The late 2000s saw major changes to the that One More Day was written in response to Spider-Man’s role in Civil War is incorrect. While secret identities have gradually fallen out of favor among Marvel’s superheroes, Spider-Man has consistently guarded his civilian identity as Peter Parker for much of his history. Spider-Man’s secret was shockingly revealed to the world in Civil War, but this development was not ideated before the controversial One More Day, according to the former’s writer.
The 7-part Marvel crossover story Civil War by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven sees Marvel’s pantheon divided over an initiative that would put all superheroes under government registration of regulation. The pro-registration side, led by Iron Man, originally includes Spider-Man, who, in a shocking development, reveals his identity to the world as a demonstration of his for Stark. This later leads to the disastrous near-death of Aunt May, who is fatally wounded in an attack meant to assassinate Spider-Man. In the controversial One More Day story, Spider-Man, in a controversial deal with Mephisto, saves Aunt May’s life in exchange for a major alteration to reality, which restores his secret identity and retroactively removes his marriage to Mary Jane Watson.
It is popularly believed that One More Day was written in response to Civil War’s major change to Spider-Man’s status quo, but Mark Millar revealed the truth in a 2016 interview with GamesRadar. Millar states:
“When you do a large event like that, you have to do something really big and we knew that there was a Spider-Man story coming up, where he was sort of going to be rebooted, so we kind of had a license to do anything we liked with him.”
While this certainly does not soften the blow of either Civil War or One More Day’s controversial choices regarding Spider-Man’s characterization, it does provide fascinating insights into the decisions made for both storylines, which arguably do a disservice to the web-slinger.
Civil War’s Spider-Man Shakeup Was Made For One More Day
Spider-Man’s secret identity of Peter Parker is one of his most closely guarded secrets for good reason. As one of the most mundane and relatable characters in Marvel’s pantheon, Peter Parker understands the danger that a public identity would pose to his loved ones, and given the viciousness of his rogues' gallery, many of whom are mobsters with a grudge against Spider-Man, he has good reason to disagree with Iron Man’s pro-registration movement from the get-go. Aunt May’s fatal injuries from a failed hit prove this point, making Spider-Man’s behavior all the more baffling. Ultimately, Spider-Man’s Civil War unmasking was intended to shock readers more than reflect Peter Parker’s characterization.
One More Day is often criticized for halting Spider-Man’s character development and locking him into perpetual imitations of the Stan Lee and Gerry Conway eras, and Millar’s interview only reinforces this. One of Spider-Man’s most endearing qualities is his naturalism and relative realism, which is maintained by his steady character progression and literal aging (despite Marvel’s sliding timescale) over the decades. If One More Day’s retcons were inevitable, regardless of Civil War making Spider-Man’s identity public, then both stories, unfortunately, do a disservice to the web-slinger, though the former was not written in response to the latter.
Source: GamesRadar
