The Infinite Spider-Man is a series of mini-essays looking at Marvel's options for the future of their most popular character.
Fair warning: as the character's romantic life figures into many of these determinations, I'm going to spend an absurd amount of time dealing with the issue of whether Spidey should be married.
This is based on an earlier series I wrote years ago for another website.
The Introduction
- Part 1.1 starts with musings on the awesomeness of Spider-Man and why "The Infinite Spider-Man" was chosen as the title for this piece.
- Part 1.2 is about when I determined that the Spider-Man books could be better, circa 2006.
- Part 1.3 explores the question of whether Spider-Man's marriage is worth discussing at all.
- Part 1.4 looks at why the continuation of the marriage was taken for granted.
- Part 1.5 was about how I decided it was worth reconsidering whether Spider-Man should stay married.
Does Spider-Man Being Single Allow for More Stories?
In my opinion, the most significant argument regarding whether Spidey should have stayed married was about making him single allowed for more stories.
- In Part 2.1 I looked at the stories writers can tell that require Spidey to be married.
- In Part 2.2 I looked at the extent to which the marriage made a difference in the past.
- In Part 2.3 I looked at the dating stories you can only tell if Peter isn't married to MJ.
- And in Part 2.4 I looked at the other types of stories writers could tell in that situation.
Retcons and What I would have done
Since I started pondering the question of how to retcon away the marriage before One More Day was published, my solution was slightly different from the finished product. Both involved retcons, which was something many readers were instinctively opposed to.
- In Part 3.1 I described what I would have done, a slightly different type of retcon to what was published.
- In Part 3.2, I tried defining retcons, and providing examples.
- Part 3.3 is about the opposition to retcons in general.
- Part 3.4 is about whether retcons make things too convoluted.
- Part 3,5 is about the Parallel Lives retcon.
What Marvel was expected to do
As readers had months to speculate about One More Day, many developed their own theories about what would happen, some involving new developments with some of the most controversial stories in Spider-Man history. Since One More Day has come out, it's been compared to two other proposed retcons.
- Part 4.1 is about the Sins Past retcon.
- Part 4.2 is about Howard Mackie and John Byrne's Shaper of Worlds retcon, and whether Gwen Stacy's death should have been undone.
- Part 4.3 looks at how JMS's version of One More Day would have differed from Quesada's version.
- Part 4,4 is about the hope that Peter Parker's baby is somehow alive.
- In Part 4.5, I asked whether Aunt May should have been killed off.
- Part 4.6 was about whether Harry Osborn should have been resurrected.
What Marvel Actually Did
Afterwards, it was time to look at what actually happened in One More Day.
- In Part 5.1, I looked at what the published version of OMD accomplished.
- Part 5.2 is about Mephisto's role in One More Day.
- Part 5.3 about whether it was characteristic of Peter and MJ to take the deal.
- Part 5.4 is about whether the time travel aspects made sense.
- Part 5.5 is about whether Marvel's explanations have been sufficient.
- The next part is about whether writers might be scared away.
- Part 5.7 is about whether the quality of One More Day even matters.
- Part 5.8 addresses minor complaints about the story.
- Part 5.9 looks at how OMD was a significant departure from what had occurred before.
The Commitment to Change
Afterwards, it was time to look at another approaches Marvel could have taken with the Spider-Man comics: a commitment to change.
- Part 6.1 is about whether writers should commit to all changes, and whether the characters should be allowed to "grow."
- Part 6.2 looks at whether there should be a new generation of Marvel superheroes.
- That was followed by a piece on whether the 616 Spider-Man could be replaced by a new version of Miles Morales.
- And this led to the question of whether Ben Reilly could help solve the problems with the commitment to change approach.
- That was followed by the ultimate question regarding the Commitment to Change. Should the story of the Marvel Universe be allowed to end?
- The next question was whether it would have been better for Peter and MJ to get divorced. Or for Spider-Man to be a widower.
- A follow-up question was whether a long term divorce would have been better, in keeping with the character growth theme.
The Alternatives
Then it was time to look at the other approaches Marvel could have taken with the Spider-Man comics.
- Part 7.1 is about whether they could have focused entirely on the superhero side, or splintered Peter's personal life across multiple titles.
- Part 7.2 is about whether the supporting cast could be the ones with the interesting personal lives, instead of the lead of the book.
- Part 7.3 is about whether it's possible to have Spider-Man be entirely self-contained with no running subplots.
- Part 7.4 is about the idea of having two parallel contradictory Spider-Man titles within the shared Marvel Universe.
- Chapter 7.5 looks at whether the Spider-Man titles outside of the shared Marvel Universe can be a substitute for an ideal status quo in Amazing Spider-Man.
- Part 7.6 looks at the possibility of replacing the shared Universe with multiple titles, each with their own continuity.
- Part 7.7 features a look at the "good writers" argument: that the status quo doesn't matter if the writers are good.
- Part 7.8 is about whether Mary Jane should have been better written.
Other Titles
Then it was time to look at the ways other franchises and companies explored similar issues, starting with DC's superhero families.
- Part 8.2 is about how other Marvel titles handle superhero marriages.
- Part 8.3 looks at superhero families in Image, manga and film.
- Part 8.4 is about whether Green Lantern: Rebirth should provide hope to fans hoping for a restoration of the spider-marriage.
- Part 8.5 compares One More Day to the dissolution of Lois and Clark's marriage in Flashpoint.
Reasons One More Day Should Be Reversed
Then it was time to look at the various arguments against doing a One More Day retcon.
- First, there's the question of whether it made it too transparent for new readers what can and can't happen in the Spider-Man comics.
- Though that raises the question of what fans "know" about the direction of the series.
- Which leads to the question of whether less savvy readers are being misled.
- The next complaints to be addressed are interrelated: Can the current stories have been told just as well decades ago? Are the stories repetitive? Could editors and writers depend on reader turnover?
Later sections will feature more of the arguments against the retcon, and arguments in favor of the Illusion of Change approach.
More entries are coming soon. This index will be regularly updated as that happens.
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