It's Official: 19 Years Later, Marvel Reverses Spider-Man's Most Hated Lore

Published Oct 28, 2026, 9:29 AM EDT

Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.

Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.

Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.

In a moment that Spider-Man fans thought would never come, Marvel just seemingly reversed the controversial 'One More Day' retcon of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's marriage. Here's what you need to know.

Spinning out of 2006's Civil War, Peter Parker's public reveal of his vigilante identity saw his family targeted by the Kingpin. When Aunt May was shot by an assassin, Peter and Mary Jane were given an offer by Mephisto - sacrifice their marriage, and the devil would let her live.

2007's 'One More Day' saw the couple accept the offer, as Marvel sought to make Spider-Man more relatable by removing his 1987 marriage from canon. The decision quickly became the most controversial in Spider-Man - if not Marvel - history, with successive creative teams teasing it might perhaps, maybe, somehow, someday be undone. Apparently, today is someday...

Doctor Doom Just Ended All Mephisto's Contracts

Recent issues of Captain America have followed Doctor Doom and Steve Rogers as they carry out a rebellion in Hell, attempting to unseat the demonic Mephisto. Today's Captain America #16 - from Chip Zdarsky, Valerio Schiti, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Joe Caramagna - sees them triumph, with Doom taking Mephisto's place as ruler of Hell.

As his first act in the role, Doctor Doom declares "all of Mephisto’s contracts are now null and void." Explicitly, every resident of Hell is offered freedom, with the alternative of helping Doom build Hell into "the greatest realm in all the cosmos." However, there's another contract with Mephisto that fans are a LOT more interested in...

Spider-Man's Contract With Mephisto Is Over

While the issue doesn't spell it out that Mephisto's contract with Spider-Man is over, that bombshell is subtly established by ALL Mephisto's contracts ending at the same time. Zdarsky even includes a panel of Spider-Man later in the comic - as an apparent angelic host attack Earth - to point fans towards the obvious conclusion.

Fans know that Avengers Volume 10 will start with Spider-Man's new 'Earth's Mightiest Survivors' team fighting an angelic villain called the Adjudicator, seemingly unleashed by the end of Mephisto's contracts. Meanwhile, Avengers: Armageddon #5 offered a vision of the future where Spider-Man is killed by Mephisto.

Even this image had Spider-Man fans theorizing that Marvel would finally be reversing 'One More Day,' while others pointed to years of false teases and said it would never happen. What no-one expected to happen was that Captain America would end Mephisto and Spider-Man's contract, even while leaving the fallout for other series to explore.

What Happens to Spider-Man Next?

Doom canceling Mephisto's contracts seems to have had immediate effect. All residents of Hell were immediately freed and the Adjudicator immediately attacked Earth. Does that mean Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson's marriage is suddenly canon again?

Past comics have suggested that Peter's deal with Mephisto is ongoing - that repressing history wasn't a one-time thing, but a continuous process - which would make this more likely. However, it's also possible that Peter and Mary Jane will simply suddenly remember their deal and its consequences, and have to reckon with their decision in a new light.

It's worth noting that this storyline coincides with one over in Amazing Spider-Man where the villain Ravager has removed all memory of Peter from his Aunt May's mind. Peter 'losing' May as the deal he made to save her is revoked doesn't feel like a coincidence.

All of that is in the future (indeed, Marvel has yet to explicitly state that Doctor Doom voiding Mephisto's contracts affects Peter Parker), but while the full details have yet to play out, it's pretty clear that Marvel just pulled off one of the biggest Spider-Man moments of all time in a place and time that literally no-one would have guessed.

Captain America #16 is available now from Marvel Comics.