September 8's Amazing Spider-Man #73 retcons one of the weirdest, most controversial Spider-Man stories ever. And as it turns out, the original story's writer is totally on board with the changes.
Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man #73
Amazing Spider-Man #73 retcons the much-maligned, oft-ignored story Spider-Man: Sins Past, in which the teen Gwen Stacy was revealed to have had an affair with the adult Norman Osborn, resulting in the secret birth of their super-powered twin children who later resurfaced as villains.
Now, writer J. Michael Stranczynski, who penned 'Sins Past,' is weighing in on the changes to his story on Twitter, offering his approval to the retcon of his plot - which you can read all about in its intricate, complex detail right here.
But it's not just his approval for the changes Straczynski is offering up to fans of his run, reminding readers that his original idea for 'Sins Past' isn't even the story he wanted to tell to begin with.
"My original pitch was that the kids were Peter's, not Norman's, and was changed at the request of editorial, so I'm totally cool with it being reconsidered," Straczynski tweets.
This isn't the first time the writer has dropped the bombshell of his original plans to have Peter Parker be the father of Gwen's secret children. Back in 2018, Strazcynski brought up the editorial changes while discussing criticism of the story and its repercussions for the character of Gwen Stacy.
"Understand: that wasn't the original story. Peter was gonna be the father of Gwen's kids," Straczynski tweeted at the time. "Marvel said 'That ages Peter, so let's make it Norman instead, the fans will go nuts.' I didn't quite realize what they meant when they said that…"
Peter Parker actually did have at least one child with Mary Jane Watson in the mainstream Marvel Universe, though the baby, May, died as an infant. In the alt-universe MC2 continuity, she grew up to become May 'Mayday' Parker, AKA Spider-Girl. And in the alternate reality title Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Peter and MJ had a different daughter named Annie.
Most recently, the story Spider-Man: Bloodline showed an alternate future where Peter Parker dies, and his son Ben becomes the new Spider-Man.
Read up on the best Spider-Man stories of all time.
