Warning: spoilers for the One More Day and One Moment in Time comic-book storylines begin here.
One More Day (2007) removed Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's marriage from Spider-Man's main continuity. In return for Aunt May's survival, the couple accepts Mephisto's proposed bargain. One Moment in Time (2010), also known as O.M.I.T., revisited that change to show why the wedding no longer took place and how Peter's secret identity became protected again.
The crucial distinction is that these are two different problems. Undoing the marriage is not the same as making the world forget that Peter is Spider-Man. The 2010 storyline supplies a retrospective explanation for both outcomes, without claiming that every story about their relationship was erased.
Marriage and identity: two separate changes
| Issue | What readers find after One More Day | What One Moment in Time clarifies |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage | Peter and Mary Jane are no longer considered to have been married in the revised history. | The ceremony originally depicted in 1987 does not happen in the altered version of the past. |
| Secret identity | During Brand New Day, Peter's identity is once again unknown to the public. | Doctor Strange, working with Reed Richards and Tony Stark, carries out the operation that erases that knowledge; Mary Jane is spared the forgetting. |
| Aunt May | May's life is preserved, the central condition of the bargain with Mephisto. | The storyline revisits the circumstances of her recovery within the altered continuity. |
An editorial timeline from 1987 to 2010
- 1987: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 publishes Peter Parker and Mary Jane's wedding. This is the original event later revisited.
- 2006: in Civil War #2, Peter publicly reveals that he is Spider-Man. The exposure puts those close to him at greater risk.
- 2007: One More Day runs across four issues and ends in The Amazing Spider-Man #545. The bargain with Mephisto redefines the couple's history.
- 2008: The Amazing Spider-Man #546 launches Brand New Day, with Peter unmarried and his identity secret again, but lingering questions about how this happened.
- 2010: The Amazing Spider-Man #638 through #641 publishes One Moment in Time, revisiting the canceled wedding and the forgotten identity.
What exactly did One More Day erase?
The event removed from continuity was the marriage, not Peter and Mary Jane's existence or their entire relationship. The distinction matters: in the revised continuity, they shared a long romantic history but never became husband and wife. This is not simply a later divorce, because the wedding itself is treated as never having happened.
The starting point is Aunt May's crisis after she is shot following the public exposure of Peter's identity. The supernatural deal allows her to survive at the cost of the marriage. Later stories also show people no longer knowing who is behind the mask, but that does not mean Mephisto's bargain alone supplies the eventual explanation for the memory loss.
What did One Moment in Time add?
O.M.I.T. returns to the wedding day depicted in the 1987 annual. In the new chain of events, interference connected to Mephisto sets off an incident involving a criminal that prevents Peter from attending the ceremony. Mary Jane and Peter discuss the burden of his vigilante life and the prospect of raising a family. They remain involved for a time, but do not marry.
The storyline also reconstructs Aunt May's crisis and a threat against Mary Jane. When the danger caused by Peter's exposed identity becomes unbearable, he seeks Doctor Strange's help. With Reed Richards and Tony Stark, the sorcerer combines mystical and scientific means to remove public knowledge, including records, linking Peter Parker to Spider-Man.
During the procedure, Peter shields Mary Jane from the forgetting. She therefore continues to know his secret. This choice does not restore the marriage, nor does it mean everyone has forgotten Peter Parker exists: the target is the connection between his name and his superhero identity. The Amazing Spider-Man #641 completes this explanation and returns to the couple's troubled relationship.
Why are these explanations so often mixed up?
The story published in 2007 shows the cost of Mephisto's bargain; the one published in 2010 reconstructs how the past operates after that change. Saying that Mephisto 'erased the secret identity' therefore conflates the outcome visible in Brand New Day with the cause supplied later in O.M.I.T.
Publication history and fictional chronology must also be kept separate. The wedding really appeared in a comic published in 1987. The 2010 story cannot undo that historical publication; it changes what counts as the characters' past in the main continuity. This is the editorial meaning of a retroactive continuity change, or retcon.
Which comics should you read, and in what order?
- Optional background: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987) to see the original ceremony, and Civil War #2 (2006) to understand the public reveal.
- Essential One More Day sequence: The Amazing Spider-Man #544; Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24; The Sensational Spider-Man #41; The Amazing Spider-Man #545.
- Optional bridge: The Amazing Spider-Man #546 (2008), the beginning of Brand New Day, shows Peter's new status quo before the 2010 explanations.
- Essential One Moment in Time sequence: The Amazing Spider-Man #638, #639, #640 and #641, in that order. These are the four parts of a single storyline.
- For collected editions: check the volume's contents. Marvel's One More Day collection includes bonus material that is not needed to follow the core plot. Localized edition titles and numbering may vary, so the original issue numbers above are the safest references.
The essential reading consists of eight issues, four for each storyline. The two background comics and the opening of Brand New Day help illustrate the change, but are not prerequisites for understanding the central conflict. This comparison concerns the comics, not the movie continuity.
Sources and references
- Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987)
- Marvel: Civil War #2 (2006)
- Marvel: official One More Day reading order
- Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man #545 (2007)
- Marvel: official Brand New Day reading order
- Marvel: Spider-Man: One More Day collected edition and contents
- Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man #638 (2010)
- Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man #639 (2010)
- Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man #640 (2010)
- Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man #641 (2010)
- ComicBook.com: How Doctor Strange Solves Spider-Man's Identity Crisis in the Comics
- Comic Book Daily: Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #641
- Spider-Man Crawlspace: The Subtleties of One Moment in Time, part 3
