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2[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fca2bfed_bc52_4ab8_ad09_b6532bc2cdda.jpeg]]
3[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} What would you do if you had One More Day?]]]]
4
5"One More Day" is a 2007 story arc running through the different ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics published by Creator/MarvelComics. It's written by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski and Creator/JoeQuesada.
6
7The story, set in the shared Franchise/MarvelUniverse, follows on from the events of the ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' event, in which Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to the world. Now that his identity is public, the ComicBook/TheKingpin makes an attempt on Spider-Man's life.
8
9Peter, naturally, escapes it due to his {{Spider Sense}}s, but dear old Aunt May takes the bullet. Unfortunately, this is a fatal wound, and May is going to die. After putting back on his old black costume and going on a DarkerAndEdgier RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the Kingpin, he web swings up and down the Franchise/MarvelUniverse trying to find someone, anyone, who can help him. Unfortunately, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless none of the super-scientists, magicians (one of whom is also a surgeon), mutants, or techno-wizards can fix a single bullet wound]].[[note]]This is explained in the story by it being her fate to die at this point and being brain dead.[[/note]]
10
11Then ComicBook/{{Mephisto}} shows up, to offer Peter and ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson a DealWithTheDevil. He'll heal May, but rather than take a soul in exchange, he'll take their marriage. Yes, that's right -- the entire purpose of this arc was to CosmicRetcon the Spidey marriage. Ostensibly, it's because "the suffering of two souls in love, forever denied each other, is far better than the soul of one who has given it up nobly in the sacrifice of another." Peter accepts, and...
12
13The series picks up after a TimeSkip, under the banner ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay''.
14
15''One More Day'' was followed up in 2010 with ''ComicBook/OneMomentInTime'', intended to clean up dangling plot threads as Peter and Mary Jane finally get talking again and start going over the history of their relationship.
16
17Another follow up occurred with ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018'' in which more was revealed about Mephisto's connections to Spider-Man's mythos.
18
19''One More Day'' runs through the following comics:
20* ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1999'' #544
21* ''ComicBook/FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderMan2005'' #24
22* ''ComicBook/TheSensationalSpiderMan2006'' #24
23* ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1999'' #545
24
25----
26!!This story arc provides examples of:
27* AbortedArc: We never did find out who that woman was Mephisto hinted at.
28* AnchoredShip: The official status of Peter/MJ between ''One More Day'' and ''One Moment In Time''.
29* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Parker asked Stark to pay for May's medical treatment, or... or what? Parker, you're in no position to make threats! No, the "or..." was not an "OR ELSE" threat. It was "or else my aunt is going to die in some charity ward somewhere. Is that what you really want, Tony? Is it?"
30* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Tony Stark can not pay May's hospital, because that would be a criminal help to a fugitive criminal. So, he transferred some millions to Jarvis' personal account, so that he can help May in his name. Problem is, the use of straw persons to commit financial crimes ''is'' a regulated crime, and relatives and best friends (such as Jarvis for Stark) are the first suspects in those operations.
31* AstralProjection: Just to hammer in how impossible it is to heal Aunt May, Doctor Strange casts a spell on Peter that allows him to talk to every noteworthy scientist, mystic, and healer in the Marvel universe... ''[[MesACrowd at the same time!]]''
32* TheBadGuyWins: Peter Parkers accepts the deal, and Mephisto gets what he wanted all along, without conditions or consequences.
33* BroadStrokes: The events of the marriage years mostly still happened as originally shown; Peter and MJ were still living and sleeping together -- they just never made it official. This means yes, all Mephisto did was erase some wedding photos and a legal document.
34* CallingTheOldManOut: Tony Stark is not Peter Parker's dad, just a parental figure. That did not save him from falling into this when Parker thought that the whole mess is Stark's fault.
35* CanonDiscontinuity: Despite Joe Quesada's explicit claims that Spidey's unmasking in ComicBook/CivilWar2006 wouldn't be undone via a "magic retcon", one of the effects of the deal is that his unmasking was written out of history... with magic.
36* ClockRoaches: During his astral jaunt through the past, Peter runs afoul of beings called Nightwalkers. Monstrous creatures that live on the edges of time and space, ready to pounce on anyone attempting to tamper with destiny.
