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Speaker 1: Originals.

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Speaker 2: This is an iHeart original. Stan Lee is worried he

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Speaker 2: doesn't know anything about comics. Stan of course, is the

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Speaker 2: architect of the modern Marvel universe. He created its dizzying

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Speaker 2: array of characters in collaboration with a number of talented artists.

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Speaker 2: But it's nineteen eighty six and Stan's been out of

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Speaker 2: the game for years. He relocated from Marvel's headquarters in

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Speaker 2: Manhattan to Hollywood in the hopes of leading Marvel's charge

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Speaker 2: into movies and television. That wasn't going all that well.

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Speaker 2: The first Marvel live action theatrical movie ever made was

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Speaker 2: about to come out. It was Howard the Duck, a

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Speaker 2: sci fi comedy. It featured a libidinous waterfowl who develops

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Speaker 2: a crush on Leah Thompson. It's considered one of the

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Speaker 2: biggest bombs of all time. Other Marvel characters are in

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Speaker 2: various stages of development hell, with Stan trying pleading to

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Speaker 2: get Hollywood to notice Marvel's potential. Now making an appearance

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Speaker 2: at a summer comic book convention in Chicago, He's concerned

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Speaker 2: he's been out of the loop for too long.

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Speaker 3: I was at the Chicago convention, which is in the

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Speaker 3: summer of nineteen eighty six, and Stan was also a guest.

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Speaker 3: So I'm doing my thing and Stan catches me in

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Speaker 3: the hallway and he says, you got to help me,

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Speaker 3: and I said, what you know? He said, they want

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Speaker 3: me to do a one man panel on stage.

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Speaker 2: That's Jim Shooter. In the nineteen eighties, Jim was the

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Speaker 2: editor in chief of Marvel Comics, role once occupied by Stan.

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Speaker 2: Jim's duty was to guide the editorial direction of titles

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Speaker 2: like The Uncanny X Men, Daredevil, Iron Man, and dozens

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Speaker 2: of others.

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Speaker 3: All the questions are going to be a bycomic, so

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Speaker 3: I won't be able to answer a single question, because

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Speaker 3: at that point he was just doing the cartoons and

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Speaker 3: the TV and movies.

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Speaker 2: Jim agreed to intervene if Stan got stumped. The Q

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Speaker 2: and A was humming along, and then one audience member

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Speaker 2: threw a bit of a curveball.

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Speaker 3: Finally we get near the end and the moderator says,

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Speaker 3: we have time for one more question, and this fellow

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Speaker 3: in the back raises in. He says, this is for Stan.

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Speaker 3: He says, when are you going to let Peter Parker

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Speaker 3: and Mary Jane get married?

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Speaker 2: And the crowd rollers Peter Parker, the everyman of the

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Speaker 2: Marvel universe, marrying Mary Jane Watson, the red haired model.

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Speaker 2: The two had long been the it couple in comics.

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Speaker 2: Stan being the mascot of Marvel, took the question and

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Speaker 2: ran with it.

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Speaker 3: Stan trying to calm everybody down, and he says, no,

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Speaker 3: that's not a question for me. He said, Jim runs

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Speaker 3: the comics. He's entirely in charge of all that, you know.

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Speaker 4: I'm doing the.

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Speaker 3: TV and Hollywood stuff. And then he turns in his

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Speaker 3: seat to face me, and he bounces up and down

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Speaker 3: like a little kid and says.

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Speaker 4: Can we Jim? Can we?

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Speaker 5: Can?

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Speaker 4: We? Can we Jim?

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Speaker 3: And the crowd roared, And so I thought, I'm not

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Speaker 3: getting out of this room alive if I say no.

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Speaker 3: And what I did say was, look, I said, maybe

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Speaker 3: Stan isn't in charge, I said, but he's Stanley, and

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Speaker 3: if he wants to do it, we're doing it. Crowd

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Speaker 3: roars again, and so I turned to stand and said,

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Speaker 3: now we have to do it.

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Speaker 2: And so on a warm night in June ninth, teen

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Speaker 2: eighty seven, model Mary Jane Watson would marry her longtime love,

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Speaker 2: the Amazing Spider Man, but not just in the comic.

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Speaker 2: They do it in front of fifty one thousand, four

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Speaker 2: hundred and two people at Shay Stadium, home of the

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Speaker 2: New York Mets and where the Beatles held their famous

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Speaker 2: stadium concert in nineteen sixty five. This was the comic

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Speaker 2: book version of Lady Diana and Prince Charles, Bigger than

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Speaker 2: Madonna and Sean Penn, decades before Marvel and Spider Man

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Speaker 2: were box office giants. It was a rare opportunity to

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Speaker 2: see the Wall Crawler live in person and getting hitched

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Speaker 2: moments before a pivotal ballgame. Nothing like it had ever

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Speaker 2: been attempted before. A real life wedding between two fictional

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Speaker 2: characters at New.

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Speaker 6: York Day Stadium.

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Speaker 7: Spider Man and Mary Jane will finally.

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Speaker 5: Get married, and we have the privilege.

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Speaker 7: Of joining them this morning at a pre nuptial gathering

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Speaker 7: app Show Stadium.

