ATSV's Spider-Dad Is The Growth Peter Parker Needed For Decades (& The Comics Should Follow Suit)

While seeing Peter and MJ continually split up, get back together, and repeat the cycle ad nauseum is difficult enough, the editorial mandate against Spider-Dad is also a major missed opportunity.

In "One More Day," Peter and MJ see visions of a redheaded daughter whose existence is canceled out by the same demonic pact that erases their marriage. That daughter is presumably Mayday, the same little kid who film audiences have immediately fell in love with. Spider-Man, as the everyman superhero, is perhaps the best character to explore such family dynamics with: how fun would it be to see him adding fatherhood to his list of responsibilities, whether it involves swinging after a spider-powered kid or telling her tales about her Great Uncle Ben? 

Such stories have been explored outside the main continuity, specifically in the alternate universe "Spider-Girl" comics. But again, that means every version of Peter except the main comics one gets to grow, while the default Peter stagnates, even though fatherhood feels like a natural next step for the hero.

The insistence on Peter being single ignores that other characters have only grown better with the addition of family lives. Most notably, the Fantastic Four's stories weren't ruined when Reed Richards and Sue Storm got married, much less when they had Franklin and Valeria. Instead, the kids added a new dimension to the team's stories. Right now, Marvel seems so afraid to disrupt the status quo that their most popular hero's main title has become somewhat of a chore to read. Reversing "One More Day," reinstating the marriage, and adding a character like Mayday would breathe new life into a comic that desperately needs it.