10 Things Marvel Wants You To Forget About Spider-Man
7. Spider-Man The Cad
It is difficult to find a Spider-Man romance that ended well. Gwen Stacy, his first love, inadvertently had her neck snapped by Spidey's webbing during a confrontation with the Green Goblin, and Mary Jane Watson had her marriage annulled to Peter Parker via a deal her husband made with the devil, Mephisto.
Sadly, one should add 'Peter is a big fat jerk' to his list of transgressions against women. At numerous times in Spider-Man comic book history, Peter has acted unjustifiably cruel to potential love interests. In grad school, one of Peter's colleagues, the timid Deb Whitman, clearly has a crush on him, but he doesn't feel anything for her in kind. But instead of just letting her down gently, Peter goes out on a couple of dates with Deb, only to bail on her suddenly to attend to his Spider-Man duties. Deb would eventually get her revenge on Peter, penning the book Two Face: How Spider-Man Ruined My Life.
In another demonstration of Spider-Man's less-than-chivalrous ways, Peters very first crush, Betty Brant, tells her former fling that she has left her husband, Daily Bugle reporter (and Peter's colleague) Ned Leeds. Peter entertains the idea of getting back together with Betty, but backs out only after discovering that Betty hadn't legally separated from Ned. Peter's indecisiveness drives Betty back into Ned's arms.