George R. R. Martin Calls Out One of Marvel’s Most Debated Stories
George R. R. Martin shared some strong thoughts about modern comic book storytelling during a chat with Popverse. He said he has always enjoyed reading comics because there are so many stories to go through, but he also admitted that certain trends in the industry bother him.
According to Popverse, Martin said he gets frustrated when long-running stories are changed or erased. He said he spends years following characters, only for publishers to suddenly wipe big parts of their past.
He explained this by saying, “I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit. I sometimes… I don’t like retcons. I don’t like reboots. You know, I’m watching, I’m following a character or a superhero or something for years, sometimes decades, and then they come and say, ‘Oh, no. None of that stuff happened. We’re just going to start the whole thing over again.’ That always annoys the hell out of me.”
He pointed to Marvel as an example and brought up a moment that still sparks debate among fans. Martin said, “Peter Parker married Mary Jane,” before noting that Marvel later erased that marriage from the Spider-Man timeline.
He was talking about the One More Day story, which led into Brand New Day. In those comics, Peter and Mary Jane made a deal with Mephisto that caused their marriage to disappear. Martin added, “You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But what can you do?”
The decision to erase Spider-Man’s marriage remains one of Marvel’s most divisive moves. Many readers believed Peter and Mary Jane’s relationship showed real growth for the character. They had been together for a long time, and their marriage was a major part of Spider-Man’s life. When Marvel removed it, fans felt the company forced the character backward just to keep him single and younger.
The way the story handled the change also upset people. Using a supernatural deal to rewrite decades of continuity made some feel that the emotional weight of the relationship was tossed aside too easily. Even today, the storyline is often mentioned as an example of retcons that upset loyal fans.
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