Obviously the 616 comics have been designed to continue forever. However, ATSV’s approach to serialized canon events had me wondering where the definitive classic Spider-man era might have “ended” for different readers of the book. Recently, I’ve seen some fans claim the finale of Nick Spencer’s run to be that end. Over the years, many fans have argued that OMD was their end. In the past, I’ve seen people claim Peter and Mary Jane’s wedding and/or the Death of Gwen Stacy to be an end. Etc.
Personally, I would have to say the “end” of the classic Spider-man saga was with the Clone Saga. The Clone Saga marked the initial attempts at retcon to try and revert the comic to an earlier status quo. And since then, we’ve had a sea of retcons that have undone or undermined several stories: Aunt May’s resurrection, MJ’s death, Harry’s return, Sins Past, OMD, the Kindred arc, etc. In conjunction, these retcons have muddied the overall flow of the 616 story.
The mid-90s also marked the first attempt to seriously adapt the Spider-man story with the Animated Series and was prior to any live action films (these adaptations would put their own spin on Spider-man that would influence future adaptations.) This period was also prior to the creation of Ultimate Spider-man which has had a significant influence on retellings of the character’s story and modern perceptions of the mythos (Ultimate itself basically put its own spin on the 616 continuity of the 1960s-1990s.)
The mid-90s is also a period that marks the genesis of several probable alternate futures for Peter Parker. Virtually all au’s that follow an older Peter Parker consider Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane canon, but they tend to involve different children and/or different circumstances that follow (MC2, RYV, Abram’s Spider-man, Spider-man Reign, etc.) Being that there are so many plausible futures for the story of 616, it makes any potential “true” canon events after the 90s hazy.
So where/when does your canon (or headcanon) end? Or for the folks who don't necessarily believe that canon has ended: is there a demarcation between classic Spider-man comics and modern Spider-man comics? And where exactly does that demarcation exist?
Edit: I meant to add an "It has never ended" option, if one of the mods can throw that in there! Thanks