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Speaker 2: It's the story of one of the wildest nuptials of

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Speaker 2: all time, Spider Man and mj The NEWLYWBS. Welcome to

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Speaker 2: very special episodes and I heart original podcast. I'm your host,

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Speaker 2: Dana Schwartz, and this is with this ring I the Web.

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Speaker 7: Hey, everybody, my name is Jason English. One third of

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Speaker 7: your usual post intro banter trio today. Just a quick

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Speaker 7: interruption here at the top, and then we'll get right

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Speaker 7: back into the story. Dana's Aaron and I would love

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Speaker 7: to do a mailbag episode. Sh'w get some pretty fun emails.

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Speaker 7: So this is a call to arms or thumbs or

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Speaker 7: whatever you type with if you've got a question about

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Speaker 7: Very Special Episodes, you have a topic you wish we'd cover.

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Speaker 7: A question about noble blood or ridiculous crime or any

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Speaker 7: other podcast merch ideas. You disagree with some of Zarin's

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Speaker 7: casting choices from previous episodes, send it to Very Special

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Speaker 7: Episodes at gmail dot com and we might read it

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Speaker 7: in a future episode.

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Speaker 4: All right, back to the show.

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Speaker 2: Superheroes aren't usually marriage material. It took Clark Kent until

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Speaker 2: nineteen ninety to pop the question to Lois Lane, and

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Speaker 2: another six years to actually tie the knot. It's hard

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Speaker 2: to imagine Batman dating. DC characters in particular didn't seem

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Speaker 2: to have much of a domestic life.

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Speaker 3: Here's a difference between Marvel and DC. Back in my day.

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Speaker 3: At DC, every character they had no financial worries. They

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Speaker 3: were probably rich, They had their own secret cave in

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Speaker 3: their own aerocar or batmobile or whatever. They had their

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Speaker 3: kids sidekick. They had met the love of their life

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Speaker 3: all ready.

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Speaker 2: That's Jim Shooter again. In addition to being Marvel's boss,

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Speaker 2: he was a creator in his own right. He got

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Speaker 2: his start writing for Marvel's arch rival DC at the

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Speaker 2: age of fourteen. For a while, he alternated between the

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Speaker 2: two companies before settling into the editor in chief role

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Speaker 2: at Marvel in nineteen eighty four. He wrote Marvel's Secret Wars,

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Speaker 2: one of the first major crossover series, featuring virtually every

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Speaker 2: major Marvel superhero. It helped set the template for the

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Speaker 2: Marvel cinematic universe of today. And now he was being

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Speaker 2: tasked with pulling off a wedding.

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Speaker 3: I had no objection to it. I thought it was

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Speaker 3: fine if Stan wanted to do it, and we could

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Speaker 3: do it coordinated in the strip and in the comics

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Speaker 3: at the same time. I thought that could be a

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Speaker 3: big deal, and it turned out to be a big deal.

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Speaker 2: At the time, Stan was writing the Spider Man comic

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Speaker 2: strip that was appearing in hundreds of newspapers around the country.

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Speaker 2: If Spider Man were to get married in the comic book,

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Speaker 2: then he'd have to get married in the comic strip too.

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Speaker 2: While the two didn't share precisely the same continuity, a

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Speaker 2: change that large would be a little distracting, so Jim

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Speaker 2: Stan and Spider Man editor Jim Salakrup all made share

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Speaker 2: their plans dovetailed with one another. The comic would arrive

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Speaker 2: in June nineteen eighty seven, around the same time the

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Speaker 2: marriage took place in the strip. This wasn't a decision

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Speaker 2: that Jim took lightly. Spider Man had been a bachelor

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Speaker 2: for a long time. He debuted in nineteen sixty two,

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Speaker 2: the work of Stan and artist Steve Ditko. Like most

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Speaker 2: Marvel heroes, he wasn't a deity, but a regular guy

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Speaker 2: with regular problems, wrent that was past due, social anxiety,

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Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. His first major relationship was with

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Speaker 2: Betty Brandt, an employee at The Daily Bugle, where Spider

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Speaker 2: Man's alter ego Peter Parker sold his freelance photos and

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Speaker 2: where he was frequently berated by boss j Jonah Jamison.

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Speaker 2: But it wasn't long before Gwen Stacy captured his attention

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Speaker 2: and his heart. The daughter of police Captain George Stacy,

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Speaker 2: Gwen was a fellow college student and still one of

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Speaker 2: the most popular of Peter's many romances. In the midst

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Speaker 2: of all of this was Mary Jane. She had been

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Speaker 2: a blind date set up by Peter's aunt May. Something

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Speaker 2: May teased Peter about four months before Mary Jane finally

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Speaker 2: appeared The Amazing Spider Man Number forty two in nineteen

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Speaker 2: sixty six, and she makes quite an entrance. It comes

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Speaker 2: just after Peter realizes the spark with Betty Brandt is gone,

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Speaker 2: a mood expressed in the hyperbolic comic book Dialogue of

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Speaker 2: the nineteen sixties.

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Speaker 8: All these months I thought about her, dreamt about her,

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Speaker 8: longed for her. So now she's returned, and nothing'sville.

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Speaker 2: Later, the doorbell rings and Peter answers.

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Speaker 1: You mean that's Mary Jane.

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Speaker 9: Face it, Tiger, You just said the jackpot.

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Speaker 2: Peter is instantly smitten. That was thanks in large parts

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Speaker 2: to artist John Remita Senior, who drew the issue and

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Speaker 2: conceived of Mary Jane's look, which was modeled after actress

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Speaker 2: Anne Margaret.

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Speaker 8: So tell me about yourself, Mary Jane. How come I've

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Speaker 8: never run into you before? What do you do with

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Speaker 8: yourself when you're not driving helpless males out of their minds,

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Speaker 8: and all this.

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Speaker 9: Time I was afraid you'd be the shy type. I

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Speaker 9: spend most of my time taking drama lessons.

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Speaker 1: Oh, you plan to be an actress.

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Speaker 9: Correction, Clyde, I am an actress. It's just a matter

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Speaker 9: of time till this big, blind, bouncy world discovers that

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Speaker 9: fabulous fact.

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Speaker 8: What a living doll. She makes everything seem like a party.

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Speaker 2: Peter would be torn between the vivacious MJ and the

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Speaker 2: pragmatic Gwen for years, until Gwen would tragically be killed

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Speaker 2: during a battle between Spider Man and his nemesis, the

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Speaker 2: Green Goblin, another heavy dose of the personal pathos Marvel

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Speaker 2: was known to put a tear through Peter did not

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Speaker 2: take it well.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna get you, Goblin.

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Speaker 8: I'm gonna destroy you slowly, and when you start begging

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Speaker 8: for me to end it, I'm gonna remind you of

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Speaker 8: one thing. You killed the woman I love, and for

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Speaker 8: that you're going to die.

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Speaker 2: Peter managed to get a grip on his homicidal rage

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Speaker 2: and later wound up proposing to MJ. But the timing

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Speaker 2: wasn't quite right.

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Speaker 1: Mary Jane, will you marry me?

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Speaker 9: Come on, Tiger, you know, good old MJ is too

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Speaker 9: free a spirit to tie herself down to anyone swinger,

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Speaker 9: even to a brown eyed hunk like you. There's a

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Speaker 9: world of groovy guys out there, and this doll's got

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Speaker 9: to be free to find him.

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Speaker 2: While that sounds pretty callous, readers later learned MJ wasn't

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Speaker 2: afraid of commitment so much as being pushed off a

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Speaker 2: roof by a psychopath dressed as a goblin. She had

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Speaker 2: discovered Peter with Spider Man and wasn't sure she was

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Speaker 2: ready for a life of looking over her shoulder. Other

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Speaker 2: Spider Man writers had floated the idea of the two

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Speaker 2: getting married, including one pitch for Peter to be left

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Speaker 2: at the altar, but it never gained steam despite a

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Speaker 2: very pro tract did courtship. In the eyes of comic

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Speaker 2: book readers. Peter and MJ had been dating on and

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Speaker 2: off for about twenty years, which is a pretty long

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Speaker 2: time to avoid the big question, but in the continuity

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Speaker 2: of the comic it was more like six years, and

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Speaker 2: while both had other relationships, they always seemed to drift

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Speaker 2: back to one another.

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Speaker 3: I like the difference some personalities because when Peter Parker's

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Speaker 3: Spider Man, he's witty, he's joking, he's daring, you know.

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Speaker 3: When he's Peter Parker, he's a little more conservative, introverted.

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Speaker 3: And I like the fact that Mary Chane was good

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Speaker 3: foil for that. She was, you know, face at Tiger,

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Speaker 3: So I thought it was a good match.

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Speaker 2: Initially, Jim was only concerned with the comic book and

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Speaker 2: comic strip weddings, but this was around the time Marvel

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Speaker 2: was being purchased by New World Pictures and Entertainment, in

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Speaker 2: motion picture company that was hoping to monetize their new

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Speaker 2: library of characters. Both Jim and New World felt that

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Speaker 2: a live wedding would be the perfect promotional vehicle for

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Speaker 2: the story, but Jim was having issues with Cadence Industries,

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Speaker 2: the company selling Marvel to New World.

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Speaker 3: They had decided to sell Marvel, and when you're selling

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Speaker 3: a company like Marvel, you don't want to invest anymore.

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Speaker 3: You're trying to save every nickel.

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Speaker 2: According to Jim, the belt tightening was alienating talent who

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Speaker 2: sometimes sought greener pastures over at DC and blamed Jim

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Speaker 2: for driving them away.

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Speaker 3: And then it's Jim Shooters driving talent away. You know,

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Speaker 3: it's just ridiculous. So I was at war with these

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Speaker 3: screaming war of these guys every day, and so in

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Speaker 3: the middle of that, we're planning a wedding. It was

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Speaker 3: kind of surreal.

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Speaker 2: To plan the actual wedding, Jim relied on Pamela Rutt,

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Speaker 2: Marvel's director of publicity. It was Pam's job to get

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Speaker 2: Marvel's name out to the mainstream press, which still regarded

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Speaker 2: comics with a little disdain. This was an opportunity to

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Speaker 2: garner some significant attention, and it was coming at a

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Speaker 2: good time. In nineteen eighty six, DC had gotten lots

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Speaker 2: of coverage for their Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns series

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Speaker 2: to mature takes on the superhero genre. They were grim,

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Speaker 2: violent and in stark contrast to Marvel's wisecracking cast, and

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Speaker 2: DC also had the muscle of Warner Brothers behind them.

