One of the voice actors announced for one of the voices of Spider-man was Neil Patrick Harris. Despite my misgivings about the current state of the Spider-man Universe, the fact that Neil Patrick Harris will be voicing one of the versions of Spider-man is a definite plus, and an incentive for me to buy it.
The Story itself has some possibilities as well. During an attempt to foil a robbery, an mystical artifact is shattered into four shards and each shard escapes to four different Universes. Each Spider-man in his own Dimension is instructed to find the piece and return it to safety.
The game allows you the ability to control four different versions of Spider-man (The Amazing Spider-man from the main stream 616 universe, Spider-man 2099 from an earlier 90's series set roughly 100 years in the future, Ultimate Spider-man from the Ultimate marvel universe *cringe*, and Spider-man Noir a new series set in the 1930's)
Each different version of Spider-man allows to use a different skill set. Web based weapons, Stealth skills, flight, and the Black Symbiote which allows Spider-man to basically trounce his enemies with spikes and grabbing tendrils.
NPH, the story potential and my status as a comic book geek are all reasons to want to go buy this. However, i have not bought anything Spider-man related since 2008. A friend of mine called me a blasphemer for being hesitant about buying this game, stating that she stuck through Spider-man even during the Clone saga, which she liked. I then told her, well... I liked the Clone saga as well. But the Clone saga is NOTHING compared to what they did in 2008.
In 2008 Marvel, in a move ushered in by the editor in chief Joe Quesada, released Amazing Spider-man 545
In the lead up to The Amazing Spider-man 545 Spider-man/Peter Parker's elderly Aunt/Mother Figure, Aunt May was shot by a bullet meant for Spider-man. Racked with guilt Peter tries every possible way to save his beloved Aunt. Going to sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, to try and find a magical way to save her. Dr. Strange takes him into Mind and SHE HERSELF tells Peter, "Its okay Peter, Let me go. It's time, I'm ready to be with your Uncle Ben." Hell even GOD shows up in the form of a hungry homeless man (see Sensational Spider-man #40) to tell Peter that sometimes people die, but that HE as Spider-man has saved COUNTLESS people, saying "We all have a purpose Peter. We all have a role to play. This fortunately, or unfortunately is yours. And, you know, if its any consolation... I've asked ALOT more from people MUCH closer to me than you." Peter then says "I don't want my aunt to die. Please don't let her die." God/The Man then places his hand on Peter's should and says "Have faith Peter." If god telling him to have faith was not enough he even gives Peter a glimpse of his future, and shows him old and gray with his Wife Mary Jane, and TWO children, a boy and a girl Benjamin, and Mary (named after his uncle Ben and is mother) living happily ever after. Well, shouldn't that be enough to comfort Peter?
Fast forward to Amazing Spider-man 545. In it, Peter, despite getting comfort from God himself, and having his Aunt tell him in no uncertain terms that she was ready to go, he tells MJ that he "cant live with the guilt." Not that she's his Aunt that he would do anything to save her. But that HE himself would feel too guilty over it. Enter the Demon known as Mephisto (Marvel's version of the Devil) shows up and offers Peter a deal. No no, don't worry The Devil doesn't want Peter's soul... he tells them "I want your love.... i want your MARRIAGE."
You see, Mephisto tells us that a soul that is sacrificed willingly for the benefit of another will always be able to take comfort in that fact, even in the depths of hell. That's no fun for the devil, when he wants a soul to suffer, he wants them to really suffer. He tells Peter and MJ that he will take more pleasure in making it so that Peter and MJ were never married to begin with. He does this for several reasons, one reason us that Peter and MJ's relationship is the "Real thing" and "blessed" by the big guy. He continues to state that When two people are married, truly married in spirit not just on paper, their two souls become one. And that a love like Peter and MJ's is so rare that it only comes out every few millenia, it is the real thing, and there is nothing the "Big Guy" loves more than seeing two people willingly bind their selves to each other, so to destroy something he loved so much would be a bonus to him.
