Published Mar 14, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT
Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor.
Spider-Man fans are hopeless romantics, and Marvel is teasing them again, dangling the possibility of the one retcon they've wanted for decades: the return of Peter Parker and Mary Jane's marriage. But 2026 is a milestone year for the Spider-Man franchise, and if Marvel were ever going to do it, now would be the time.
Peter and MJ haven't been "the Parkers" in Marvel's mainstream canon since 2007, when their marriage was mystically annulled. Yet lately, they've been featured as a couple in several prominent alternate continuity sources.
Marvel says this is just its way of giving fans what they want, but some still believe it's more "testing the waters" for their canon marriage to return.
Spider-Man's Infamous "One More Day" Retcon Is Nearing 20 Years Old; Is It Too Late To Undo?
Marvel Can't Fix Past Mistakes, But Can It Salvage Peter & Mary Jane's Future?
2007's One More Day is one of the most hated stories in Marvel history. The story was designed to reboot Spider-Man canon in one specific way: erase Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane. By that measure, it was a success. However, fan reaction to the storyline, and the retcon, were deeply critical.
At the time, the consensus was that One More Day was ill-conceived, and not much better executed. Peter's deal with Mephisto, in which he agrees to erase his marriage from existence, never felt quite right. And knowledge of the editorial edict behind the retcon poisoned the well, so to speak. Fans were against it from the very beginning.
Marvel has steadfastly refused to walk back One More Day in the 19 years since. And that might never change. Still, there's more buzz among Spider-Man fans about Peter and MJ's marriage than there has been in years. It feels possible that Marvel might be ready to give the iconic couple another shot.
A Generation Of Spider-Man Fans Have Grown Up Idolizing Peter And Mary Jane As The GOAT Marvel Couple
It Could Finally Be Time For Them To Get Their Version Of The Classic Romance
Peter Parker and Mary Jane were married way back in 1987. It was the culmination of a years-long relationship arc that started as a friendship, went through its "will they/won't they" phase, and finally settled into a long-term relationship that led to marriage. Behind-the-scenes, it was never a very popular decision at Marvel Comics.
With fans, it was a different story. Especially for the generation of readers who grew up with MJ and Peter as a couple in the 1990, the couple was the defining Marvel love story. These were the same readers who were coming of age just as Marvel finally got fed up with the Parkers and One More Day happened.
Now, the post-One More Day, post-marriage era has lasted almost as long as the tenure of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage. Yet a curious thing happened: fans of the last 20 years have grown up hating One More Day, and revering the Peter/MJ "ship" even more than '90s kids.
Spider-Man Is On The Path To A Huge Milestone; Only One Thing Could Really Make It Special
A Peter/MJ Reunion Would Make The Most Of The Moment
Marvel's refusal to undo One More Day has only made Parker 'shippers more rabid. This has been compounded by comics like Ultimate Spider-Man, which featured Peter and MJ as married adults with kids. And then there's Spider-Man '94, which continues the Animated Series canon, where the couple just got engaged.
With these stories, Marvel has "market tested" Peter and Mary Jane's marriage, and confirmed its overwhelming popularity. This might not lead to a mystical restoration of their original marriage, in a reverse of One More Day, but it could convince Marvel to finally start the characters down the road to getting married again.
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It’s True, Spider-Man’s Wedding to MJ Came This Close to Falling Apart
Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's engagement is possibly the messiest, most soap opera-coded story in Marvel lore; here's what happened.
Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker did date again post-One More Day, and it didn't end well. The pair still have to fully reconcile before they could become a couple again, with marriage a far-off horizon beyond that. That said, Spider-Man is building toward a huge milestone, and a Peter/MJ reunion could be the biggest thing the franchise could do to celebrate.
"Amazing Spider-Man #1000" Is The Perfect Time To Get Mary Jane & Peter Back Together
Marvel's Webslinger Hits A Huge Anniversary In September 2026
Marvel's current volume of The Amazing Spider-Man is currently releasing 2x a month. That puts it on track to hit Amazing Spider-Man #36 in early September. This is a big deal, because if you count every issue of Amazing Spider-Man going back to the 1960s, September's issue will double as Amazing Spider-Man #1000.
Yes, by Marvel's "legacy numbering" system, Spider-Man is about to be the first title to reach a thousand issues. We don't know what the groundbreaking issue will look like yet. Marvel has only released solicitations through May's Amazing Spider-Man #29. What we do know is that Marvel is going to pull out all the stops to make Amazing Spider-Man #1000 special.
Fans shouldn't get their hopes up that #1000 is going to full-on address the sins of One More Day, as Spider-Man fans consider them. It's fair to say Marvel is looking forward with its plans for the Webslinger, not backward. The start of a new era for Peter Parker and Mary Jane's love, though, seems like a more realistic thing to hope for.
Restarting Peter & MJ's Relationship Is The Right Move For The Future Of Spider-Man
The Franchise Is Ready To Revisit The Legendary Power Couple
Let's say for the sake of conversation that Marvel does get Mary Jane and Peter Parker back together. The moment they declare their love for each other once more, and share their first kiss in years? That's going to be big. What will it look like in the long-term, though? For some perspective, let's consider how things unfolded the first time around.
Marvel first put Mary Jane and Peter Parker together as a couple in 1975. It was 1987 when they finally got married. That's twelve years worth of stories. If they get together again now, there's no reason their relationship wouldn't follow a similar, protracted timeline. If another marriage plot did eventually happen, it might not be until circa 2037.
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Marvel Has Only One Path to Fix Its Most Controversial Spider-Man Story
The Amazing Spider-Man hasn't been the same in a long while, and only one proposed story event could possibly unearth it from the rut it is in.
That would be thirty full years since Marvel nixed MJ and Peter's first marriage. Which is almost equal to the span of time from when they started dating to One More Day. Marvel history has a way of repeating itself, or at least rhyming, and so this would be fitting, even if it's a lot of patience to ask of fans.
September 2026. Mark your calendars Marvel fans. That's when Amazing Spider-Man #1000 drops. After all these years, it might be foolish to get our hopes up about Peter and Mary Jane's love story, but the chances are better than they have been in a long time that Spider-Man fans will get what they've been asking for.
Speak up, Marvel fans. Do you think it's worth hoping for Marvel to bring back Peter & MJ as a couple?
First Appearance Amazing Fantasy
Alias Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
Alliance Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
Race Human
English (US) ·