Despite the fact that superheroes exist in a state of perpetual youth, weddings in comics are a frequent milestone. Marvel Comics has married off many of its biggest characters over the years, as has DC. Not all of these weddings were without controversy or consequences. Some of the most lasting changes in comics resulted from these four-color nuptials.
The status quo is always changing in comics, so many marriages don't last (or never happened), but some have endured. In a few cases, like Reed and Sue Richards, they've continued for decades. The lasting love of some heroes is a true superpower in and of itself.
10 Cyclops And Madeline Pryor
The marriage of Cyclops and Madeline Pryor was one of the most consequential weddings of all time. Grieving the death of Jean Grey, Scott Summers fell quickly in love with Pryor, who looked just like Jean. They married and had a son, Nathan. Nathan would eventually fall victim to a techno-organic virus and be transported to the future, where he became Cable (and died, many times). Madelyne was revealed to be a clone of Jean Grey and she became the Goblin Queen, a villain who thanks to Mr. Sinister, still exists in some form.
9 Cyclops And Jean Grey
Jean Grey eventually returned from the dead. She actually never died (the first time), one of Jean Grey's many retcons. Eventually, she and Scott Summers reconnected and married in the mid-90s. This wedding was one of the few that went off without a hitch but led to a period of real atrophy for both characters. Fans and creators sometimes complain that a wedding freezes characters and that did happen here. Grant Morrison came in a few years later and blew things up for the couple in a big way.
8 Mister Miracle And Big Barda
The wedding of Mister Miracle and Big Barda likely didn't generate the same interest as more prominent superhero marriages, like Superman and Lois Lane. But the marriage between the two classic and powerful New Gods characters led to one of the most compelling comics stories in recent years. Tom King's Mister Miracle limited series charted the real and heartbreaking course of domestic life between these two, as Scott Free battled depression, suicidal thoughts, and of course, Darkseid.
7 Apollo And Midnighter
Apollo and Midnighter are trailblazers in a lot of ways. These two heroes married in The Authority #29 in 2001. This was long before comics truly accepted relationships between LGBTQ characters or even in many cases, acknowledged them.
The positive depiction of their romance and marriage opened doors for other characters in other titles later on, with a notable recent example being the marriage between Hulking and his boyfriend Billy Kaplan, in the aftermath of the Empyre crossover.
6 Vision And Scarlet Witch
The wedding of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch was a major milestone for these longtime Avengers characters. The two getting married is a theory with a lot of traction for the upcoming WandaVision streaming series as well. Their wedding had big consequences for the characters. They eventually had twins, but the twins were revealed to not even be real, which led the Scarlet Witch down a path of grief and pain that arguably she's never recovered from. The Marvel Universe suffered greatly for it, particularly in the House of M timeline.
5 Storm And Black Panther
The wedding of Storm and Black Panther united the worlds of the Avengers and X-Men in ways they never had before. The marriage benefitted the growth of both characters and led to consequences that reverberate in both their lives today. The two broke up over the disastrous events of Avengers Vs. X-Men, and depending on where fans stand on the two, their divorce is arguably one of the ways the Avengers Vs. X-Men event aged well. Animosity continues to exist between them, with Storm recently stealing a sword from Wakanda for the X Of Swords.
4 Superman And Lois Lane
Creative teams had long resisted the idea of marrying Superman and Lois Lane in the comics (even though they had been married before in now non-canon stories). But their marriage in the 90s was a significant event that was motivated in part by the onscreen relationship of the Lois and Clark television series. The marriage led to a period of happiness and stability for the two until it was retconned out of existence in the New 52 reboot, one of the ways that the New 52 Superman is not as good as the Post-Crisis version.
3 Mr. Fantastic And Invisible Woman
One of the biggest marriages in all of comics history occurred very early in the legendary run of the Fantastic Four. The marriage between Reed Richards and Sue Storm distinguished the early Marvel from DC by showing growth and evolution in its characters.
Their marriage permanently changed the status quo of the Fantastic Four. Their children, Franklin and Valeria, would become major factors not only in their lives but the entire Marvel Universe, with Franklin at the center of several major stories, including Days Of Futures Past and Heroes Reborn.
2 Northstar And Kyle Jinadu
The marriage of Northstar and Kyle Jinadu was a major milestone for Marvel Comics. The company acknowledged that Northstar was gay years before, but never depicted his love life as it did its many heterosexual characters. As attitudes changed, so did his fortunes. This contributed to a more positive and visible depiction of gay and lesbian romances at Marvel Comics. It possibly also opened the door to exploring the sexuality of characters like Kitty Pryde, who legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont had always intended to be bisexual.
1 Spider-Man And Mary Jane
Like Superman and Lois Lane, Spider-Man and Mary Jane were a couple writers resisted marrying off. When they finally married in 1987, many fans were happy. Some were not. Some of those fans grew up to work at Marvel, like Joe Quesada and others, and decided to scrap the marriage altogether. This led to One More Day, arguably the worst Spider-Man story ever, and by far the most consequential. The marriage was erased from history and the two remain in a shifting, uncertain relationship with lots of ups and downs.