For their arguably flagship superhero, Marvel has really given Spider-Man the short end of the stick as hes appeared on this list three times now, however One More Day without a doubt takes the top spot due the unanimous amount of negativity from the fanbase and a huge betrayal of both Peter Parker and Mary Janes core traits by completely dissolving their marriage. Aunt May was dying due to a gunshot she had received in the aftermath of Marvels Civil War, inadvertently caused by Peters actions. Spidey searches for every which way to save her life, but came up with nothing to save her until Mephisto - a demon from Hell - offered to give May her life back on the condition he remove Peter and MJs marriage from history because their happiness disgusted him. After going back and forth on the deal, they both agree to it - if Mephisto also erased the knowledge of Spider-Mans identity from the world since he revealed it during 'Civil War'. This is entirely uncharacteristic of both these characters as they essentially made a deal with the devil, especially when Aunt May would have given her life to ensure Peter and MJs happiness. Marvels decision angered many fans and creators alike, nearly forcing writer J. Michael Straczynski to take his name off the final two issues because he didnt agree with Marvels editorial mandate. Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada had long been outspoken about his dislike of Spider-Mans marriage, feeling it aged him too much and made him less relatable for most Spider-Man readers. Reaction to One More Day was so bad, in fact, that Quesada was booed off-stage at several comic-cons following the storys conclusion and still faces that amount of treatment today. Because of all this, One More Day stands as the most inexplicable and hated of all retcons for what it did to everyones favourite wall-crawler. Are there any glaring retcons that made you leave an arc or character in disgust? Let us know in the comments!
Richard Church has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in Television Writing and Producing. He is an aspiring writer for short stories, novels and screenplays. He is also an avid fan of comic books and graphic novels.
