Warning: The following contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #74, on sale now from Marvel.
After nearly sixty years of Spider-Man, the web-slinger's most controversial tale has to be "One More Day." This infamous story erased Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane, undoing a decades-long relationship through one fateful deal with Mephisto.
Recently, in Amazing Spider-Man #74 by Nick Spencer, Christos Gage, Marcelo Ferreira, Mark Bagley, Ze Carlos, Dio Neves, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli and Humberto Ramos, Mephisto may have finally justified his decision to erase Spider-Man's marriage.
At the end of the issue, Doctor Strange asks Mephisto why he chose to interfere in Peter Parker's life. Initially, Mephisto claims that he had a vision of Peter ending his reign in hell. Yet Strange doesn't buy this, saying it's never just about one person for Mephisto.
Indeed, Mephisto's true vision is revealed, in which Peter and MJ's daughter, May, would grow up to become Spider-Girl and defeat Mephisto. If Peter and Mary Jane weren't married, however, this would never come to pass. In some ways, this justifies Mephisto's actions during "One More Day."
This is also the first time in over a decade that "One More Day" has been elaborated upon beyond the original storyline. "One More Day" made a big splash with readers, ever since its conclusion back in 2007's Amazing Spider-Man #545, by Joe Quesada, J. Michael Straczynski, Danny Miki, Richard Isanove, Dean White and Chris Eliopoulos.
The event undid several key points in Spider-Man's history, such as his marriage to MJ, which didn't sit well with some fans. Mephisto's role initially seemed arbitrary, considering his reason for erasing Peter's marriage to MJ. In the initial storyline, Mephisto claimed that he wanted Peter and MJ's marriage because he wanted to take away a rare, pure love from the world.
Now, however, Mephisto has a much more specific, focused motivation, which opens up several doors for the future. Story-wise, it makes more sense as to why Mephisto would want Peter and MJ's marriage gone. The threat of Spider-Girl defeating Mephisto once and for all drove him to erase Peter and MJ's marriage from history, demonstrating the true power of their love.
It also feels inevitable now that, in the future, Peter and MJ's relationship would only grow stronger, resulting in the future Mephisto feared. Doctor Strange himself ends the issue by telling Mephisto that, since Peter and MJ endured and emerged through Mephisto's trials, their bond would be stronger and their love unbreakable.
After witnessing Mephisto's vision and seeing Peter and MJ reconcile over the past few years, there seems to be hope for the future. In this way, Mephisto's vision doesn't simply justify his actions during "One More Day," it also foreshadows an eventual happy ending for Peter and MJ. Of course, this ending seems a long way away.
Some fans were largely upset about erasing Peter and MJ's marriage, and understanding why this marriage was erased probably wouldn't change their minds. This is especially true because, even if Peter and MJ get married again and have a daughter who grows up to defeat Mephisto, all of this would take a considerable amount of time, if it ever happened.
Mephisto's vision is projected as a distant future, years down the line, in a climactic battle of good versus evil. This future may never come to pass, and even if it did, it wouldn't be anytime soon. There is some solace in the hope that Peter and MJ will eventually get married and start a family.
Yet the nature of superhero comics is that they go on, with no definitive ending. Keeping this in mind, Spider-Man and Mary Jane still have a long way to go, with no clear resolution in sight. Although Mephisto's motivations for "One More Day" are clearer, this is a hollow victory, since the damage has been done, and will take years to fully heal.