Marvel wanted a single Peter why not just marry off Ben?

[oldschool]

No matter how good a character Ben is, he's still going to be seen as the Mr. Pibb to Peter's Dr. Pepper. There's nothing wrong with him, but he's just not the real thing.

Rather than Ben being revealed as the new Jackal, I think he should have taken the moniker of Mr. Pibb this past year; that really would have broken the internet in half!

[Spidercide]

This thread is in regards to the Peter Parker & Mary-Jane Watson marriage and events pertaining to the 90's Clone Saga and One More Day. So as the title asks; "If Marvel wanted Peter Parker to be single (or at least unmarried) so badly, why not just marry Ben off"? By this I mean why not have had Mary Jane leave Peter (part in due to stress of losing the baby and second due to marital strain/depression), marry her off or at least get her together with Ben and they both leave town for a while -- this way Ben doesn't have to die, and there would be no bizarre magickal sell your marriage to Satan type scenario in the future.

People might ask "why Ben, he's just a blond Peter!" While Ben was a lot like Peter, emotionally and attitude-wise he was a pretty surly and more neutral/indifferent-oriented individual and was always second-guessing himself until he officially became Spiderman. He was very conflicted and had enough issues compounded to make him standout from Peter in my opinion. Ben always felt like an outsider, or an outcast and MJ while she could very easily be reminded of Peter in Ben, she could also see similarities in the fact that they both feel like "second fiddle" to Peter/Spidey and somewhat neglected or emotionally devalued (factor in all of the Jackal headgames and MJ's abusive father).

Marvel could have also addressed the issue of Peter being the "legit" Spiderman one of two ways; 1) they could have progressed as normally with Norman and the Goblin returning except without MJ or Ben dying, and have Norman reveal that it was all just a "mind game" in order to ruin Peter's marriage and wreck his life or 2) simply have Peter believing in himself and not really caring whether or not he is the original and just valuing being a hero for the people and good person over being the genuine article.

I'd love to get some feedback on this idea.

Because Ben and Peter are not interchangable. Mary jane was in love with Peter not Ben, in fact given how she in this scenario was going to leave Peter due to stress (unrealistic given their history) its doubtful she'd have then hooked up with Ben. That's like the world's worst rebound because you are hooking up with someone who literally is your ex.

Really unless MJ was going to hate Peter over the miscarriage they were never going to split up.

Plus to marvel at the time Ben was a prop to be used not a true character unto himself. Their mentality was there had to just be one guy when all was said and done and he had to be single.

At the same time remember Marvel was divided on MJ. They recognized her popularity but a lot of people in editorial have for decades just disliked her for BS reasons.

[Webhead]

Not even the most unsympathetic, demeaning portrayals of MJ could feasibly have her leaving Peter (most definitely over his super hero baggage, which is the only viable reason that's been found) for his clone (that has both Peter's baggage and his own), who is also essentially her brother-in-law.

[squirecam]

No matter how good a character Ben is, he's still going to be seen as the Mr. Pibb to Peter's Dr. Pepper. There's nothing wrong with him, but he's just not the real thing.

Which one is the "real" Flash?
Barry
Wally
Jay

Which one is the real green lantern?
Hal
Guy
Kyle
Sinestro

Its a fake choice. Had marvel not insisted on Peter being fake and Ben being real, the switch would have worked, and Peter could always have been there when Marvel wanted to use him.

[The tall man]

Which one is the "real" Flash?
Barry
Wally
Jay

Which one is the real green lantern?
Hal
Guy
Kyle
Sinestro

Its a fake choice. Had marvel not insisted on Peter being fake and Ben being real, the switch would have worked, and Peter could always have been there when Marvel wanted to use him.

Real Flash = Barry

Real Green Lantern = Hal

Real Captain America = Steve Rogers

Real Wolverine = Logan

Real Thor = Odinson

Real Ironman = Tony Stark

Real Spider-Man = Peter Parker

[SpideyCeo]

No, pro Spider-marriage is basically pro-Mary Jane Watson being the deuteragonist of the Spider-Man series, or atleast ASM. Marrying her off to anyone other than the protagonist (Peter) and shipping her off to limbo or reducing her to a tertiary level is not the solution to the problem.

Aunt May is the deurtagonist of the spiderman frachise not mj. You shippers.

[Huntsman Spider]

Real Flash = Barry

Real Green Lantern = Hal

Real Captain America = Steve Rogers

Real Wolverine = Logan

Real Thor = Odinson

Real Ironman = Tony Stark

Real Spider-Man = Peter Parker

Barry isn't the real Flash, either. Jay came first. By that metric, he is the real Flash, not Barry.

[squirecam]

Barry isn't the real Flash, either. Jay came first. By that metric, he is the real Flash, not Barry.

Neither was Hal. Alan Scott came before him too.

[boots]

really, it just depends on what someone's definition of "real" is. is it first or the most iconic? i think squirecam's original point was great; it's subjective and a fake choice.

but there's always someone who will take the fake choice and die on the hill for it.

[classicgmer]

Ben is already one of the most controversial characters in Marvel's catalogue & having him date or be married to MJ would only piss off a lot of marriage fans so I don't think at any point past, present, or future it would be a wise move to have any type of romance between the two of them.

[Spiderfang]

Ben is already one of the most controversial characters in Marvel's catalogue & having him date or be married to MJ would only piss off a lot of marriage fans so I don't think at any point past, present, or future it would be a wise move to have any type of romance between the two of them.

But would have been a worse (temporary) choice than One More Day (permanent)?

[WebLurker]

But would have been a worse (temporary) choice than One More Day (permanent)?

I think either possibility would've blown up in their faces. (Besides, the official story is that Marvel doesn't want Spider-Man married period. So, I don't think there ever would've been a "temporary" answer.)

[Spiderfang]

I think either possibility would've blown up in their faces. (Besides, the official story is that Marvel doesn't want Spider-Man married period. So, I don't think there ever would've been a "temporary" answer.)

I mean it would have seen the two split up temporarily, they could get back together just not necessarily married unlike OMD which is permanent.

[Confuzzled]

Aunt May is the deurtagonist of the spiderman frachise not mj. You shippers.

We are literally taking a page out of Aunt May's book when it comes to the Pete/MJ shipping so I doubt she'd feel slighted

In all honesty though, the thing I find most fascinating about the Spider-Mythos is MJ's very unlikely journey from starting out as a simple running gag, to being introduced as a foil to the then love interest, to replacing the actual love interest, to becoming the wife, and then eventually the "tsuris" for the entire franchise.

[squirecam]

We are literally taking a page out of Aunt May's book when it comes to the Pete/MJ shipping so I doubt she'd feel slighted

In all honesty though, the thing I find most fascinating about the Spider-Mythos is MJ's very unlikely journey from starting out as a simple running gag, to being introduced as a foil to the then love interest, to replacing the actual love interest, to becoming the wife, and then eventually the "tsuris" for the entire franchise.

Aunt May died in #400. I don't know the person in the comic now but it's not her.

She had the perfect ending and of course Marvel had to ruin it.