I'm Pro-Marriage, But I'm Willing To Give The Anna Maria Situation A Shot

[Darth Howie]

This is going to be difficult to explain, but hear me out...

Depending on how carefully this is handled, I think I'm OK with Anna Maria sticking around as Peter's primary "love interest" for a while. I also have a seething hatred for OMD and pretty much every other relationships occurrence to come out of it. Think these ideas are contradictory? Well, let me explain.

Part of the problem I had with the fallout from OMD wasn't just the idea of an unmarried Peter Parker, it was the idea that he would WILLINGLY choose to be with anyone other than Mary Jane. Every relationship he would get into wouldn't feel like Peter Parker to me. Since every Spider-Man story I grew up reading had him as a committed, married man, his going to date anyone felt wrong. It felt like a different person. It made no sense. Peter Parker is a guy who is in love with and would do anything for Mary Jane. No matter how interesting or how well written the potential girlfriend might be, even if it was Felicia Hardy or Betty Brandt who he'd had previous relationships with, no one else worked because it would make Peter Parker seem out of character to pursue them.

Anna Maria is different. Why? Because he didn't choose her. She was chosen for him. She is in the position of his girlfriend because of sheer, classic Parker Luck. While I can't imagine a Peter Parker who chooses to be with anyone other than Mary Jane, I can imagine him ending up stuck in a profoundly awkward situation through no fault of his own, and having to dig his way out of it without hurting anyone and without making his bad situation end up even worse. As a result, this relationship is a promising storyline. Let's take a few things into account here:

1. Doc Ock essentially died for her and Peter knows it.
2. She knows he's Spider-Man.
3. She knows that "Peter Parker" was planning to ask her to marry him.
4. Peter knows she's at least seen his freckles and that SpOck's seen hers.
5. Peter Parker is a fundamentally good person and he doesn't want to hurt her if he can help it, especially because of point 2.

This is one big bowl of awkward, which makes for classic Spider-Man. This feels like a Spider-Man story. Peter doesn't have to betray what I've long considered a core part of his character for this situation to make sense.

Now, if Anna Maria is going to be around for a while and if the relationship isn't going to end up loaded with horrible subtext a few things have to happen or not happen.

1. Peter can't sleep with her without her knowing about the SpOck switch. Period. Can't happen. Can there be awkward situations based on her attempting to seduce him? Sure. Those are acceptable. But he can't do it. CANNOT. That would be, for lack of a better work, "rapey."

2. Anna Maria has to be an interesting character in her own right. This is a women Doc Ock would die for, but would she be special for Peter? There's a lot to unpack first including the whole fact that she was seeing someone else the whole time. I didn't read much of Superior because... Yeah... So I don't know much about her, which is fine because Amazing was clearly designed to be a good stepping on point, so she needs to turn out to be someone who's not too idealized but also not annoying. It's a difficult balance to pull off because everyone knows how hard to please comic book readers can be, but it has to happen.

3. No MJ teases. Dan Slott, if you are reading this, please move MJ to California and never speak of her again. I'm saying this because, ship teases with MJ just piss me off. Just move her to San Francisco or whatever. MJ showing up will just re-open old frustrations I don't want to deal with and it will detract from whatever else is going on in the single life the powers that be were willing to risk alienating so many readers over.

4. No character schilling. In the early, awkward, "she's in love with SpOck not me" phases of the relationship, it is OK, even amusing to have various people talk about what a great couple they are. But past a certain point it becomes irritating. So really, those jokes, when they happen, need to dry up relatively quickly. Play them too long and they read like character schilling which was one of the biggest complaints about Carlie Cooper.

5. Speaking of Carlie, keep her away, too.

So yes. I'm willing to accept this status quo because it represents so much potential awkwardness and hilarity. She has the power to blow up his life if he doesn't handle this situation well and that is a source of so much potential comedy and drama that I'm willing to and, dare I say am even eager to, see how this turns out.

So congrats Spidey team, you've finally setup a post-OMD girlfriend scenario I want to read.

[Tendrin]

While I liked Superior Spider-Man on the whole, I have to say that Anna Maria is by far the best thing to emerge from it. She isn't a 'bombshell' or 'femme fatale' type, and that makes her unique and interesting.

[Cameron Samurai]

Superior Spider-Man was one of the worst reading experiances I had over the course of 2013 and early 2014, just a hopelessly bad story, but Anna Maria shone throughout it as someone who understood and centered Ock through his journey and guided his most signfiicantly selfless act. It's just a shame it took a sex gag to clue her in to Peter's secret. I actually think she'll wise up to the fact Peter doesnt act in quite the same manner Ock did and will be the one to break up with him eventually (that's really how it always goes because Parker is always a commited type, even to girls he may not love as much as MJ).

