There was a time when Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were married. They even had a baby, though she died (seemingly as a result of Norman Osborn's interference) and was rarely mentioned in the years that followed.
However, when Marvel Comics decided the wall-crawler needed to be young, free, and single again, Spidey made a deal with the devil - Mephisto, to be precise - which saved his Aunt May but wiped his and MJ's marriage from the history books.
They've since dated, and while we were briefly teased with an engagement, the marriage is unlikely to be restored...at least not on Earth-616.
In the newly created Ultimate Universe, however, Spider-Man is finally growing up,
Writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Marco Checchetto's bold new take on Ultimate Spider-Man is shaping up to be full of surprises and when it launches next January, it will star a very different Peter Parker. He'll be an older, wiser web-slinger who balances his superhero duties with his responsibilities as a husband and a father. That's right, Spider-Man is a married man!
"Meet Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson - Mr. & Mrs. Parker," reads the official description. "They’re one of pop culture’s most iconic couples, and now readers will see them stronger than ever in the Ultimate Universe."
To mark the occasion, Peter and MJ's romance will be featured on a series of picture-perfect variant covers by Elizabeth Torque that will adorn the first four issues of Ultimate Spdier-Man. Veteran Amazing Spider-Man and Venom artist Ryan Stegman also spotlights the whole Parker family on a new promotional piece.
"When we decided that we were going to do a book about an older Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man, we really wanted to lean into him starting his superhero life from a very different place than what's traditionally expected," Hickman explains. "Peter and MJ being married is one of many decisions we made that underline this being quite a 'different' kind of Spider-man story."
This is exciting, though it does feel like a consolation prize on the same level as what we saw in the "Renew Your Vows" story released to tie into Secret Wars.
In the main Marvel Universe, it seems the plan is for Peter and MJ to remain apart (even with Amazing Spider-Man #1000 on the horizon) but is Ultimate Spider-Man going to be enough to make fans who want the marriage back happy? And how will Hickman make this different from other "Spidey with kids" stories we've seen?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art and Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO
Variant Cover by ELIZABETH TORQUE
On Sale 1/10