Spider-Man: One More Day - what other choices were there?

Cafe Society
21

I think its more a problem with comic editors in general. For example, when Peter David wrote the hulk, he became grey, went to vegas to be a legbreaker, became intelligent, joined an organisation trying to change the world, starting running the organisation etc etc. These changes lasted over a decade, but sooner or later, a new editor comes along and says “That’s not the hulk”, and it all gets reverted back to big green smashy man.

Spider-man’s marriage lasted even longer. I have the wedding issue at home somewhere, and it’s well over 20 years old now. Then Joe Quesada comes along, gets cold feet, and undoes all that continuity in a second

There really is no reason why the characters can’t grow and age if they want. I think Punisher is the only person in Marvel who has actually aged at all

22

Do you really need to ask why taking your most popular superhero and making him not a superhero is a bad idea?

Keeping his marriage to MJ would have been good character development - you can do a lot with Spider-man having a confidante that does not get in the way of him being a superhero. And contrary to what certain idiots believe, having a hot young wife does not age you sixty years in a day.

Making Superior Spider-man the new status quo would be bad character development, if not for the fact that Marvel already ruined Peter Parker by having him sell his unborn daughter to the devil.

23

Yes. In the olden days, that was Spidey’s gimmick like the FF’s gimmick is that they’re a family. Spidey grew and changed.

He started out as a 15 year old high school nerd. Within 35 issues or so, he graduated, went off to college and started becoming popular. 20-some issues later, his long-term bully went off to Vietnam and when the guy came back, he realized that there were bigger things in life than to pick on “Puny Parker” and became a friend. Peter got a steady girlfriend who’s dad was police chief who changed the police’s “Shoot on sight” attitude towards Spidey. Dad was killed (and stayed dead)–we’re up to about issue 90 now. About 3 years later, they did the unthinkable and killed off the steady girlfriend too (and, clones aside, she’s stayed dead).

Peter graduated college about 50 issues later (he was in college for ~10 years, real-time). Eventually got over dead girlfriend* and married a woman he knew since just after he graduated. Finally his aunt died (the first time) and his wife got pregnant.

So for ~30 years of Spidey’s ~50 year history, his whole thing was that he grew. While other characters had the “illusion of change”–yeah, things would change but eventually they’d change back, or it would be all a dream, or hey-Satan would undo it, Spidey** actually did grow and change. If he’d been pretty much any other character, he’d still be in high school and being called “Puny Parker”.

However John Byrne and Joe Quesada (chief among others) can’t stand the idea of Spidey being different from when they read him in the '70s and now that Quesada is in charge, he’s done his best to undo 30-40 years of character growth which undermines the whole premise of what makes Spidey unique.

(Don’t get me wrong–I like what Slott’s been doing…but every single story they’ve told–including the Superior Spider-Man stuff–could have been told just as well if he’d still been married to MJ (a few tweaks would have been needed of course, but the major storylines since One Day More could have happened unchanged.)

*Who, if you actually read the issues she was in, was not the saint she’s currently portrayed as but a horrible shrew with major mood-swing issues)

**Only other semi-major exceptions are Wally West becoming the Flash (now undone) and Dick (Robin) Grayson becoming Nightwing (will probably be killed off in about 2 weeks)
What’s wrong with making Spiderman not a hero but someone on the run permanently? Why does he have to basically relive his entire life over and over with all the same drama? Hell, move him out of New York, make him a fugitive like Bruce Banner.
[/QUOTE]

24

One tricky thing is figuring out what’s the “norm” for a character, and what’s the deviation? Did the “One More Day” story return Spider-Man to the “norm” of being single, or is it a deviation from the norm of Spider-Man being married to MJ? I gotta figure, it’s only a matter of time until someone gets on the book who wants to re-tell the Peter and Mary-Jane wedding arc.

25

For any other book, there’s a debate about the status quo. With Spider-Man, what made him unique is that growth and change. There’s kind of a “Whatever happened, happened.” rule. Even crap like the clone saga more-or-less happened as written.

It’d be perfectly fine for the status quo (although a stupid, terrible idea) to have Peter and MJ get divorced. Or to have MJ killed. Or kidnapped (which happened once). Or even having a “Three’s Company” type out where it turns out that the minister who married Peter and MJ wasn’t licensed (or whatever) and the marriage certificate was never sent in, so they weren’t really married, would get Peter back to being a “swingin’ single” again without violating the Spider-Man “norm” of “Whatever happened, happened”. Having Mephisto show up with the power to alter time (and if he’s got that level of power, why isn’t he in charge of…well…everything?) and make it never happened completely destroys the “Whatever happened, happened” norm.

Even the ultra-crappy “The Aunt May who died was an actress who was fooling Peter and MJ because…Green Goblin…and so she went to her deathbed swearing she was May because…Green Goblin…and Spidey’s spider-sense didn’t warn him about the imposter because…um…Goblin” storyline (which is probably the worst Spider-Man story ever, before "One Day More…and I’m including the Clone story) didn’t actually violate that rule.

26

You can change iconic characters, you just have to do it gradually and without tampering with the parts that make them iconic.

27

Except not. As previously stated, it was MJ who made the deal, and IIRC it wasn’t until after the deal that they learned that the red-headed girl would have been their daughter, had they not made the deal.

Honestly, I enjoyed Slott’s SSM. I would’ve enjoyed seeing it drawn out a little longer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Peter’s back, but I think there was still some more to be mined from “SpOck.” I know Slott said that his storyline wasn’t rushed due to ASM2 coming out, but I feel there were some missed opportunities.

Well, at least, if the rumors are true, we’ll get Superior Spider-Man 2099.

28

They might not have known precisely how their deal with the devil would ruin people’s lives, but it is practically inevitable that it would. That is just how the devil rolls, and nobody born in the past 500 years has any right to be surprised if their literal deal with the literal devil backfires.

