Reader beware! Spoilers for The Avengers #1 are incoming…
The Avengers 1 (2026) by Chip Zdarsky. Cover art by Marco Checchetto
And it’s all to do with One More Day.
This month, The Avengers #1 hit shelves with a bang. As our heroes emerge from the wake of Armageddon. Spider-Man, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Captain Marvel, Wolverine, and Miracle Man, is shaking up the status quo for The Avengers. While the Marvel Universe is potentially poised to break out in a world war over super-powered rights, the hot topic of this issue isn’t the global unease or steamy tension between Daredevil and Captain Marvel. No, it’s all about Spider-Man.
Nearly twenty years ago, J Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada released One More Day. Famously (or infamously), after the events of Civil War, Aunt May found herself on her deathbed. Peter, desperate to save her life, made a deal with Mephisto. As a result, in exchange for Aunt May’s life, Mephisto wanted Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage. And for the past two decades, Spider-Man fans have ached and pained for its reversal.
Following Chip Zdarsky’s Captain America run and The Avengers Armageddon #1-5, it looked like Zdarsky might be angling to undo this long-loathed breakup between Peter and Mary Jane!
Surprisingly, at the end of The Avengers #1, a mysterious girl confronts Spider-Man. She reveals that not only his deal with Mephisto, but all deals, “are finished.”
What in the world does this mean?
This moment made Spidy-Fans sit up and speculate whether Zdarsky is about to restore Peter and MJ’s marriage? Is May Parker a possibility once more? Is twenty years of frustration finally coming to an end?
Probably not
Zdarsky was a guest on Dom of X, where he made his position on One More Day quite clear, saying, “I’m not the guy to bring those characters back together…I’m not that guy.“
He went on to say that One More Day created a heightened sense of importance for their relationship. And he’s not wrong. However, in comics, there are a handful of relationships that, for one reason or another, are cemented. Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Gambit and Rogue. And of course, Peter Parker and Mary Jane.
Indeed, it’s almost impossible to pair certain characters with new love interests that ignite the same level of excitement for readers. However, some pairs are just… eternal! And for better or worse, Peter and Mary Jane fall into that camp.
Zdarsky went on to say, “Like, once there’s deal with the devil because your love is so strong, it kind of enshrines that forever. I get why fans for decades now have looked at that and been ‘they were meant to be together’.“
While he’s not wrong, One More Day is not entirely to blame. In reality, most Spider-Man media is. It is hard to find an animated series, film, or other non-canonical stories or comics, like the Ultimates, that do not pair Peter with Mary Jane. Indeed, whatever it is, there is something about these two that fans crave to see them together.
However, Zdarsky points out that, “Well, no one’s meant to be together in fiction. That’s not how it works. But that story [One More Day] really made it feel that way, by making it as big of a decision and so important….this a big martyr moment for them.“
Do Spider-Man fans need to manage their expectations, finally? Perhaps. But after twenty years, this should urge Marvel to create a new dynamite love interest who can dwarf Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy!
Nevertheless, do not expect Zdarsky to retcon One More Day in The Avengers. He’s not that guy.
However, What do you think? Zdarsky might not undo One More Day, but do you think it could happen in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man?
