Originally Posted by
fjmac
The thing is that most characters and properties in mainstream comics DO evolve over time, with some sort of "save points" when some semblance of the original status quo is restored while incorporating to it some of the new elements. For example, as mentioned, Batman discovers he's a dad, get's "killed", goes on a time traveling adventure, returns with a more optimistic attitude, creates Batman Inc., all in the span of two years, a few months later he's back to his usual sociopathic self but now he has a son. A few years later, son dies, Batman goes on a mystical sci-fi grand adventure, brings son back to life, son now has superpowers, eventually looses them, all is back to normal, which is Batman as usual but now with a son.
Same thing happens with the FF, Wally West, Dick Grayson, etc. And when one of those save points stick, you can't just walk back on them, and publishers know it. The MJ/Peter marriage save point was one of those, which is why OMD remains so widely reviled almost 20 years later. Because the save point they attempted to erase was one that stuck, and the one they tried to create didn't. Because it was not an evolution, it was a haphazard ham fisted attempt to bring a major character to the status quo that Joe Q preferred, because it was the one from when he was a kid.
Why did Marvel stick so hard with it, even thou it is clearly a failure when you average everything? Because back then there was a certain culture at DC and Marvel. Alpha-male wannabes in charge with buddy-circle editors and writers, bro culture, troll the readers, it's all in good fun. DC moved on from the last remains of it a few years ago, which is why it's producing mostly gold at a near 1986 level. In Marvel, that culture still survives in some corners, and I suppose the OMD status quo and the constant scorched-earth attempts against MJ are one of their ways to keep "owning the haters", or something like that.