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Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Amazing Spider-Man #4!Buckle up, shippers, because Marvel Comics is finally giving an answer to which of Spider-Man’s love interests actually is Peter Parker’s soul mate. It’s a debate that has raged for years, long after his respective relationships with Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson came to an end. They both meant a lot to Peter, but who has his heart?
Peter lost one in a terrible accident and traded his marriage to the other to Mephisto, and in spite of Spider-Man having a lot of love interests over the years, these two remain on the forefront of his mind. Now his mind is being hijacked thanks to a drug that’s making him relive his worst fears and anxieties. This drug is forcing Spider-Man to confront everything in his life, including the love of his life, a shared role between Gwen and Mary Jane. But Gwen’s prominence hints that Spider-Man loved his first girlfriend a bit more than his wife.
Both Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson are Spider-Man’s True Love
Spider-Man Loved His Girlfriend As Much as His Wife
In The Amazing Spider-Man #4 by Joe Kelly, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, and Joe Caramagna, Spider-Man is in a production facility where the Hobgoblin is drugging a line of sodas with a poison that causes extreme anxiety and hallucinations. Spider-Man does his best to combat the Hobgoblin, but he’s still feeling the effects of his own poisoning and is trying to wrap up the fight before the hallucinations start again. Unfortunately, just as Spider-Man starts to put the pieces together, the memories of his past start to appear before his eyes.
Hobgoblin takes advantage of Peter’s non-lucid state and attacks him, but all Spider-Man can focus on is terrible memories of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May from his childhood. He recalls how frustrated they were when he began acting out and making friends with troublemakers. However, he slips back into reality and manages to hide from Hobgoblin and his partner, Itsy Bitsy. Spider-Man overhears the villains’ conversation and discovers Peter’s friend Brian has alerted the Justice Department about the drugged soda. Hobgoblin leaves to go kill Brian, triggering another hallucination in Spider-Man.
…what really gets Peter is a remark from Captain Stacy, who reminds Peter that he’s lost the love of his life twice.
Spider-Man thinks back on all the people he’s hurt, lost, or is potentially putting in serious danger. He hears judgmental words from Uncle Ben, words of doubt from Shay Marken, not to mention insults that cut Spider-Man to the core from Harry Osborn and Ben Reilly. But what really gets Peter is a remark from Captain Stacy, who reminds Peter that he’s lost the love of his life twice. Peter’s hallucination changes to a vision of both Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson, who look down at Spider-Man as he struggles to regain lucidity.
Peter’s Romance with Gwen Stacy Was Just as Strong as His Love for Mary Jane
Gwen’s Love Was Just a Bit More Powerful than Mary Jane
Granted, this is a vision meant to play on Spider-Man’s insecurities and fears, so the logic of it might be a little twisted. But it’s nonetheless interesting that, in some part of Peter’s mind, he considers Gwen and Mary Jane the two biggest loves of his life. To be fair, that’s pretty much how it is in real-life, as well. But in-universe, Peter and Gwen didn’t exactly date that long. They dated for an extended period, sure, but before it was magically undone by Mephisto, Spider-Man was married to MJ for years.
Gwen was obviously special to Peter. Her death hit him harder than most and it’s clear that even all these years later, he’s still not over her. Spider-Man almost certainly still loves Mary Jane as well. But for all the history Peter and MJ share, in Spider-Man’s head, he’s still comparing it to the time he spent with Gwen. Gwen wasn’t just Peter’s first girlfriend, she was arguably the greatest love that Spider-Man ever had and, on some level, he honestly believes that.
The Amazing Spider-Man #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
“}]] Which person really has Spider-Man’s heart? Read More