29

It goes against the whole “With great power comes great responsibility.” If Peter can just wish things to go back to the way they were what’s the point?

And what about all the other people affected by Peter’s decisions? Why is it right to undo Aunt May’s death but not Gwen’s?

He’s more like Luke, not Anakin who makes selfish decisions because he can’t deal with loss.

As far as what would have happened after, wasn’t the point of having Peter’s identity revealed and Aunt May becoming targeted because of it written so that OMD could happen? I really find it hard to believe that Spider-man NOT having a secret identity was something Marvel Comics wanted to be as part of the status-quo.

Peter knows first hand what happens when villains know who is loved one’s are. It would have made a far more interesting, and heroic story for Spider-man being on the run from both heroes AND villains in CIVIL WAR.

30

Yeah, but it helped to improve others unintentionally as well. Just ask Harry Osborn. I’m not arguing that there is a net gain to the deal, but just that there were unintended benefits.

31

A lone wolf forever on the run is a workable idea; it was perfect for Punisher Max, and from what I’ve read it worked fine for the Hulk (I haven’t read Daredevil: Born Again). The problem with Spider-Man is, how does he avoid a tragic end within a few days? Frank Castle is nigh-unstoppable and tougher than a rhino, hell, probably tougher than The Rhino, plus he has a knack for always finding an ally when he needs one. The Hulk is…well, pretty much freaking immortal, plus there are numerous parties that for one reason or another need him alive.

Peter Parker, at that stage, had no allies, no resources, and no one who seemed all that interested in preventing him from getting killed. He possesses no special invulnerabilities, nor does he have tremendous good luck (quite the opposite, in fact). And there are a lot of powerful beings who want him either dead or rotting in the Negative Zone. The BEST possible outcome I could see would be if some benevolent immensely powerful being like Dr. Strange took pity on him, and even then he’s probably looking at a very long exile far from the only world he’s ever known.

32

Wait a minute…I think we might have just been overlooking the big, garishly costumed elephant in the room, here.

Why not have Peter re-conceal his identity…with Strange’s magic?

Even if he couldn’t save Aunt May—big “if,” frankly, aside from editorial fiat—could not Strange, or another sympathetic sorcerer/magician/wizard, cast some kind of spell that erased all records and memories of Peter’s outing? Or at least replace them with a false memory of someone else?

You could work that into some kind of storyline, even…“okay, Peter, I can do this, but you have to find someone to willingly agree to take your place in the world’s memory. And you have thirty days to do it.”

Lots of different ways you could play that—maybe it has to be someone who’s dead, and Spidey has to time-hop around to find some patsy who’s willing to modify their life history for his sake.

Maybe it’ll alter the past so everyone will be hunting the “first” Spider-Man, while Peter becomes the “new” Spider-Man. Maybe it’ll alter the past so that there were “always” two Spider-Man—either a team, or just two guys sharing the same costume/identity, under the guise of being a single hero. So some other heroes/villains know the “real” Spider-Man’s identity, but most only know the “new” Spider-Man.

You can plaster over any plot holes with the “it’s magic…it doesn’t HAVE to make sense!” line.

Maybe you could make a spinoff series about the “New” Spider-Man, too. Maybe use him to “re-introduce” a character who’s dead, or from another Marvel universe, to Earth-616. (Ben Reilly? Miles Morales?) Peter thus becomes the “Growing Up Into Maturity Spider-Man,” with a wife and a family, and the Shill!Spider-Man becomes the “Hotshot Swingin’ Teenager Stand-In” Spider-Man.

Hell, you might even be able to sell a few crossover storylines from this. Get some new press, show off your “Hey, look, we’ve got a black/latino Spider-Man, now!” Maybe sell some action figures. Make some money. Make the fans excited.

Something silly like that.

33

I think we have footage or that moment.

34

As an aside, that’s exactly what happened.

The deal MJ/Peter made with Satan was “Your marriage gets retconned and your daughter is never born*, and Aunt May never gets shot.” Peter dithers (because he’s known for being cautious and thoughtful, and never, ever impulsive) and MJ says “That’s cool, Mephisto, but with the added rule that you never, EVER bother Peter again. He’s off-limits to you.”

Time reboots (and again, if Mephisto has this power level, why hasn’t he ever used it before or since?) and Peter shows up late to the wedding and MJ’s personality completely changes–MJ has been saying that she’s ok with Peter being Spider-Man…but be late for a wedding because he’s knocked out while saving lives? Suddenly she “can’t take it any more”.

Somehow Harry comes back to life as a side-effect of this. So now Mephisto can raise the dead (?) which was a hard-limit for him beforehand. It’s never clearly explained why one follows the other.

MJ and Peter live together, doing everything they did when they were married, but without the piece of paper, so that stops Peter from becoming “boring” like all married people (per Quesada).

The Civil War happens, Pete unmasks, but Aunt May isn’t shot. Afterwards, Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man(? I think) brain-fry everyone so that nobody–literally no-one in the world–remembers that Pete is Spidey except Peter himself. The only way anyone can learn his ID is if he unmasks to them, whereupon they’ll remember always having known. Bendis hated this shit and within a few weeks of that issue coming out, had Spidey unmask to the entire Avengers. Pete also unmasks to MJ who throws a tantrum saying that Peter was cruel for not letting her forget, because, y’know, “weak and needs to be protected” is MJ’s defining characteristic. :rolleyes:

Most of this stuff comes from the even worse than “One Day More” followup, “One Moment In Time”.
Because the ham-fisted way it was written*, it was impossible for anyone to not know she was his future daughter, especially super-smart Peter

**And I say this as someone who loves JMS’s Spider-Man, including the spider-totem stuff