Over
the years Peter Parker has dated many women. Some of those women are very
familiar, like Mary Jane, Spider-man’s
red-headed wife. Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man’s greatest love. Or even Felicia Hardy, AKA The Black Cat, Spidey’s some time girlfriend. But did you know Spider-man
used to date a member of the famous superhero group, the X-Men? Yes, you read that right. Peter Parker and Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, used to be a couple, albeit in the Ultimate Universe, where we
have a younger Peter Parker and where the characters are different than their regular
Marvel universe counterparts.
Pryde and the Spider: The Relationship That Wasn’t Meant To Be
By Migs Acabado
Way
back in the early 2000s til the mid-2000s, Ultimate Spider-Man was the most
popular Spider-Man book. It successfully put Spider-man back on
the list of best-selling monthly titles. Writer Brian Michael Bendis put a lot of
surprises and shocks in the book, like having the Green Goblin throw MJ instead
of Gwen off the bridge and surviving the fall, and the Venom suit being created
by Peter and Eddie Brock’s father. After the Ultimate Hobgoblin Saga, Peter and
Mary Jane broke up in a very emotional story. Then in 2005, it was teased in an
issue of Wizard Magazine that Peter wouldhave a new
girlfriend. What I didn’t know was that Bendis would pick a character outside
Spider-man’s world.
I
was so surprised when I found out that Peter’s new girlfriend was Kitty Pryde! I thought you could never do that. (After finding that
out, my 16 year old self thought: “Hey, if Parker can do that, I can also date
the girl from the other Catholic School.” But I should’ve warned my 16 year old
self that you should not apply what you learned in comics to your real life.) In
an awesome story from the Ultimate Spider-man Annual called “More than You
Bargained For,” Peter is dealing with his breakup with Mary Jane and Kitty
Pryde is also dealing with her breakup with Bobby Drake (Iceman). Kitty
decided to call Peter Parker since she has a big crush on him. They decided to
meet up, and they had a date in the mall. At the end of the story, they hook up and became a
couple. In the succeeding issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, Kitty Pryde was
regularly featured. Peter even helped her and the X-Men defeat Deadpool and the
Reavers when they captured the team.
MJ became jealous of their relationship
when the news became public that Spidey is dating Kitty Pryde. Then after the
Clone Saga, Peter realized that he still loves MJ and broke up with Kitty, ending their relationship.
I
was big fan of their relationship. Even though it wasn’t perfect and problems
like not being able to see each other when Peter is out of his costume or the
distance between where they live often gets brought up, I still wanted them
together! For me, Peter found a perfect girlfriend that he doesn’t have to
worry about. She can protect herself and doesn’t whine that her boyfriend is
Spider-Man. I was mad at Bendis when he decided to end their relationship, which lasted for only a year. At the end of the Clone Saga, Kitty rushed to Peter’s
aid but she saw MJ and Peter together. That scene is really heartbreaking, and I
thought Peter came off as a jerk. If you want to return to your ex, at least have
the decency to inform your current girlfriend that you don’t want to be in a
relationship anymore.
During that
time, Aunt May had already found out that Peter is Spider-Man. It would have
been nice to see how she and Kitty would have interacted. Following the Clone
Saga, Kitty moved to Peter’s school since she left the X-Men. It would have been nice to see them as a couple during that time — what they could have done to
hide their relationship and how would they interact with MJ. I really wish
Bendis had made it last for a couple of years. I know Peter and MJ will eventually
be together, so he should have explored all the possibilities in the Peter/Kitty
relationship while he could. But despite being cut short, it was fun when it lasted. For Kitty
Pryde, Peter Parker is the one who got away.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments on The Comics Cube need approval (mostly because of spam) and no anonymous comments are allowed. Please leave your name if you wish to leave a comment. Thanks!