I find it weird how marriage is seen as an interest-killing dead end for hetero couples like Peter and Mary Jane, Scott and Jean, Bruce and Selina, but the same editorial crew will jump for joy about getting to marry gay couples like Hulkling and Wiccan or Northstar and... whoever he's with.
Anyone corner Dan Slott to ask why a married Spider-Man is unspeakably boring, but a married Northstar means endless storytelling opportunities?
As I understand it, Slott has said repeatedly that he has no problem with Spider-Man being married, but it's an editorial dictate and he did the assignment he was hired for. You can take that with a grain of salt, obviously. He did write Renew Your Vows and other alternate reality versions, but his statements have been that editorial and management ABOVE editorial mandated it for brand reasons. EIC Cebulski has claimed that editorial didn't care, but he also used to pretend to be a writer named Akira Yoshida, so I find his credibility a bit on the weak side.
That said, I think editorial probably ranks keeping their single most popular character single is a different situation than a character like Northstar or Hulkling. Spider-Man has an entire line dedicated to him and his circle of characters, while Northstar and Hulkling are relatively less well known characters who come from team books in the X-Men or Avengers lines. There is no Hulking movie, no toy line dedicated just to Northstar. Mystique is the most famous character in the discussion, but her cultural impact is pretty small in comparison to any of the MCU characters or Spider-Man. So I don't think it's inconsistent for them to try what may be, in their eyes, a stunt wedding to drum up some publishing numbers for what are generally much smaller characters in the Marvel brand. They look at Spidey as a cash cow.
Now, we both know that's stupid and that Spider-Man being married had little effect on his sales potential for toys, movies and whatever...but that's not how their thought processes work, I'd argue.
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superboyprime) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
scans_daily2024-05-29 02:28 pm
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Anyone corner Dan Slott to ask why a married Spider-Man is unspeakably boring, but a married Northstar means endless storytelling opportunities?
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That said, I think editorial probably ranks keeping their single most popular character single is a different situation than a character like Northstar or Hulkling. Spider-Man has an entire line dedicated to him and his circle of characters, while Northstar and Hulkling are relatively less well known characters who come from team books in the X-Men or Avengers lines. There is no Hulking movie, no toy line dedicated just to Northstar. Mystique is the most famous character in the discussion, but her cultural impact is pretty small in comparison to any of the MCU characters or Spider-Man. So I don't think it's inconsistent for them to try what may be, in their eyes, a stunt wedding to drum up some publishing numbers for what are generally much smaller characters in the Marvel brand. They look at Spidey as a cash cow.
Now, we both know that's stupid and that Spider-Man being married had little effect on his sales potential for toys, movies and whatever...but that's not how their thought processes work, I'd argue.
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