Although not a one-to-one adaptation, Spider-Man: No Way Home borrowed several elements from the 2007 Marvel Comics storyline One More Day. In both stories, Peter seeks help from a magic-user in the hopes that it will improve the lives of his loved ones, even if it means that he loses his connection to them. Almost two decades later, One More Day remains one of Marvel’s most hated storylines. Now the newest Spider-Man movie Brand New Day might be adapting one of that’s story’s follow-ups, a tale somehow even more hated than One More Day.
After having Doctor Strange wipe away all memories of his existence, Peter has to face the fact that not only has MJ moved on, but that she doesn’t even know he she is. “As someone who cares about the characters and cares about these films, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so heartbreaking,’” MJ’s actor Zendaya told Empire. “You just feel so bad because you want them to be happy, and you know ultimately they would be happier together.” Fans are sure to agree if Brand New Day brings in the most hated character in recent Marvel comics, a man so devious, so terrifying, he can only be called “Paul.”
For those who have not visited a Spider-Man-themed Reddit in the past two years, Paul is “Paul Rabin,” first introduced in 2022’s Amazing Spider-Man #1, by Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr. That issue begins after a time jump and establishes that things have gone very bad for Peter in the months past: the Fantastic Four is mad at him, his regular pals are mad at him, even Aunt May is mad at him. But worst of all, Mary Jane is married and has two kids. And to top it all off, her husband is some dork with hipster glasses, an insufficient beard, and sometimes a ponytail, and also his name is Paul!
Needless to say, readers did not like Paul. Part of it, yes, is Paul’s fault. Not because of anything he’s done really, but because of what he doesn’t do. And what he doesn’t do is anything interesting. Paul’s a walking stuffed shirt, a guy who exists to be a complication in Peter’s life. And not even multiversal shenanigans that revealed his father was a magical warlord called the Emissary or that he and MJ’s kids never existed could make him interesting. So when Paul got stabbed to death by the oh-so-edgy serial killer Torment in last month’s Venom #256, by Al Ewing and Carlos Gómez, the internet threw a party.
The real problem with Paul is that he was with Mary Jane and Peter wasn’t. Ever since One More Day erased Peter and MJ’s marriage, fans have rejected every other love interest and almost every plot point the two characters have experienced.
Marvel’s refusal to reunite Peter and MJ has been bad for the comics, and it’s bad news for Brand New Day. That’s because the cast features Ahsoka star Eman Esfandi as MJ’s new love interest, who doesn’t have a name yet, but he sure looks like he could be a Paul. If Brand New Day plays it right, this new guy will just be a bump on the road to Spidey’s reunion with the woman he loves. But if it decides to keep MJ away from Peter for too long, then the internet will come for Brand New Day with a level of fury it usually reserves for people named Paul.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31, 2026.
