Spider-Man: No Way Home Steals Key Marvel Devil Comic Book

The highly anticipated trailer Spider-Man: No Path Home igniting the Internet with theories and the hunt for references. But nothing was as important on the clip as An extra day, a 2007 comic book crossover that changed the webslinger’s life forever.

An extra day played out the most tragic consequence possible of Peter Parker’s secret identity being revealed to the world and what Peter did to try to avoid it. The initial reaction to the series was quite negative, but while this could be a story that many fans wished they had not had, they couldn’t say that it wasn’t told well or that it didn’t. had no convincing details. And it looks like some of those details will pop up in Spider-Man’s next appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At the very end of Spider-Man 2019: Far from home – in the film’s second post-credit sequence – a familiar face appears on the screen. It’s J. Jonah Jameson who shares Mysterio’s latest effort to ruin Spider-Man’s life – revealing his true identity. The film ends with a shot, with Spidey’s lenses wide as he realizes how much of a mess his life is about to become.

Image: Mark Millar, Steve McNiven / Marvel Comics

“One More Day”, a four-number arc, was the ultimate result of a similar unmasking problem. During the original Civil War event, superheroes were asked to register their secret identities with the government. Peter initially resisted the call, but when Tony Stark convinced him it was the right thing to do, he was outspoken at a press conference. The most cited reason for superheroes to keep their identities a secret is to protect loved ones from villainous retaliation, and that’s exactly what happened to Peter next.

Kingpin sent an assassin after Peter, and Aunt May was shot in the process. “One More Day” opens with Peter bemoaning his choices and horrified by their effects: Aunt May is in a hospital, and doctors have told Peter it was only a matter of time before she does not die. The first issue ends with a disturbing internal monologue: “Nothing will prevent me from saving her. Nothing. ”This is how Peter ends up looking for Doctor Strange, just as Peter seems to do in Spider-Man: No Path Home.

But in the comics, Strange tries to make Peter understand that there’s nothing they can do – sometimes people have to die. Strange steps into the mentor and friend’s hole here, allowing Peter to cry and get angry, but never budging from his position, and Peter almost comes to terms with May’s death. But he doesn’t quite do it, and that’s where things get weird.

After meeting several passers-by who represent the paths not taken in Peter’s life, Peter stumbles upon Mephisto. Yes, Mephisto, the Satan from Marvel Comics. Mephisto says he’ll save May’s life, and all he wants in return is Peter and Mary Jane’s wedding. The couple have one day – hence the “One More Day” – to make up their minds. Why is Satan so particularly interested in making Spider-Man and Spider-Man’s wife forget that they have ever met? He says he will love to listen to the song of their soul which remembers their love crying out for eternity.

Spider-Man: No Path Home seems to use this potential loss – Peter’s dismay that MJ won’t remember their relationship – as the impetus for all the multiverse shenanigans. In the comic, Peter and MJ together decide to accept Mephisto’s terms, only demanding that Mephisto also erase the memory of the world that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are the same person. Their marriage is erased from time, the cat’s secret identity returns to the sack, and Peter can once again become single, awkward Spider-Man.

Image: David Michelinie, Paul Ryan / Marvel Comics

Peter and MJ were originally married with great success in the 1987s The Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 21. It’s 20 years of marriage at the door, as if it never happened. Fans were largely confused and upset with the choice, feeling the comics were reconnecting with one of their most cherished relationships. The creative team upheld the decision, however, citing it as a way to keep Peter interesting and fun.

Obviously, the MCU is going to take chunks of that, not the whole thing – and we’ll likely see influences from things like Brian Michael Bendis. Ultimate Spider-Man or Chip Zdarsky’s Spectacular Spider-Man, which also features a young Peter reacting to being unmasked and engaging with his elder. Who knows, maybe they’ll end up attracting Mephisto after all.