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Speaker 2: Marvel was more of the scrappy upstart that needed to

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Speaker 2: be creative. Pam made a deal with Shay Stadium, which

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Speaker 2: agreed to host the wedding on June fifth, nineteen eighty seven.

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Speaker 2: Spider Man would literally be on third base, or the

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Speaker 2: third base line anyway, with Mary Jane both appearing on

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Speaker 2: a heart shaped podium To make their union official, and

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Speaker 2: naturally stan Lee would be there to marry them off.

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Speaker 2: Pam was essentially Spider Man's wedding planner. In addition to

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Speaker 2: the actual ceremony, she prepared a bachelor party, yes, a

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Speaker 2: bachelor party. Fittingly, it took place at Toy Fair in Manhattan.

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Speaker 2: Spider Man, the guest of honor, sauntered into a conference

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Speaker 2: room filled with over six hundred people to greet his buddies,

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Speaker 2: like the Hulk and Captain America. Someone wheeled in a

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Speaker 2: giant cake the kind and exotic dancer might pop out of,

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Speaker 2: but that's not very family friend, so poor Spider Man

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Speaker 2: had to cope with the Green Goblin, the villain who

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Speaker 2: had caused the death of his beloved Gwen Stacy, emerging

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Speaker 2: from the cake instead. The man portraying Spider Man for

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Speaker 2: that bachelor party was kind of an understudy for the

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Speaker 2: actual wedding. Marvel planned to bring in the Marlon Brando

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Speaker 2: of Spider Man performers, a man who has played Spider

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Speaker 2: Man over fifteen hundred times, far more than any other actor.

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Speaker 2: Someone who could handle the pressure of the character's biggest moment,

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Speaker 2: someone who had been in tough situations before with Captain

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Speaker 2: America by his side.

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Speaker 5: And you're sitting there with you know, a dozen or

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Speaker 5: twenty lucky kids who get to ride up with their

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Speaker 5: favorite superhero. I look over at Cap and he's turned white,

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Speaker 5: and he goes, yeah, I'm going to be sick.

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Speaker 2: Comic book fans today are spoiled. Here is what we

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Speaker 2: mean by that. Right now, if you want to see

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Speaker 2: Spider Man in live action, you can head to a

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Speaker 2: streaming service and call up any of the eight Spider

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Speaker 2: Man feature films, each costing tens or even hundreds of

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Speaker 2: millions to produce, and that's not counting Spider Man's cameos

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Speaker 2: or major roles in movies like Avengers Infinity War. But

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Speaker 2: back in the nineteen eighties, Spider Man fans were in

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Speaker 2: a kind of drought. Yes, he did have several monthly

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Speaker 2: comic book titles along with the newspaper strip and a

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Speaker 2: few cartoons, but if you wanted to see Spider Man

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Speaker 2: in the flesh, you only had a few options. One

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Speaker 2: was The Electric Company, a public television kids show from

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Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies that had the character making appearances, Or

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Speaker 2: you could try to find reruns of the nineteen seventy

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Speaker 2: seven CBS television series starring Nicholas Hammond. Trying to do

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Speaker 2: Spider Man's wall crawling and web shooting on a seventies

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Speaker 2: TV budget was as disappointing as you can imagine. But

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Speaker 2: there was a third option. You could hope that Spider

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Speaker 2: Man would make a personal appearance at a mall, park

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Speaker 2: or school near you. By the nineteen eighties, Marvel opened

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Speaker 2: a new office devoted exclusively to costumed appearances. An event

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Speaker 2: could book a Marvel superhero to open a new supermarket

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Speaker 2: or promote a shopping center. Best of all, Marvel would

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Speaker 2: send them directly to you. The catch the selection was

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Speaker 2: fairly slim. You could get a guy in a padded

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00:20:21,442 --> 00:20:25,842
Speaker 2: suit as the Hulk, or a pretty economical Iron Man.

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Speaker 2: There were two obscure characters, Firestar and Iceman, who had

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Speaker 2: appeared in an early nineteen eighties spider Man animated series,

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Speaker 2: Spider Man and his Amazing Friends, and there were a

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Speaker 2: few villains too, like the Green Goblin and Doctor Doom.

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Speaker 2: But per Marvel policy, heroes and villains never got physical

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Speaker 2: with each other. There was just a lot of well scolding.

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Speaker 2: All of these characters had their fans, but far and

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Speaker 2: away the most requested character for the appearances was Spider Man.

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Speaker 2: Kids love Spider Man. He's friendly, he's funny. His costume

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Speaker 2: is one of the best in comics, and even in

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Speaker 2: the eighties he was on everything from toy shelves to

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Speaker 2: under rus. His multiple comic titles sold a million copies

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Speaker 2: every month. According to Jim Shooter, Spider Man merchandise brought

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00:21:31,962 --> 00:21:35,402
Speaker 2: in more revenue for Marvel than all the rest of

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Speaker 2: their characters combined. The man primarily responsible for bringing Spider

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Speaker 2: Man to life was Jerry Colpit's. Jerry was in his

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Speaker 2: early twenties a theater graduate from the University of Maine

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Speaker 2: when he caught word of an audition being held for

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Speaker 2: an unusual role making public appearances in Spandex.

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Speaker 5: So they gave me a new costume, never been worn,

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00:22:03,442 --> 00:22:09,882
Speaker 5: skin tight spanex webs with the mask which had kind

325
00:22:09,882 --> 00:22:13,082
Speaker 5: of a maze over the eyes and everything I found out.

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Speaker 5: So I remember putting it on back in the closet

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Speaker 5: in the head of Marketer.

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Speaker 4: Marketing his office.

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Speaker 2: That's Jerry.

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Speaker 4: They had a small mirror there and Spandex what do

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Speaker 4: we aware of them? Did this thing?

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Speaker 5: First of all, I don't know to come just hanging

333
00:22:28,042 --> 00:22:30,802
Speaker 5: out with the thing or should I leave my tidy

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Speaker 5: whites on. This is what you go through as an actor,

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Speaker 5: you know, And then let me try to all right,

336
00:22:37,562 --> 00:22:40,202
Speaker 5: leave my tidy whities for now, but let me all

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Speaker 5: right squeeze into this thing feet first.

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Speaker 2: At the time, Jerry was going by his stage name

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Speaker 2: Jeremy Stewart, which is why you might see that name

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00:22:50,122 --> 00:22:54,642
Speaker 2: in association with these costumed appearances. It's the same guy,

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00:22:55,162 --> 00:22:58,522
Speaker 2: an alter ego if you prefer.

342
00:22:59,202 --> 00:23:01,482
Speaker 4: And you know what I can see out of this thing.

343
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Speaker 5: You have to watch my eyelashes getting stuck in the mesh.

344
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Speaker 4: But here we go and adjust it. And I'll never

345
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Speaker 4: forget the moment I turned around.

346
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Speaker 5: I looked in the mirror, and the Amazing Spider Man

347
00:23:14,722 --> 00:23:15,402
Speaker 5: was looking back At.

348
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Speaker 2: The Jerry was hired. His first gig was at a

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Speaker 2: mall in Charlotte, North Carolina.

350
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Speaker 5: Here is a new concept, actually a Marvel superhero showing

351
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Speaker 5: up at the grand opening of this enormous shopping mall

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Speaker 5: and come and get your picture taken with Spider Man.

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Speaker 5: Come and meet the Amazing Spider Man, Come and get

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Speaker 5: an autograph. And there were lines of these kids and

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Speaker 5: their families waiting in line to see the amazing Spider Man.

356
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Speaker 2: To really appreciate Jerry's work as Spider Man, you need

357
00:23:49,082 --> 00:23:54,002
Speaker 2: to realize that most costume characters aren't required to speak

358
00:23:54,122 --> 00:23:58,242
Speaker 2: and verbally interact with a crowd. Think about the Disney

359
00:23:58,322 --> 00:24:01,482
Speaker 2: characters at their theme parks. You won't hear a quack

360
00:24:01,522 --> 00:24:04,802
Speaker 2: from Donald Duck or a squeak from Mickey. But at

361
00:24:04,922 --> 00:24:10,002
Speaker 2: Marvel Heroes, where expect to chat up fans. For an actor,

362
00:24:10,122 --> 00:24:15,282
Speaker 2: it was basically a kind of improv the Groundlings meets Superheroes.

363
00:24:16,042 --> 00:24:19,522
Speaker 2: Jerry was pretty good at this. Anything anyone could throw

364
00:24:19,562 --> 00:24:21,402
Speaker 2: at him he could handle.

365
00:24:21,522 --> 00:24:23,042
Speaker 5: And I was given a lot of freedom over the

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Speaker 5: years to write my own speeches and dialogues. It usually

367
00:24:27,362 --> 00:24:31,682
Speaker 5: involves recycling the expected cheesy remarks. This job has me

368
00:24:31,802 --> 00:24:32,722
Speaker 5: climbing the walls.

369
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Speaker 2: Jerry's performance as Spider Man was very impressive to Marvel,

370
00:24:38,002 --> 00:24:42,402
Speaker 2: who soon considered him their a list Spidey, the webhead

371
00:24:42,562 --> 00:24:46,802
Speaker 2: they dispatch when they had a valued client to satisfy.

372
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Speaker 2: Jerry would also get the prime gig of escorting his

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Speaker 2: co creator Stan Lee when stan made his personal appearances.

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Speaker 5: How many times I had to remind stance zip Hop

375
00:24:59,242 --> 00:25:03,002
Speaker 5: is fly before we made an appearance. Stan, you fly,

376
00:25:03,442 --> 00:25:07,722
Speaker 5: you fly? Oh yeah, thanks, thanks Spady. He could count

377
00:25:07,722 --> 00:25:09,802
Speaker 5: on me to ormind and zip up his fly.

378
00:25:10,802 --> 00:25:15,482
Speaker 2: But sometimes the gigs didn't go as planned, and not

379
00:25:15,722 --> 00:25:19,962
Speaker 2: because Stan couldn't remember to zip his pants. One time,

380
00:25:20,202 --> 00:25:25,962
Speaker 2: Jerry was dispatched to Hershey Park, an amusement destination in Pennsylvania.

381
00:25:26,562 --> 00:25:30,842
Speaker 2: He went there accompanied by Captain America. But on this

382
00:25:30,922 --> 00:25:34,282
Speaker 2: day Cap wasn't exactly the pride of the nation.

383
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Speaker 5: They had a Spider Man Captain America team up right

384
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Speaker 5: on fourth of July. It was the hottest fourth of

385
00:25:41,002 --> 00:25:43,322
Speaker 5: July on record, and so they had this guy who

386
00:25:43,362 --> 00:25:44,562
Speaker 5: was playing Capital America.

387
00:25:45,522 --> 00:25:48,442
Speaker 2: Spider Man and Cap made their way to a big

388
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Speaker 2: rotating wheel that went up in the air two hundred

389
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Speaker 2: feet and then CAP's long night caught up with him.

390
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Speaker 5: We're about halfway up the pole. I grabbed his shield

391
00:26:00,242 --> 00:26:02,602
Speaker 5: and put it under his chin, and he like, h

392
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Speaker 5: let it go in front of all these kids, plus

393
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Speaker 5: you know, you get a crowd en below. We finally

394
00:26:07,802 --> 00:26:11,082
Speaker 5: get down and I was carrying his shield upside down,

395
00:26:11,482 --> 00:26:13,202
Speaker 5: trying not to spill it on anybody.

396
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Speaker 4: And uh, I think they sent him home.

397
00:26:16,842 --> 00:26:21,082
Speaker 2: No such mishap ever befell Jerry, but the costume did

398
00:26:21,162 --> 00:26:26,042
Speaker 2: have its pitfalls. Unlike the Space age fabrics and cgi

399
00:26:26,362 --> 00:26:31,442
Speaker 2: used in movies, Jerry's spidy suit was just stretchy spandex

400
00:26:31,922 --> 00:26:36,562
Speaker 2: one entire piece that dipped up at the shoulders. The eyes,

401
00:26:36,682 --> 00:26:41,122
Speaker 2: which are famously two white blobs, didn't provide him with

402
00:26:41,202 --> 00:26:42,882
Speaker 2: a terrific field of vision.

403
00:26:43,522 --> 00:26:47,882
Speaker 5: Oh sure, you know, never broken bone, but uh yeah,

404
00:26:47,962 --> 00:26:50,282
Speaker 5: I stepped off a stage one time that I couldn't see.

405
00:26:50,282 --> 00:26:52,682
Speaker 5: You say, you have to mesh ow your eyes and

406
00:26:53,402 --> 00:26:54,242
Speaker 5: direct sunlight.

407
00:26:54,562 --> 00:26:56,202
Speaker 4: Forget it, you're you get white.

408
00:26:55,922 --> 00:27:02,322
Speaker 2: Out Falls weren't the only hazard, so were inebriated teens.

409
00:27:02,602 --> 00:27:07,442
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I've had strange drunk kids sucker punch me

410
00:27:07,762 --> 00:27:10,322
Speaker 5: through the years. Yeah, I've good stories coming out of

411
00:27:10,602 --> 00:27:14,242
Speaker 5: a side swaper, you know, from behind and that kind

412
00:27:14,282 --> 00:27:15,162
Speaker 5: of thing that did happen.

413
00:27:15,522 --> 00:27:16,922
Speaker 4: It didn't happen very often.

414
00:27:16,722 --> 00:27:18,802
Speaker 5: But yeah, there are there are moments where it was

415
00:27:18,802 --> 00:27:20,642
Speaker 5: just like, well, buddy oh Man.

416
00:27:22,722 --> 00:27:27,082
Speaker 2: Jerry was still pursuing his conventional acting career, but being

417
00:27:27,202 --> 00:27:30,242
Speaker 2: Spider Man took up a lot of his time. He

418
00:27:30,362 --> 00:27:34,402
Speaker 2: found himself jumping on planes almost every weekend, or being

419
00:27:34,482 --> 00:27:38,362
Speaker 2: shuttled to one event or another. In the nineteen eighties,

420
00:27:38,442 --> 00:27:43,202
Speaker 2: he even made several appearances in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

421
00:27:43,882 --> 00:27:48,562
Speaker 2: But Jerry's most rewarding work as Spider Man came when

422
00:27:48,642 --> 00:27:52,642
Speaker 2: Marvel decided to team up with the National Committee for

423
00:27:52,762 --> 00:27:57,802
Speaker 2: the Prevention of Child Abuse In nineteen eighty four. The

424
00:27:57,882 --> 00:28:02,362
Speaker 2: company printed a comic in which Spider Man shares he

425
00:28:02,562 --> 00:28:07,322
Speaker 2: was touched inappropriately as a kid. The idea was get

426
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Speaker 2: children comfortable in sharing their own stories of abuse.

