Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man may finally be figuring out how to have a successful relationship — and it isn’t with Mary Jane.

Rather than dropping readers into the middle of an epic battle, Amazing Spider-Man #55 finds the titular hero swinging through the New York City skyline as fast as possible in the hopes of making it to a date with Shay Marken before the evening is ruined. Of course, punctuality has never been Peter Parker’s strong suit, nor is sticking around until the end. When a fight between the Rhino and Screwball arises just outside, Peter doesn’t hesitate to leap into action, though not as Spider-Man. Instead, he simply lets the villains know that they are ruining his night before returning to his seat in the restaurant, marking the beginning of what might be a whole new era for the Wall-Crawler.

Written by ZEB WELLS Art by EMILIO LAISO Colors by BRYAN VALENZA Letters by VC’s JOE CARAMAGNA Main cover art by JOHN ROMITA JR., SCOTT HANNA, & MARCIO MENYZ Variant covers by MICHAEL CHO, DONALD SOFFRITTI, and LUCIANO VECCHIO

Shay Marken was first seen in the pages of 2024’s Amazing Spider-Man #45 by Zeb Wells and Carmen Carnero. A nurse at the infamous Ravencroft Institute, Shay met Peter following the events of Marvel’s Gang War storyline. At the time, Peter was making regular visits to Ravencroft to keep an eye on Mary Jane’s aunt, Anna Watson, who had previously suffered the effects of tainted Krakoan medicines at the hands of the anti-mutant organization known as Orchis. In that time, Peter and Shay developed a fast flirtatious relationship with one another, though not one that took center stage until recently.

Spider-Man’s love life has always been tumultuous, to say the least. The hero’s most iconic romantic interest, Mary Jane Watson, has spent decades in various states of relationships with Peter ranging from married to separated to actively working things out. In the past two years, Peter and Mary Jane’s relationship has taken a decidedly different turn than what fans are used to, with the latter having embarked upon a makeshift marriage with Paul Rabin. After being displaced to another timeline alongside Paul for what was, for them, years on end, Mary Jane found herself falling in love.

While this was heartbreaking for everyone involved for numerous reasons, Peter has effectively come to terms with the situation. Instead of wallowing in despair, Peter decides to move on with his life. Mary Jane, on the other hand, becomes the superhero Jackpot who, with the sigil-based tech developed by Paul, is able to call upon a variety of randomly generated powers.

Amazing Spider-Man #55 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics