and that people can make deals with him. In passing, this could be nothing more than a simple mention, or a brief nod to a prior Spider-Man story. But given the circumstances surrounding this latest reference, we simply cannot take it lightly.

The Long-Awaited Return of a Fan-Favorite Romance

Amazing Spider-Man Peter MJ kiss

Finally, we come to the ending of Amazing Spider-Man #1. Peter's been through the emotional ringer ever since the start of the issue, and the day ends with him having lost not only his job, but the respect of his peers and his reputation. Faced with the resurgence of the ol' Parker Luck, Peter turns to the one person he could always count on, the one person he thinks about when it all goes wrong: Mary Jane Watson, who doesn't hesitate to lock Peter in a kiss.

The final narration box features Peter saying "This is my story--," before adding "Our story." To hammer home that fact, the scene ends with a very supportive Mary Jane Watson saying "We're in this together, Pete. We always have been." This seems to be a direct bookend to the Sensational Spider-Man scene that opened the book. With this, Spencer and Ottley declare that the epic love story of Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker is coming back. What's more, it appears the creative team aims to bring the relationship back to the heights it previously held.

Pete and MJ may not be heading back down the aisle, but they have just taken the very first step towards something that fans have been asking for for a very long time. And it looks like the rekindled romance is only the beginning. With many hints at the events of One More Day and "Brand New Day," Spider-Man's "fresh start" may finally be bringing things back to the fresh direction that fans were enamored with more than a decade ago.

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