427
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Speaker 5: And so I would help distribute these comic books around

428
00:28:15,722 --> 00:28:19,762
Speaker 5: the country and do an assembly for we're talking grade

429
00:28:19,802 --> 00:28:25,042
Speaker 5: schools and found a way to captivate the kids by

430
00:28:25,162 --> 00:28:28,722
Speaker 5: appearing from a high place. Usually the principal would come

431
00:28:28,722 --> 00:28:31,002
Speaker 5: out and say, we have a special guest here today.

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Speaker 4: Anybody know who it is? Yeah, Spider Man or Spider

433
00:28:33,442 --> 00:28:37,922
Speaker 4: Man who Spider Man in the spotlight on me? Perched

434
00:28:38,042 --> 00:28:40,082
Speaker 4: up the thing and.

435
00:28:41,042 --> 00:28:43,322
Speaker 5: I jumped down, and the kids were screaming, and I'd

436
00:28:43,762 --> 00:28:46,762
Speaker 5: try and find the scruffiest looking kid and pick him up,

437
00:28:46,842 --> 00:28:49,242
Speaker 5: and he'd beat the star of the day. And you know,

438
00:28:49,322 --> 00:28:52,042
Speaker 5: found the sours looking teacher and walk over to her

439
00:28:52,082 --> 00:28:53,242
Speaker 5: and give her a big hug.

440
00:28:53,602 --> 00:28:55,282
Speaker 4: And so you get the kids on your side now.

441
00:28:56,082 --> 00:28:59,242
Speaker 2: That special issue might be one of the most printed

442
00:28:59,362 --> 00:29:05,162
Speaker 2: copies of any comic book ever. Roughly sixteen million copies

443
00:29:05,322 --> 00:29:09,762
Speaker 2: were inserted into Sunday newspapers all across the country, with

444
00:29:09,842 --> 00:29:14,482
Speaker 2: another two million handed out by the committee, and Jerry

445
00:29:14,642 --> 00:29:19,762
Speaker 2: as Spider Man, made several appearances in support of the story.

446
00:29:20,522 --> 00:29:25,562
Speaker 2: That meant being prepared to have some serious conversations with

447
00:29:25,722 --> 00:29:27,522
Speaker 2: kids who looked up to the character.

448
00:29:28,042 --> 00:29:30,202
Speaker 5: I got a phone call one night from a doctor

449
00:29:30,642 --> 00:29:33,442
Speaker 5: and the guy was in tears. This kid they had

450
00:29:33,482 --> 00:29:36,082
Speaker 5: in there who just you know, they'd been working with

451
00:29:36,162 --> 00:29:38,282
Speaker 5: him for weeks and he would just not open his

452
00:29:38,362 --> 00:29:41,442
Speaker 5: mouth about what had gone on, although the bruises were there.

453
00:29:41,962 --> 00:29:44,242
Speaker 5: The doctor called me and said, I'm so glad we

454
00:29:44,282 --> 00:29:46,922
Speaker 5: had you here. Timmy is finally opening up thanks to

455
00:29:46,922 --> 00:29:51,522
Speaker 5: your visit. So you kind of feel like you're making

456
00:29:51,562 --> 00:29:54,442
Speaker 5: a difference here, and that was really a very gratifying,

457
00:29:54,762 --> 00:29:55,922
Speaker 5: wonderful experience.

458
00:29:58,362 --> 00:30:03,202
Speaker 2: Another highlight for Jerry was interacting with celebrities, even presidents.

459
00:30:03,722 --> 00:30:06,922
Speaker 2: He was once invited to the annual Easter Egg hunh

460
00:30:07,162 --> 00:30:09,762
Speaker 2: at the White House, where he was face to face

461
00:30:09,882 --> 00:30:14,082
Speaker 2: with then President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy.

462
00:30:14,642 --> 00:30:16,962
Speaker 5: Ronald Reagan came out of the White House and I

463
00:30:17,122 --> 00:30:19,802
Speaker 5: managed to squeeze it next to him and put my

464
00:30:19,882 --> 00:30:20,642
Speaker 5: hands on his.

465
00:30:20,602 --> 00:30:23,442
Speaker 4: Suit and he was laughing uproariously.

466
00:30:23,842 --> 00:30:26,122
Speaker 5: The next day, I'm in New York City after coming

467
00:30:26,162 --> 00:30:28,002
Speaker 5: back from DC, and I'm riding on a bus. I

468
00:30:28,002 --> 00:30:30,122
Speaker 5: look down and the guy next to me is reading

469
00:30:30,122 --> 00:30:32,922
Speaker 5: the New York Times on the front page. Big slow

470
00:30:32,962 --> 00:30:36,002
Speaker 5: news day, I guess, but a big picture of Spider

471
00:30:36,082 --> 00:30:38,282
Speaker 5: Man and Ronald Reagan laughing his so.

472
00:30:39,482 --> 00:30:43,042
Speaker 2: But not even meeting a president could compare to the

473
00:30:43,082 --> 00:30:47,842
Speaker 2: nerves of Spider Man's biggest gig, getting married in front

474
00:30:47,922 --> 00:30:51,802
Speaker 2: of fifty one thousand people at Shay Stadium.