As for MJ, as much as I prefer Peter with her, she's been railroaded so damn much these last few years that we're all probably better off with her taking a vacation until at least the third Marc Webb movie comes out. Besides, if you want to see MJ handled right, you can always look up the dailes online or something.

[Sprite]

I'm all for Anna Maria. She's one of the better things to come out of Superior Spider-Man, and she's long earned her spot in the spider books.

[Aruran.]

I like Anna Maria, but this is just weird. It would be nice if she just becomes Peter's friend, cause I don't want her to leave the book after they break up. Let's face it, they won't get married or have kids cause thats really what Marvel doesn't want, they want a single Spider-Man so the stories have a better flow. So really, if they enter a relationship, they would date, something would come up, then they would break cause it got to serious for Marvel.

My only complaint is really, if they don't want Peter married or have kids, they why should I waste time reading about a relationship that won't amount to anything? Cause other than those two things, what is there to tell in relationship with someone new that hasn't been told with MJ? This is why I'm ok if they get away from the romantic aspect of Spider-Man, it's been ruined since OMD but you don't need to tell great stories.

[JediMindTrick]

The board about cracked in half screaming rape over the possibility of Spock getting with MJ. It would be no different if Peter got with Anna Maria. Now if Peter comes 100% clean on day one about what happened and who he actually is and who Ock was then at some distant point in the future after Anna Maria is done mourning then maybe they could have a relationship but it would be creepy.

[Darthfury78]

I like Anna Maria, but this is just weird. It would be nice if she just becomes Peter's friend, cause I don't want her to leave the book after they break up. Let's face it, they won't get married or have kids cause thats really what Marvel doesn't want, they want a single Spider-Man so the stories have a better flow. So really, if they enter a relationship, they would date, something would come up, then they would break cause it got to serious for Marvel.

My only complaint is really, if they don't want Peter married or have kids, they why should I waste time reading about a relationship that won't amount to anything? Cause other than those two things, what is there to tell in relationship with someone new that hasn't been told with MJ? This is why I'm ok if they get away from the romantic aspect of Spider-Man, it's been ruined since OMD but you don't need to tell great stories.

Let's face it. Anna Marie was Otto's girlfriend. Not Peter Parker. Sooner or late, Anna is going to notice the difference because Peter Parker is not Otto Octavius: the man she fell in love with. I do see her and Peter working together. But like Carlie Cooper, its going to end very badly between them. And no, I do not feel that Peter has feelings for Anna Marie in the same manner as Otto does. One can not hide their affection for someone who they are not in love with.

[keeen]

My only complaint is really, if they don't want Peter married or have kids, they why should I waste time reading about a relationship that won't amount to anything? Cause other than those two things, what is there to tell in relationship with someone new that hasn't been told with MJ? This is why I'm ok if they get away from the romantic aspect of Spider-Man, it's been ruined since OMD but you don't need to tell great stories.

That's a dangerous line of thought for comic book fans to pursue, since the truth is nothing that happens in a comic really "amounts to anything."

Status quo changes, character deaths, relationships, experiences, lessons learned, etc - they're never permanent, are they?

I think that's why people still fantasize about how OMD could be retconned - nothing in comics is permanent, except THIS? Inconceivable to some.

[genixx]

i liked anna. but i dont want to she her as his new girl-toy. however, i could see her staying with in the spiderfamily as a friend. at the very least someone that comes to hate Parker/Spider for what happened with Ock. i just hope she doesnt just go away or become a mini-ock.

[stillanerd]

I like Anna Maria as a character, too, and I also agree she was one of the best aspects of Superior Spider-Man. But given the circumstances behind her relationship with Otto, I'm very apprehensive about where things could be heading here.

Given that Anna Maria now knows Peter's secret identity, that does allow Peter to tell her the truth about Doc Ock being in his body, so its likely he'd do that next issue. Only I can imagine another possibility--that after Peter confirms to Anna Maria that he is indeed Spider-Man, he starts to tell her about Doc Ock when she stops him and says "I know." A surprised Peter goes "You do?" only she's not talking about Doc Ock because she then says "I found your surprise in the closet and my answer is...Yes!" And she shows Peter Otto's engagement ring and prepared speech and hugs him saying "Yes, I'll marry you!" And Peter is just too flabbergasted to speak, and thus he's even more afraid to tell Anna Maria about Otto for fear of breaking her heart even more.

Still, you guys know Im usually wrong when it comes to theories.

[Cameron Samurai]

Still, you guys know Im usually wrong when it comes to theories.

That theory does sound pretty plausible. I've had crazier theories about the current set-up and how it all ties into the 200th issue of the post-OMD canon which I think occurs next April just as Spider-Verse concludes.

[Mamylon]

Honestly, I think it's officially been long enough that framing current Spider-Man stories in light of OMD is absurd. It's been a hundred fifty issues! For reference, a hundred fifty issues before OMD Pete was knee-deep in the Clone Saga.

