Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-3121860-20160621182145/@comment-61022-20160805153529

I'm going to chime in here and point out that Peter and Mary Jane no longer being married (or even in a relationship for that matter) is the result of a number of things:

(1) It was an attempt to make the character more relatable to readers (IE: New readers, younger readers)

(2) It was a marketing gimmick to generate buzz (and it's still working since we're still debating it to this date)

(3) It's a reflection of our times and therefor culturally relevant.

Don't mistake me, the execution of One More Day was incredibly asinine. It was a terrible, terrible story thanks to the editorial interference. HOWEVER, things thereafter actually got quite good.

I liked Peter and MJ being married myself, and as much as I hate to admit it, the end result of OMD was to breath new life into the character, and it did.

Also getting to what I was saying about it being "reflective of our time" and also to attract new readers: Suffice to say, regardless of the fact that Peter Parker is almost 30 years old (In Marvel Years. Peter became Spider-Man at age 15 and roughly 14 years of Marvel time has elapsed since then) he is still mostly marketed at younger readers, particularly children. There's a shift away from that (I'll get into that in a moment) but that's who the primary demographic is. Sadly, the end result is that the character "can't" grow up too quickly, and that's what the marriage was doing, ditto for him getting divorced, having a kid, etc.

When Peter and MJ got married, it was 1985, and in "Marvel Time", Peter was around 21 years old. It was reflective of the era (or at least the writer's perception of the era). It was pretty normal for a 21 year old to get married that young back then. When you take a look at the societal changes in the past 20 years since then, the dynamics of IF people get married, and WHEN they get married has greatly changed. People choose to be single, people get married later in life. To some, 30 is the new 20. The point is this: Peter Parker being single and unmarried in his 30s is more in line with the society we live in today, and therefor to the common reader (IE: not long time fans) he is more relatable. Another "with the times moment" is the reality that relationships that were once "perfect" to start tarnish with time and end and the people involved move on. We live in a world where most marriages and relationships end in break ups. People have more than one serious relationship throughout their lives.

At the end of the day, Marvel is all about marketing, the are going to market something to the largest audience possible with the subject matter. Ergo, Spider-Man, their most widely recognized brand, is going to appeal to as many people as possible. Peter not being married is much like why he doesn't use words like "Groovy" anymore and why Harry Osborn doesn't have a Fu-Manchu mustache anymore. It's dated and not with the times.

On the other side of the coin, Marvel KNOWS that long time fans want/enjoy/get nostalgic over a Peter Parker/Mary Jane marriage. Hence why they published Renew Your Vows. Nostalgia also sells. It's also why they're not erasing all mention of their marriage by altering reprints to fit the new "reality". They even make mention of the reality alteration in the handbooks.

I said earlier that there appears to be a shift away from keeping Peter "young" for audiences, and that has everything to do with the integration of Miles Morales into the Earth-616 universe. It's why you're seeing other character take up the mantle of long standing heroes. It's a way of having your cake and eating it. Once Miles is cemented as a character JUST AS recognizable to the Average Joe as Peter is, then you'll likely see Peter "growing up" again. That's not to say that he and MJ will get back together (in fact, I think it would be MORE interesting if he meets, falls in love with, and marries someone else OTHER than MJ, because THAT would be more relevant)

Also as many previous posters have said, there are many alternate versions of Peter Parker and MJ that are still married, and those old stories are still around and can be read at anytime. Anyone who gripes about it not being *the* Peter and MJ is just incredibly picky, and frankly, to quote Patton Oswald, "you're going to miss everything cool and die angry".