The Husband or the Spider?

This story takes place following the events of Civil War #5….

Since the start of Civil War, on the nights when she can sleep,[1] Mary Jane has been having the same nightmare. In it, she finds herself standing in the middle of a Roman coliseum. As she gets over the initial disorientation she then notices all of Spider-Man’s enemies are in the stands jeering and shouting at her and saying the vilest things imaginable.[2] Covering her ears to block out the noise, Mary Jane turns and is shocked to see that Tony Stark is sitting in the emperor’s seat, saying that it is a fine day for it. She is even more shocked to see Gwen Stacy in the seat next to him. Gwen then turns to Tony and tells him that they should get started as she is meeting Norman Osborn on the bridge in a half hour.[3] That’s when Madame Web appears beside Mary Jane, who is glad to see an ally of her husband. Madame Web presents Mary Jane with two doors. She tells Mary Jane that behind one is a man, her prize and the other the spider, her doom. Told to choose, Mary Jane always opens the wrong door and is attacked by a hideous spider-monster.

Awake, Mary Jane puts on the planest looking clothes she can leave their hotel room without being recognized. She realizes that this is a huge change form her usual late-night attire when she used to make page six of the newspaper. As she leaves, she finds Aunt May sitting in the dark. May tells Mary Jane that she has been up worrying about Peter and how many changes he has been going through and is worried he’ll break soon. However, Mary Jane has given up on underestimating May’s nephew, and she doesn’t think there is anything that Peter can bounce back from. At that same moment, Peter is out as Spider-Man trying to stop the Rhino’s latest rampage. Back at the hotel, May says she has a hard time seeing Peter as anything more than the skinny little kid that she took into her home. Not wanting to take any longer, Mary Jane interrupts to ask if May needs anything from the store. May says she is fine sitting at home with her memories. That’s when she asks Mary Jane if she’s planning on coming back from wherever she is going. Mary Jane assures her that she is coming right back because there was nowhere she can go.

Still, once out on the streets, Mary Jane goes to the Port Authority and debates taking one of the many busses leaving the city. She is then approached by a woman who recognizes her. However, Mary Jane denies who she is and the woman — adding insult to injury — says that up close she realized she was mistaken, saying “Mrs. Spider-Man” is much prettier looking. It takes all of Mary Jane’s strength not to pummel the woman and she is later sitting on a park bench wondering who she can talk to. She then remembers how Sue Richards, aka the Invisible Woman, said that Mary Jane could always call her if she ever needed someone to talk to.[4] To her surprise, Sue answers Mary Jane’s call and has time to meet. Along the way, Mary Jane happens upon the theater where she was supposed to perform in Macbeth. The show has been postponed and she remembers how the producer decided to shelf the show after all the negative publicity that Mary Jane is bringing to the publication after her husband renounced the Super-Human Registration Act. Eventually, Mary Jane ends up at the wax museum in Times Square. There, Sue meets with her (all be it invisibly) in the Hall of Heroes and suggests they have their conversation in the cafeteria.

Once in the mostly empty cafeteria, Sue is able to drop her invisibility so they can sit down and have an actual conversation. Mary Jane admits that she is still getting used to the world of superheroes even after spending time living with the New Avengers.[5] When Mary Jane asks how Sue’s relationship is going with her husband, Sue admits that things between her and Reed are as bad as the newspaper is reporting.[6] That’s when Sue asks how things are going between Mary Jane and Peter. MJ is at a loss for words at first but finds it easier to talk about. She admits that they are overwhelmed and exhausted. She just doesn’t understand how Sue can deal with this on a regular basis. Sue admits that it is never easy and says that it all boils down to how much Mary Jane is willing to sacrifice. Mary Jane admits that it doesn’t feel like she is living right now and that she is sacrificing more and more of herself every day. When Sue asks if she still loves Peter, Mary Jane admits that she still does. Sue then has some harsh advice for her: toughen up. After confirming that Mary Jane knew that Peter was Spider-Man before they got married, she points out that she knew what she was getting into.[7] She points out that every woman who has married a superhero made a choice and now that they are at war it’s not time to buckle, it’s time for Mary Jane to show how resilient her love for Peter is.[8] Getting up to leave, Mary Jane points out one difference between her and the women Sue mentioned — they all have super-powers and she does not.