If OMD hadn't happened, by this point, a bunch of other stuff would have. And by the basic rules of cheap drama, those things probably also would have destabilized the Pete/MJ marriage. Say, maybe Doc Ock would have taken over Peter's body. That can't be good for a marriage.

[Cameron Samurai]

If OMD hadn't happened, by this point, a bunch of other stuff would have. And by the basic rules of cheap drama, those things probably also would have destabilized the Pete/MJ marriage. Say, maybe Doc Ock would have taken over Peter's body. That can't be good for a marriage.

I've spent the last couple of months putting together a storyline that would have allowed those stories to happen but would have left wiggle room for the marraige to be strengthened. I don't want to convert it into a fanfic because I'd like to write for Marvel one day, but I think, given what I've mapped out, that it can be plausibly done.

You can't blame fans like me for wanting there to be a resolution to OMD. There needs to be one. This is not something you can just sweep under the carpet and pretend it isnt there. Peter commited an act against God by siding with the devil, warped reality, retconned a future unborn child...that is textbook grounds for a riveting drama in it's own right, why not take the oppertunity to tell it?

Besides, with Morlun being a principle player in Spider-Verse, essentially touching on stories that date back to 2006, or even further back to 2001, who's to say what is and isnt open to development?

[Darthfury78]

I've spent the last couple of months putting together a storyline that would have allowed those stories to happen but would have left wiggle room for the marraige to be strengthened. I don't want to convert it into a fanfic because I'd like to write for Marvel one day, but I think, given what I've mapped out, that it can be plausibly done.

You can't blame fans like me for wanting there to be a resolution to OMD. There needs to be one. This is not something you can just sweep under the carpet and pretend it isnt there. Peter commited an act against God by siding with the devil, warped reality, retconned a future unborn child...that is textbook grounds for a riveting drama in it's own right, why not take the oppertunity to tell it?

Besides, with Morlun being a principle player in Spider-Verse, essentially touching on stories that date back to 2006, or even further back to 2001, who's to say what is and isnt open to development?

Which is why I feel that Peter actually gave his soul to the Mephisto for Aunt May's life, who was never in danger to begin with. I would like to think that Peter Parker died in ASM #700 and is now in Hell. But on the flipside, I like to think that Peter x Mary Jane rejected the demon's offer to save Aunt May's life because they saw right through his deception. Thus, you could say that the Pre-OMD timeline is now an alternate reality.

[Darth Howie]

Honestly, I think it's officially been long enough that framing current Spider-Man stories in light of OMD is absurd. It's been a hundred fifty issues! For reference, a hundred fifty issues before OMD Pete was knee-deep in the Clone Saga.

If OMD hadn't happened, by this point, a bunch of other stuff would have. And by the basic rules of cheap drama, those things probably also would have destabilized the Pete/MJ marriage. Say, maybe Doc Ock would have taken over Peter's body. That can't be good for a marriage.

Measuring in issues is a weird thing to do. Keep in mind that during most of the marriage several monthly Spider-Man titles were running concurrently just in the 616 continuity. I remember at one point there were four Spider-Man monthlies going at once: Amazing, Spectacular, Web Of and just plain Spider-Man. Also keep in mind that years of time of a status quo means a lot more to people than number of issues. Spider-Man and Mary Jane were married for 21 years and were a couple a lot longer. I started reading Spider-Man comics in 1989. The Marriage was the status quo for the character for my entire reading experience until OMD. For those years, MJ was more important than Aunt May or the Daily Bugle. For many, many readers, after OMD, the entire nature of the character and the story changed.

So here's the thing, they went through the Clone Saga and the marriage survived. They went through Sins Past, and the marriage survived. They went through 21 years of crazy storylines and the marriage made it. So let's not pretend the collapse of the marriage was in any way "inevitable." It was editorial fiat. For people like me framing the stories as pre-OMD and post-OMD is easily the most logical way to label the comic because you're talking about the entirety or majority of the reading experiences for many readers.

Whether people like it or not, for many, many readers, every potential love interest will be compared to Mary Jane, and the fact that no relationship can progress to marriage or kids will be a significant irritation. If Peter Parker is going to be an "everyman" character, then he will have to deal with relationships because that's part of everyday life for most people. Yes, you can write many, many stories where the relationships aren't a factor, but do that exclusively, and Peter's personal life becomes significantly less interesting and the balance between his personal, professional and heroic lives have always been the bulwark of the series. So investing in his romantic relationships or NOT investing in them becomes much harder after being so significantly burned by OMD. The fact that this incredibly strange relationship scenario is the first one to spark my interest in many years reflects how pointless the post-OMD era has been on the romantic front for many, many readers.

In a normal person's life, if they get married, it will be a MAJOR BENCHMARK OF THEIR EXISTENCE. That doesn't change for comic book characters or comic book storylines.