10 Insanely Dark Marvel Moments That Will Never Make It To Film

2. Spider-Man's Sperm Gives Mary Jane Cancer

Mary Jane Spider-Man Reign Cancer
Marvel Comics

Yes, you read that title correctly. Read it again. Let it sink in.

Marvel’s poster boy for so many years, it’s biggest selling star, it’s ultimate hero, Spider-Man was responsible for giving his ‘one true’ (sorry Gwen) cancer because he had unprotected sex with her over the years. Again, let that sink in.

The story itself was Spider-Man: Reign, which took just a little inspiration from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns in that an elderly Peter Parker is encouraged out of retirement by J. Jonah Jameson in order to take down a collection of villains and save the city.

How that story plays out is pretty disappointing in and of itself, but it’s the backstory to Parker’s situation that is even more eyebrow-raising. You see, he keeps having visions of his long-deceased MJ, which we later find out is caused by the immense guilt of him having caused the horrid cancer that took her life.

Going one further, it’s revealed that the cancer was inadvertently caused by Spidey’s overactive little webshooter regularly going off inside poor Mary Jane…

In this post: 
Marvel
 
First Posted On: 
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.