The second reason he offers them this is because he tells them that a tiny part of their minds and souls will always remember what they lost and Mephisto will take great pleasure in hearing those fragments screaming out in pain and loss for all eternity.
You see Joe Quesada stated that he and others in the Marvel office believed that you could not tell good stories with a married Peter Parker. And that most fans agreed that the Marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane was a big mistake. The truth of the matter was that he and maybe two other people in the Marvel office believed that.As far as fans go, MOST fans were largely IN FAVOR of the Marriage. Once he was made Editor in chief, one of the first things he promised was to end the marriage.
Okay. so Mephisto makes his offer and Peter and MJ discuss it. MJ says that Aunt May has had a long life, everyone dies, maybe they should just let her go (It is after all what AUNT MAY WANTED). But Peter says that if it were old age, maybe he could live with it, but no, its HIS FAULT, HE couldn't live with the GUILT. His reasons are all SELFISH reasons. He is not thinking about Aunt May, or anything else other than the fact HE could not live with the guilt.
So after much talk, they call on the Devil. They agree to nullifying their marriage. Making so that it never existed at all. And just before Mephisto begins to work his magic he shows them both something... he shows them a little red haired girl, and when they ask who she is, this is what happens:
Yep, its not bad enough that the Devil has them sign away their love and marriage, in the deal they lose the daughter they would have had.
Quesada does give us the SLIMMEST sliver of hope. Mary Jane tells Peter to hold her and tells him that their relationship, their love is the real thing. Its bigger than whatever Mephisto can do to them, they WILL find each other again. Then the scene fades to black.
If they wanted to end the marriage there were many ways they could have done it. Up until this point MJ had MANY valid reasons for wanting to end the relationship. But she stayed with him. And unlike Quesada said, leading up to this moment the Spider-man writers have given us not just some of the BEST Spider-man/Mary Jane stories ever, but some of the best Spider-man stories told PERIOD.
It really just felt like Quesada was trying to torture the readers. it wasn't bad enough that he wanted to end the relationship. His reasons were that you could not tell good stories with a married Peter Parker; some of the best stories leading up to the event have been the best, and most emotional Spider-man stories ever written. To top it all off, and to rub salt in a freshly cut wound, the decision Peter and MJ make causes them to lose the child they would have had "The best parts of both of them"
One of the other reasons Quesada gave for wanting to end the marriage was so that he could have relationships with other women.
After the story faded to black, the next page showed Peter waking up to "A Brand New Day" (The name of the next Story Arc). Yes Peter wakes up and Aunt May is alive and he... is living in her basement. He no longer has a steady job (he was a teacher before) but hey, check this out, he has at LEAST THREE new love interests! That's cool right? Plus hey, maybe he can date She-hulk, or maybe Spider-woman... how about back to Black Cat. man Peter can date anyone he wants! .... and hey its been Three years... All these stories they have been telling? The ones that could ONLY be told with a Young, Hip, Single Peter Parker? Hit and miss at best, and honestly I don't see where ANY of these stories would have had anything taken away from them if Peter and MJ were still married, it would only have added to the story.
To me, Quesada's answer is a cop-out. "A married Peter Parker – as cool as that may seem – from a creative standpoint, it handcuffs the character." I'm sorry, this seems to me to be a call for better writers, not a complete overhaul of the character. You think you can't tell good stories with a married Peter Parker, find a writer who CAN write a good story with a Married Peter Parker.
Okay, this is the reason i can barely stomach any Spider-man stories right now. Because every time i read them, even the stories that i believe are well written, i cannot help but say, "see this story here? You could still tell this story with a Married Peter Parker." or "See if MJ and Peter were still married, this story could have been even BETTER."
okay, that's it, i'm done... *Steps off Soap Box*
here is a link to some of the Quotes Joe Quesada had to say on he Spider-Man Marriage.... http://www.spidermanreviews.com/2010/03/joe-quesada-q-spider-man-and-mary-jane.html
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