Let’s Talk About “One More Day”
Few events in comic book history are as controversial as the 2007 Spider-Man storyline “One More Day”. The story that ended Peter and MJ’s marriage, as well as (in my opinion) the best run on a comic book ever, it was immensely polarizing when it was released 16 years ago, and time has done nothing to improve the feeling of the fandom. So, let’s talk about it.
A quick recap for the uninitiated: “One More Day” is a comic book storyline where Mephisto (a.k.a. the Devil) makes a deal with Spider-Man to save his dying aunt who had been shot at the tail end of “Civil War” (2005). Unlike most deals with the Devil, this one was not for our boy Peter’s soul. Instead, in exchange for his aunt’s life, Mephisto would make it so that Peter and MJ had never gotten married. This story takes place over 4 issues, and they both agonize over the decision. Eventually, they both agree, and a ding rings in a “Brand New Day”.
The first question everyone will ask is “why?” Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were essentially comic book royalty, a status that was further cemented with their iconic wedding in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. So, why? The answer to this one is relatively simple: editorial interference. Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief at the time, felt like returning Peter to his “roots” would help his longevity. The way to do this? Can the marriage. It’s also been widely touted that Joe never liked MJ and that may have been a bigger driving force, but those are just whispers on the web. In any case, the top brass had required that the marriage end, and so they crafted a way for it to end, and also used it to wrap up J. Michael Straczynski’s run on the book, a run characterized by his brilliant writing of their marriage.
The next question is usually, “Why involve the Devil?” The logic behind this question is that both Pete and MJ are adults in a marriage that is not short of its difficult moments (they’ve split while staying married on numerous occasions). Lots of marriages end in divorce. Why not add another one to the pile? This is the gripe/criticism that I have an issue with, and here’s why. When writing a story, you have to consider a lot of things, especially the character of the characters. The kind of people they are, the way they interact with other characters in the story, and the backfill of stories that influence the characters. And importantly, you have to consider the medium within which you are working. Peter Parker and MJ Watson are perhaps the most in love any two characters have ever been in comic book history. To borrow a line from Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, they’ve walked through fire together. They’ve survived near-death, actual death (read “The Other”, it’s dope), a cross-country marriage, and more. If any marriage was built to last, it’s this one. When you try to introduce divorce to the table, you have to ask yourself, “How would this happen?” What could happen that could be greater than that which they have already overcome? The answer? Basically nothing. Because nothing would feel authentic (which maybe should be a hint that they shouldn’t be split but I digress). Even in Into the Spider-Verse, when we learn that Peter B. and MJ got divorced, it was because she wanted kids. And even that couldn’t keep them apart. So, if you want to do it, you do what every writer has been doing since time immemorial. You bring The Devil into it.
Also, quick side note: marriages are not as common in comic books as you’d think. Off the top of my head, I can think of Reed and Sue, Clark and Lois, Deadpool and Shiklah (not sure if they’re still a thing), Ben and Alicia (again, not sure if they’re still together), and Rogue and Gambit. Characters can have long-standing relationships, but they almost never graduate to marriage, because of the nature of comics. Pete and MJ were already an anomaly to be together as long as they were.
You might read this and think that I support the decision. I do not. Like I have already said, I love JMS’ run on The Amazing Spider-Man and their marriage was a big part of that. They are possibly my favorite fictional couple of all time (narrowly edging out Hiccup and Astrid). What I have done is try to look at “One More Day” without any preconceptions. Yes, the ending sucked for me, but the story was still stellar work, and from the ashes of their marriage came “Brand New Day”, which I think contains some brilliant writing. We get to meet new characters like Carlie Cooper (who I really like), he got a turn as a tech CEO (which I thought was interesting), and a lot of other things.
There’s an easy way out of this, of course. Just put them back together. And they don’t even have to be married (see the note above). Nick Spencer’s run showed that a bf/gf forever game can work. We just need the Spider-editorial to see the light.