37* ContinuityNod: The final panel toasting to the Brand New Day (basically a bunch of hands carrying glasses raised high) is similar to "The Wedding!" (''Amazing Spider-Man'' Annual #21). It is a snide inversion and swipe of a panel image in the Annual where Peter, Harry, and Flash raise a toast in celebration to Peter's nuptials (three hands raising glasses above). In the wedding one, Flash Thompson raises the toast after cheering and clearing up Peter's second thoughts and insist he go ahead with getting married, insisting that it's the best thing that will happen to him; it is reused in the new story for raising a toast celebrating the single life.
38* CosmicRetcon: Peter makes a DealWithTheDevil to erase his marriage with Mary Jane in exchange for saving his Aunt May's life. The entire purpose of this arc was to retcon the Spidey marriage.
39* DealWithTheDevil: Peter Parker makes a deal with Mephisto to save the life of Aunt May. Contrary to tradition, he does not sell his soul, but his marriage with Mary Jane.
40* DontYouDarePityMe: Parker does not want Stark's pity. He wants medical care for May, which he can not pay for.
41* FantasticAesop: The story is essentially a result of Quesada wanting to split up Mary Jane and Peter, but at the same time didn't want to imply a "divorce is okay" moral. Apparently, he was fine with impossibly implying "making deals with the devil is okay".
42* TheGlovesComeOff: Iron Man can not be stopped by Spider-Man's weak webs. But what if he let it go and emptied himself on him? Yes, that ''will'' stop him... at least for some seconds.
43* ILetGwenStacyDie: Parker blames himself for May being shot. [[NeverMyFault Except when he blames Tony Stark]].
44* ImCryingButIDontKnowWhy: This is apparently why Mephisto wanted Peter and Mary Jane's "marriage" instead of their souls. He claims that if he took their souls, the eternal torment he would put them through would be tempered by the irrefutable fact that they gave up their souls out of pure altruism. By using a CosmicRetcon so that Peter and Mary Jane never would have married, a small part of them will be forever screaming out that they have lost something precious without even knowing it.
45* InSpiteOfANail: One would think that the nonexistence of the marriage would at least have changed the outcome of some of the plot lines in the Spider-Man continuity. Things, however, stayed in BroadStrokes just the same.
46* IOweYouMyLife: The doctor in the hospital can't do much for May, but he will at least keep the bureaucracy stalled as long as possible to prevent May from being transferred somewhere else. Spider-Man had once saved his uncle, and he promised back then that someday he would pay that debt.
47* ItsAllMyFault: The whole story is driven by Parker's sense of guilt over May being shot.
48** ItsAllAboutMe: And as long as he can assuage his own guilt he doesn't care that he's completely disregarding the wishes of Aunt May who he knows was at peace with dying and would never want Peter to destroy his happiness for her.
49* KarmaHoudini: As nobody knows about the deal, Mephisto got away with the deal and never had to retract it.
50** Peter likewise sees no real consequences for making the deal. He simply gets his aunt and best friend Harry Osborne back with no guilt or sense of loss in return since he has no memory of what he gave up.
51* MagicalDivorce: The entire purpose of this storyline was to erase Peter and MJ's marriage from history.
52* MoodWhiplash: The story is filled with bleak, depressing, and demoralizing scenes. The epilogue showing the Post-OMD continuity is a happy and upbeat one.
53* NeverMyFault: Parker attacks Stark and blames him for the whole situation because Stark talked him into revealing his identity because he promised that May and Mary Jane would be protected. Parker forgot that he is an adult capable to decide things by himself, and that he forfeited that protection the moment he went rogue and took them out of the tower.
54* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Parker commits several questionable things while trying to save Aunt May. He blamed and attacked Tony Stark for it because Stark promised she would be protected if he signed the SHRA (ignoring that Spidey went rogue, removed them from the tower, and forfeited that protection), he stole a dangerous artifact from Dr. Strange to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, and he made ''a deal with the devil'', even against May's own wishes.
55* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Peter's possible child in the future gives him a scathing one, calling him out for his selfishness and putting his pain ahead of everything else cause it makes him feel bigger. Worse still Peter, Marvel's, if not all of media's, biggest wise cracker, doesn't have a real answer, rebuttal, or even a decent quip ready to counter her assertion.
56* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Aunt May, an elder woman, received a gunshot. At this point she's in a coma. With the help of Dr. Strange, Peter has a magical conference where he asks '''all''' the greatest minds of the Marvel Universe for help. Nobody can help him with this problem. This includes characters with healing powers and scientists with healing machines.
