Discussion with Tom Brevoort on Spider-Man marriage

[Miles To Go]

What gets forgotten about is that Peter and MJ aren't even a unique case, they just happen to be the one pairing you thought would always be above a persistent problem at the company, and that is that Happy endearing relationships are something you rarely find in any Marvel title.

To demonstrate how absurd this can get, take Mss. Marvel, still a fairly young title, which had the popular will they/won't they pairing of Bruno and Kamala, and that was in it's infancy when it was derailed by Civil War II...they're teasing it again now (albeit as part of a triangle) but there was a phase the two were not on good terms and it upset the fans.

[Celgress]

One must really wonder why Marvel dangles Mary Jane and Peter's relationship like a carrot in front of their fans only to snatch it away before it could be eaten but I guess that's what you should expect with Joe Quesada the architect of their cosmic annulment being chief creative officer and he did say he would be guiding the new editor in chief through his job. So I guess I should have expected more teasing and disappointment. For all their posturing that marriage makes characters lose their relevance and make Peter less appealing to the younger crowd I had no issues when I learned that Peter and Mary Jane were married in the comics and the daily strip and I was a kid back then when I read the strip.

It is all about the money. There is an old saying in poker - "never leave chips on the table." Eventually, however, enough fans will get wise to this bait & switch tactic that it will lose effectiveness.

[The Dying Detective]

It is all about the money. There is an old saying in poker - "never leave chips on the table." Eventually, however, enough fans will get wise to this bait & switch tactic that it will lose effectiveness.

I am half hoping that it will and then Marvel will have to double the effort to return the marriage but by then it would be too late.

[Lukmendes]

It is all about the money. There is an old saying in poker - "never leave chips on the table." Eventually, however, enough fans will get wise to this bait & switch tactic that it will lose effectiveness.

It's been over 10 years and fans still haven't learned, I doubt enough of them will wise up ever lol.

[Mister Mets]

But they're still reprinting stories about it. Mixed messages much?

It's very rare for Marvel to not reprint something because they're concerned about the brand.

[Miles To Go]

It's been over 10 years and fans still haven't learned, I doubt enough of them will wise up ever lol.

How many Avengers fans are still waiting for Wanda and Vision to get back together?

Synergy with Infinity War is their only hope there I imagine.

Scott and Jean fans waited a whole decade and a quarter for Jean to come back and waltz with a decaying corpse of her husband too.

[Lukmendes]

How many Avengers fans are still waiting for Wanda and Vision to get back together?

Synergy with Infinity War is their only hope there I imagine.

Scott and Jean fans waited a whole decade and a quarter for Jean to come back and waltz with a decaying corpse of her husband too.

Aren't Wanda fans more worried about getting rid of what Bendis did to her?

Anyways, the problem isn't about giving up hope or not, it's about being naíve, every single time Marvel baits fans into thinking the marriage is returning, a considerable ammount falls for it, and since those fans never learn, Marvel can make Spider-Marriage money briefly without actualy using it, and as long as those fans keep buying shit, they won't have to be forced to bring it back, ever. Gotta hurt their pockets to actualy get the results you want, otherwise it's just waste of time.

[Celgress]

Aren't Wanda fans more worried about getting rid of what Bendis did to her?

Anyways, the problem isn't about giving up hope or not, it's about being naíve, every single time Marvel baits fans into thinking the marriage is returning, a considerable ammount falls for it, and since those fans never learn, Marvel can make Spider-Marriage money briefly without actualy using it, and as long as those fans keep buying shit, they won't have to be forced to bring it back, ever. Gotta hurt their pockets to actualy get the results you want, otherwise it's just waste of time.

And we have a winner. That's the situation in a nutshell.

[WebLurker]

True, they do love making money off the concept which still resonates with a large portion of the fanbase; thus all those MJ related variant covers they put out quite regularly along with the frequent PeterxMJ teases.

Well, it's good business, so long as you don't push too far and get readers rage-quitting.

One must really wonder why Marvel dangles Mary Jane and Peter's relationship like a carrot in front of their fans only to snatch it away before it could be eaten but I guess that's what you should expect with Joe Quesada the architect of their cosmic annulment being chief creative officer and he did say he would be guiding the new editor in chief through his job. So I guess I should have expected more teasing and disappointment. For all their posturing that marriage makes characters lose their relevance and make Peter less appealing to the younger crowd I had no issues when I learned that Peter and Mary Jane were married in the comics and the daily strip and I was a kid back then when I read the strip.

Yeah, same here, sort of; I was watching the old movies and Ultimate comics when I was too young to be dating, much less getting married and the idea that Spidey and MJ would eventually tie the knot was simply the most logical end conclusion; that's what they characters were to each other.

It's been over 10 years and fans still haven't learned, I doubt enough of them will wise up ever lol.

Neither has Marvel.

It's very rare for Marvel to not reprint something because they're concerned about the brand.

Yeah, I know, I was making a joke. (Seriously, though, I do find it ironic that Marvel does use the idea for fodder now after having spend years telling us that it wasn't a viable scenario.)

Aren't Wanda fans more worried about getting rid of what Bendis did to her?

Anyways, the problem isn't about giving up hope or not, it's about being naíve, every single time Marvel baits fans into thinking the marriage is returning, a considerable ammount falls for it, and since those fans never learn, Marvel can make Spider-Marriage money briefly without actualy using it, and as long as those fans keep buying shit, they won't have to be forced to bring it back, ever. Gotta hurt their pockets to actualy get the results you want, otherwise it's just waste of time.

I don't buy post 2007 ASM stuff, partially for that reason. However, I do get the RYV series. That might be technically supporting a stop-gap measure to keep the marriage out of 616, but it's close enough for me. Besides, I don't care that much about which series it's in as long as there's a source telling new stories about it.

[Alan2099]

Anyways, the problem isn't about giving up hope or not, it's about being naíve, every single time Marvel baits fans into thinking the marriage is returning, a considerable ammount falls for it, and since those fans never learn, Marvel can make Spider-Marriage money briefly without actualy using it, and as long as those fans keep buying shit, they won't have to be forced to bring it back, ever. Gotta hurt their pockets to actualy get the results you want, otherwise it's just waste of time.

There's also the fact that a certain section of the fanbase takes absolutely anything that has to do with Mary Jane or Spider-man having any romantic interest as some kind of official statement or personal attack and blows it all out of proportion.

[Lukmendes]

Neither has Marvel.

They certainly unlearned some things lol.

There's also the fact that a certain section of the fanbase takes absolutely anything that has to do with Mary Jane or Spider-man having any romantic interest as some kind of official statement or personal attack and blows it all out of proportion.

MJ showing up in Power Play must've made those fans trigger happy lol.

[WebLurker]

There's also the fact that a certain section of the fanbase takes absolutely anything that has to do with Mary Jane or Spider-man having any romantic interest as some kind of official statement or personal attack and blows it all out of proportion.

Fair enough.

[Miles To Go]

MJ showing up in Power Play must've made those fans trigger happy lol.

Case in point: Readers are triggered as the majority of MJ's early involvement in the story sees her taking jabs at Peter, but all that's forgotten about as soon as there's an indicator both of the characters remember the events of Slott's Renew Your Vows rofl