- The J.J. Abrams Spider-Man comic kills spoilers,
and fans are pissed.
It's considered by many fans to be the worst decision
that Marvel ever made in regards to Spider-Man.
And we're not talking about the Sony-Marvel break up,
although that was pretty bad.
No, we're talking
about the 2007-2008 Spider-Man comic book storyline,
One More Day, where Peter Parker literally makes
a deal with the devil to sacrifice his marriage
to Mary Jane in order to save Aunt May's life
and erase the world's memory of going public
with his secret identity, but according to some fans,
thanks to the new Spider-Man comic
from director-writer J.J. Abrams and his son, Henry,
that top honor may go to them.
After being teased out for months,
the first issue of the duo's new mini-series
finally hit store shelves on Wednesday,
and needless to say, it's definitely going
for the shock value.
- Yeah, thank you, so much, I don't know who I thanked.
- Now, before we go any further,
we are telling you right now that we are spoiling
a major character death in this book.
So if you haven't had a chance to read it
or you just hate spoilers in general,
now is your time to pull out your web shooters
and swing on out of here.
- Pizza time. - So.
What is the big death that has got fans in a twist?
Mary Jane Watson. (dramatic music)
That's right, J.J. and his son kill off Mary Jane
in the first six pages of the book,
and it only goes from there.
After her funeral, the book picks up 12 years later
with Spider-Man's son Ben Parker still grieving the loss
of his mother and discovering he too has Spider-Man powers.
Also, Peter Parker now has a beard and a hook hand.
Now to be fair with the time jumps and sudden appearance
of his son, it's very clear that this book
does not take place
in the official main Marvel comic continuity,
designated and calmly referred to as Earth-616.
But seriously, killing off a female character
in order to motivate the son?
What is this, a 1994 Green Lantern comic?
While some fans might argue that this is just a twist
on the killing Uncle Ben storyline,
other fans would argue that the move is sexist
and falls back on the age old trope of fridging women,
the practice of killing a wife, girlfriend, sister, mother,
in order to give the male character
a tragic, emotional arc.
Of course, it didn't take long for the fans
to hit up the internet with their thoughts
and opinions about the controversial decision.
Like @crowkids who wrote, "The fact that J'Jabrams and Son
"made terrible sexist choices in their Spider-Man comic
"should not have consequences on my anticipation
"for the last Star Wars film,
"and yet it immediately does."
Hey, hey.
Let's keep the criticisms to one franchise at a time.
Then, there was @TheCarpetIsLava, who made no bones
about their opinions on the book,
"I wish I could send a message back in time to myself
"that says don't read the Abram's Spider-Man comic.
"You will be so mad at yourself after
"because it's poop!
"So if you are reading this heed my words!"
Well, good luck with that.
Of course, not every comment was dripping with hatred.
Some found the book very middle of the road,
like @RacattackForce, who wrote,
"Completely forgot that J.J. Abrams and Son
"are doing a Spider-Man comic.
"Issue #1 is pretty meh.
"The only novel thing about it is that Pete and MJ's
"first-born in this universe is a boy
"rather than a girl.
"Everything else is either just okay,
"or seriously, you're doing that?"
Doing that, it's done, buddy.
And some readers like @Matt_FOS were completely
on board for the issue.
"That J.J. Abrams Spider-Man comic is quite good.
"I imagine Spider-Man fans will absolutely loathe it."
Well, you're right about that.
In fact, we have one of those Spider fans right here.
Executive producer, B. Comp.
- Yep, not happy. - Of course, the other tragedy
of this choice is that it seems to be doubling down
on Marvel's decision to keep doing MJ dirty.
Ever since the One More Day storyline
that forced the Parker's marriage to dissolve,
all in a bid to make Spider-Man young and single
and therefore relatable, fans have been clamoring
to get them back together.
Much of the reason fans can relate to Spider-Man
is his growth as a character
and getting married and dealing with the realities
of relationship while wearing the mask
is why they love him.
A prime example being Peter B. Parker
from Into the Spider-Verse.
And with the recent main continuity comics
teasing out a possible re-engagement
between MJ and Peter, and then pulling it
at the last second, this latest twist
just seems to highlight just how much Marvel
really cares about Mary Jane Watson.
Now, this is only just the first issue,
and who knows, part of the storyline
could revolve around Ben Parker going back in time
to save his mom's life and in the process,
sacrificing his own life in a Donnie Darko-like
because-comics twist, who knows?
We will just have to wait and see how all of this
plays out over the six issue run.
However, for many fans, this first chapter
is a bit of a shaky start, but what do you folks think?
Are you mad that they killed off MJ,
or is this just par for the course for comics?
Would you prefer to see J.J. Abrams tackle
another comic book character?
And is it just us, or is this comic eerily similar
to the Spider-Girl comics of the late '90s?
A futurist retired Spider-Man, also has a child
with Spider-powers, plus he's grown a beard
and is also missing a limb, hm, let's discuss.
Thanks for watching.
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