57* RelationshipResetButton: The marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane is canceled by a deal with the demon, and Peter returns to [[SuperheroesStaySingle being single]]. He forgets all about it, but Mary Jane remembers.
58* ShooOutTheClowns
59-->'''Parker:''' In another time and place, I would've responded with a snappy comeback. I don't have time.
60* ShootOutTheLock: Parker tried to enter Stark's tower with his old password, but Stark has already changed them. No problem, he just tears the whole door apart.
61* SilentWhisper: Mary Jane agrees to Mephisto's terms for the DealWithTheDevil but quietly whispers something to him before the deal is finalized. We find out what it was she said in ''One Moment In Time''. [[spoiler:She said that she would remember.]]
62* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Mephisto is talking Peter into accepting the deal, but he's not sure. He can't decide something so big without talking about it with Mary Jane first. Of course, Mephisto has no problem with that: another projection of himself has already been talking with Mary Jane... who can't decide something so big without talking about it with Peter first.
63* StressVomit: After Peter tells her about the DealWithTheDevil Mephisto offered them.
64* SuperheroesStaySingle: Spider-Man had been single during his first years, and eventually got married to Mary Jane. With this story and the erasure of his marriage, he became an example once again.
65* TakeThatAudience: Peter Parker meets an alternate self who was never bitten by a spider, and became instead a complete nerd who wastes his life reading comic books, playing video games and doing similar stuff.
66* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: The Hands of the Dead are not meant to be used by just any random bloke. Dr. Strange is a KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge, but everybody else should stay away. And that means ''you'', Spider-Man!
67* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Inverted.[[note]]Not Crunchy Enough for Yog Sothoth?[[/note]] Mephisto claims he doesn't like to buy people's souls if it's part of a HeroicSacrifice, because those souls "suffer righteously", which is really no fun. Hence why he asks for the Parkers' marriage instead.
68%%* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: It's a railroad.
69* WatchingTroyBurn: Spider-Man steals an artifact from Dr. Strange to return to the past but cannot SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong because he's just a soul. He can't affect the physical world (so, he can't attack the sniper), neither be seen nor heard by anyone (so, he can't warn his past self). He can't do anything but watch May get shot ''a second time''. [[BigNo NOOOOOO!!!!!!]]
70* WhatTheHellHero: Peter's future daughter calls him out on his behavior during the entire arc, telling him how he's been acting like a selfish prick who can't take responsibility for his own actions. It's a pity that Peter doesn't actually listen to her, [[LameComeback instead responding by saying "Those are some awfully big ideas for a little girl."]]
71* AWizardDidIt: In the aftermath of the story, fans wondered how Mephisto rewriting reality to undo Peter Parker and Mary Jane's wedding affected the timeline. Joe Quesada, upon [[https://www.cbr.com/the-one-more-day-interview-with-joe-quesada-the-fans/ being asked]] why he essentially responded with "It's magic. We don't need to explain it," said that other Marvel characters used magic and no one needed an explanation for those.[[note]]''One Moment In Time'' eventually explains what actually happened- Mephisto made it so that they were never married, and Doctor Strange wiped the memory of everyone on Earth so that nobody knows Peter is Spider-Man, not even guys like Venom or the Green Goblin who knew who his SecretIdentity before he revealed to the world in ''Civil War''. Aunt May survived because Peter figured out a way to save her on his own. And random ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay'' stuff like Harry Osborn now being alive has been explained as DeathFakedForYou- ie. much like Aunt May, he survived without interference from Mephisto and was NotQuiteDead the whole canon time. Mephisto rewriting history also means that [[TimeyWimeyBall they never made a deal with Mephisto in the first place.]] About the only effect of his deal, then, is that Peter and Mary-Jane were never married- as in, they ''lived together'' and everything in Spidey's history happened exactly as it always did; they just chose not to make their love "official" by getting hitched. And for some reason, they broke up off-panel after the events of this story.[[/note]]
72* WriterOnBoard: Joe Quesada hates both the Spider-Marriage ''and'' the concept of divorce so much that he considers a literal DealWithTheDevil to erase it from history an acceptable alternative to either splitting Peter and MJ up or letting them stay married.
73* YouMonster: Mary Jane accepted the deal, but that doesn't mean she likes it or Mephisto a single bit.
74----
75->''[[BitingTheHandHumor "Boy, Spider-Man just can't catch a break!"]]''
76-->-- '''Noah Sterling''' of ''WebAnimation/MarvelTLDR''

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