Spider-Man & Mary Jane are Back Together, But Should They Be?

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #1 & 2 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin, and Joe Caramanga.

Dan Slott's decade-long tenure on writing Spider-Man recently came to an end, swapping the prolific writer out with former Captain America/Secret Empire scribe Nick Spencer. The first issue of his and artist Ryan Ottley's much hyped run, Amazing Spider-Man #1, took Peter Parker back to the basics. The hero has lost Parker Industries, is under investigation for academic fraud, was fired from the Daily Bugle, and other New York heroes hate him because they think he's buddy-buddy with Kingpin of Crime turned New York mayor, Wilson Fisk.

It's not looking good for Spidey in either his civilian or spandex worlds, but there's one shining light here -- he may actually have gotten back together with ex girlfriend Mary Jane Watson.

The issue ends with the two kissing and Peter declaring that this is "their story," emphatically saying what the suspicions have been for some time: the new run of Amazing Spider-Man will begin to undue the events of the controversial "One More" and "Brand New Day" storylines that Slott became infamous for, which saw Mephisto destroy Peter and MJ's marriage in exchange for bringing Aunt May back to life.

Considering the series' declared mission statement of going "back to basics," it's not all that surprising this pairing is one of the things the first issue brought back to the forefront. Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is one of the most popular romances in the Marvel Universe, if not all of comics history, and this summer seems to be where famous superhero relationships go through some sort of big change.

And like those now infamous wedding issues for Batman and X-Men, the move to bring Peter and MJ back together doesn't really work. There are couples who've gotten back together after a time apart, but the issue itself piles so much misfortune on Peter's doorstep it feels like Peter should be looking into a therapist or anxiety medicine instead of making out with his ex.

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Like all relationships, the ones between superheroes and their non-powered partners are full of drama. In the decade since their split, Peter and MJ had many relationships that provided what neither could offer the other at the time. MJ got to date men who were reliable and had the stability that Peter couldn't entirely provide, and Peter was with those who were more accustomed to or in the line of superheroic work as he. Not all of these relationships were perfect, but they were signs of real change, something that isn't typically allowed in big two superhero comics, or at least, not in any lasting, meaningful way.

The last couple of times that Peter and MJ broke off their romantic relationship -- after that one time Doc Ock jacked Peter's body for over a year -- it was because she didn't want his, frankly, ridiculous life as a superhero to define hers. More, she didn't want to keep risking the danger the comes from being close to a superhero.

If anything, his life has become even more crazy since their split, since his teacher is the Lizard and he's a roommate with Boomerang. Both of those situations are going to end pretty badly, and that's coming just before the "Spidergeddon" event that'll bring together the Spider-heroes of the multiverse yet again in a fight for survival against evil vampires.

Fans of Peter and Mary Jane as a couple aren't exactly hard up for a comic about their exploits. The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows series may be set in a new universe, but it's been quietly operating as a book for the two to be happy together. Not only do they have a daughter in that universe by way of Annie Parker, the three of them are a crimefighting family where Annie is Spiderling, and MJ gained powers of her own and became Spinneret.

Even if Renew ends and is considered no longer needed, it's provided the most logical endgame with the best outcome one could think of. Doing that all over again in the 616 universe comes across as redundant and the only thing it really does is reduce the amount of Spider books on the market.

Whatever the future holds for Peter and Mary Jane, their love will definitely be tested by it. And it may have been better for them both to just stay friends, or at least not jump into getting together again so amazingly fast.