Walking alone in the rain thinking about everything Sue says, Mary Jane can’t help but think about what happened to poor Gwen Stacy. This reminds her of how she was there for Peter after hearing about Gwen’s death. She waited for Peter at his apartment and when she offered her sympathies, Peter lashed out at her, thinking she couldn’t possibly know his hurt and told her to leave. At first, Mary Jane considered leaving, but seeing Peter crying on the couch, Mary Jane decided to stay by his side.[9]

Now she finds herself standing at the door of the motel room they have been staying at and she has another decision to make. Suddenly, she finds herself in the dream again. Madame Web tells Mary Jane to choose her fate. She thinks about her wedding day and how she accepted their vows,[10] and he thinks about how he stood by Peter when he decided to reveal his identity to the public. She turns to Madame Web and the others that she made her choice a long time ago and they can all go to hell. She then opens one of the doors and for a brief moment, she finds Peter standing in the living room welcoming her home and that she won the jackpot.[11] That’s when Mary Jane snaps back to reality and is horrified by the sight she sees. Aunt May is cradling Peter’s broken and bloody form asking Mary Jane for help.

Recurring Characters

Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man, Rhino, Aunt May

Continuity Notes

1. Just so we’re all on the same page, here’s where this story takes place in the scheme of the Civil War event:

   • The Super-Human Registration Act was called in effect after the New Warriors accidentally destroy the city of Stamford, Connecticut in Civil War #1.

   • Convinced to support the Act, Peter Parker was convinced to unmask in Amazing Spider-Man #532-533 and Civil War #2.

   • Peter started having second thoughts through the course of Civil War #3-4 and Amazing Spider-Man #534.

   • Eventually, Peter defected in Civil War #5 and Amazing Spider-Man #535-536 making him a fugitive from the law.

2. \In this story, Mary Jane refers to Peter as her husband. However, not long after this, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the altered timeline, Peter would be referred as her fiancee instead of her husband.

3. This is a rather off-color joke referring to the fact that Gwen Stacy was murdered on the George Washington Bridge by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121.

4. The Invisible Woman made this offer to Mary Jane in Amazing Spider-Man #533.

5. Peter, Mary Jane, and Aunt May all moved into Stark Tower after their homes were destroyed by Charlie Weiderman in Amazing Spider-Man #518.

6. Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman’s have been married since Fantastic Four Annual #3. Around the time of this story, their marriage has been in dire straits since the start of the Civil War. The damage done to their marriage is chronicled in Fantastic Four #538-543. The couple will spend time working on fixing their marriage from Fantastic Four #544 to 553.

7. There is a brief flashback here of Mary Jane revealing to Peter that she has known he was Spider-Man for years. That’s from Amazing Spider-Man #257. However, as revealed in Marvel Graphic Novel #46, Mary Jane has known Peter was Spider-Man since the night he went to avenge the death of Uncle Ben circa Amazing Fantasy #15.

8. There are a number of married couples here they are:

   • Jessica Jone and Luke Cage were married in New Avengers Annual #1.

   • Storm of the X-Men and the Black Panther got married in Black Panther (vol. 4) #18.

9. Mary Jane attempted to console Peter after Gwen’s death in Amazing Spider-Man #122.

10. Peter and Mary Jane were married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, after Mephisto altered reality they never got married and remained engaged, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #640-641. In the altered timeline, Mary Jane would likely be remembering the night Peter and Mary Jane decided to remain engaged instead of their wedding day.

11. “Face it Tiger, You Just Hit the Jackpot” is the first thing Mary Jane said to Peter when they met as adults in Amazing Spider-Man #42.

Topical References

• The wax museum in this story is identified as Madame Tussauds. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a chain of wax museums that exist in the real world.