Spider-Man might be one of the most beloved heroes of all time, but his comics haven’t exactly been at the top of fans’ adulation in the past few years—or rather, at least Spidey’s primary book, Amazing Spider-Man, hasn’t. Mired in controversy for myriad reasons, even as the book has changed hands and moved into new storytelling eras, disgruntled webheads have spent ages pinning what ails the book on a singular character: Paul Rabin, who might make a pretty decent case for the most unpopular character at Marvel Comics right now.
Introduced back in 2022 as a shock twist on Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s rekindling of their romantic relationship—something that had broadly remained off-limits in mainline Marvel continuity ever since the aforementioned “One More Day” storyline in 2007 that saw Mephisto supernaturally erase their marriage from existence in exchange for Aunt May’s life—Paul was the son of a mysterious villain called the Emissary from the alternate world of Earth-23321.
Hopping through the multiverse battling their version of the Emissary, Mary Jane was forced to send Peter back to Earth-616 without her—only to find when they reunited that multiversal time dilation had led to MJ and Paul spending four years together, adopting two children and falling in love, bringing to an end once more Peter and MJ’s relationship. Much to the furor of fans, Paul made his way back to Earth-616 and has continued to be a prominent part of MJ’s life ever since.
Meanwhile, MJ’s life has gotten increasingly hectic recently—after a few issues of mystery, it was confirmed earlier this year that she is the latest host of the Venom symbiote and the star of Al Ewing, Carlos Gomez, and Frank D’Armata’s All-New Venom ongoing after months of speculation over who the new Venom could be. Speculation that fans dreaded could include Paul taking on the mantle, despite the fact he’s not really had much of a plotline beyond his romantic connection to MJ since the end of the Emissary arc (you know, the one that killed Ms. Marvel so she could immediately get better and be retconned as a mutant to match her MCU iteration—like we said, a series that has been mired in controversy these past few years!). Irritation with Paul’s arc remained at a fever pitch: if he could be the new Venom, then he was going to stick around for the foreseeable future and become even more important in the tangled web of Spider-friends, foes, and frenemies. And if he wasn’t, he wasn’t really being given much to do narratively other than, in the eyes of fans yearning to see MJ and Peter back together again, exist as a human-shaped doorstop preventing that from happening.
All that brings us to today’s All-New Venom #9, which climaxes with a conversation between MJ and Paul that has been brewing for a long time in the background of the series. Stressed by both MJ’s current life as Venom and the rigors of acting as guardians for Eddie Brock’s estranged son, Dylan, Paul attempts to apologize to MJ for being part of the reason she bonded with the symbiote in the first place and the resentment they’ve both felt at the situation (especially, in Paul’s case, MJ hiding her identity as Venom from him for a while). Wanting to commit to their relationship, Paul tells her he loves her… only for MJ to tell him that she’s done with trying to make their struggling relationship work, ending the issue by breaking up with him.
There’ll be no popping bottles for Spider-Man fans just yet, however. Even if Paul and MJ’s relationship really is over and the final pages of All-New Venom #9 aren’t a cliffhanger fakeout, things are not exactly peachy between MJ and Peter Parker right now, either. Amazing Spider-Man #9, also out this week from Joe Kelly, Michael Dowling, and Marte Gracia, picks up a few weeks after the prior issue saw Peter get his ass handed to him by a mysterious armored entity known only as Hellgate. Nursing an injured leg, the issue details that Peter has grown distant from those in his life and his duties as Spider-Man, focusing on his work at Rand Enterprises rather than crime-fighting or even talking to Aunty May and his current girlfriend, Shay Marken.
Just as All-New Venom #9 did this week, the issue climaxes with MJ having an awkward, long-awaited conversation. Appearing outside Peter’s apartment on Aunt May’s behalf, the tone is frosty between her and Peter, even before MJ finally reveals to him that she is the new host of Venom. Instead of being shocked or surprised, or even reacting much at all, Peter turns his back on her and slams his door shut, telling MJ that she and Venom deserve each other.
Womp womp. Spider-Man may not be getting an MJ and Peter romance again any time soon, it seems. Well, outside of the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man… well, until that ends with its 24th issue at the end of this year. Regardless of where Paul goes now in terms of either MJ’s or Peter’s stories, the relationship drama that has defined much of Peter’s messy social circles over and over throughout his long comics history is going to stay messy for now… whether fans want it to be or not.
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