475
00:30:52,282 --> 00:30:54,202
Speaker 5: So finally he sees that they're going to tie the

476
00:30:54,282 --> 00:30:58,002
Speaker 5: knot and wow, wow, that's quite an event. And we're

477
00:30:58,002 --> 00:31:00,802
Speaker 5: going to have Shaye Stadium with the Mets play, Yeah,

478
00:31:00,842 --> 00:31:03,522
Speaker 5: the world champion Mets from the year before. But she

479
00:31:03,562 --> 00:31:05,642
Speaker 5: started talking to me about it. You're going to be

480
00:31:05,682 --> 00:31:07,882
Speaker 5: wearing a white top entails.

481
00:31:08,922 --> 00:31:13,842
Speaker 2: Few performers, outside of magic music acts, we'll ever see

482
00:31:13,882 --> 00:31:17,922
Speaker 2: a live audience that size. With just days to go

483
00:31:18,002 --> 00:31:21,842
Speaker 2: before the wedding, poor Jerry hadn't even met his bride

484
00:31:21,882 --> 00:31:38,802
Speaker 2: to be, Mary Jane Watson was always just a little

485
00:31:38,842 --> 00:31:42,882
Speaker 2: bit out of Peter Parker's league. Peter was, after all,

486
00:31:43,002 --> 00:31:48,082
Speaker 2: the science nerd and shutterbug who favored sweater vests. Mary

487
00:31:48,202 --> 00:31:53,122
Speaker 2: Jane was a fashion model, a globe hopping trendsetter. For

488
00:31:53,282 --> 00:31:57,762
Speaker 2: their Shay Stadium wedding. That made finding someone to portray

489
00:31:58,042 --> 00:32:02,202
Speaker 2: Mary Jane a little challenging. Sure, they needed a red

490
00:32:02,282 --> 00:32:06,202
Speaker 2: haired model, but they also needed someone who would be

491
00:32:06,282 --> 00:32:11,002
Speaker 2: comfortable portraying a fictional character in front of tens of

492
00:32:11,162 --> 00:32:15,682
Speaker 2: thousands of people, in addition to making several public appearances,

493
00:32:16,242 --> 00:32:18,362
Speaker 2: all while remaining in character.

494
00:32:19,162 --> 00:32:22,602
Speaker 6: But this was my norm, this kind of event stuff,

495
00:32:23,282 --> 00:32:27,602
Speaker 6: so that probably had a part in it. They don't

496
00:32:27,642 --> 00:32:29,922
Speaker 6: exactly run things by you.

497
00:32:30,922 --> 00:32:35,242
Speaker 2: That's Tara Shannon, the model picked to play Mary Jane.

498
00:32:35,682 --> 00:32:37,642
Speaker 6: You know, it was like the music videos back then,

499
00:32:37,762 --> 00:32:40,242
Speaker 6: same thing. You just showed up and twenty four hours

500
00:32:40,322 --> 00:32:44,042
Speaker 6: later you shot a music video with everyone pitching in

501
00:32:44,082 --> 00:32:46,242
Speaker 6: and helping. You know, It's like a Judy Garland movie

502
00:32:46,362 --> 00:32:49,642
Speaker 6: or something. So yeah, just basically you know, showing up,

503
00:32:49,722 --> 00:32:52,682
Speaker 6: you know, and also reference they're saying, okay, you're going

504
00:32:52,722 --> 00:32:55,162
Speaker 6: to go do this at the Mets, and then there's

505
00:32:55,202 --> 00:32:57,482
Speaker 6: going to be a party at a nightclub, and you're

506
00:32:57,522 --> 00:33:00,402
Speaker 6: going to stay in character, and you just show up.

507
00:33:01,482 --> 00:33:05,442
Speaker 2: Tara started modeling in the late nineteen seventies. Like a

508
00:33:05,482 --> 00:33:09,082
Speaker 2: lot of models, she's able to communicate with a camera,

509
00:33:09,602 --> 00:33:14,322
Speaker 2: transmitting charisma in a still photo. That ability led to

510
00:33:14,522 --> 00:33:19,362
Speaker 2: covers for Vogue, Harper's Bizarre, and work in music videos,

511
00:33:19,802 --> 00:33:22,242
Speaker 2: including a Different Kind of Bride.

512
00:33:22,962 --> 00:33:25,802
Speaker 6: I did Bride of Frankenstein in the Huey Lewis video

513
00:33:25,842 --> 00:33:29,482
Speaker 6: the same year that was hilarious Doing It All for

514
00:33:29,602 --> 00:33:33,882
Speaker 6: My Baby, where Huey played Frankenstein and his band played

515
00:33:35,322 --> 00:33:40,482
Speaker 6: Igor in the lab. In the dungeon, everyone gets killed,

516
00:33:40,682 --> 00:33:43,242
Speaker 6: the head's decapitated, theirs Sirred Underglass.

517
00:33:43,882 --> 00:33:47,042
Speaker 2: With her red hair, Tara looked a good deal like

518
00:33:47,242 --> 00:33:51,202
Speaker 2: Mary Jane. Someone recommended her to Marvel, which got her

519
00:33:51,242 --> 00:33:55,362
Speaker 2: an invite to the company's famed bullpen full of writers

520
00:33:55,362 --> 00:34:00,242
Speaker 2: and artists cranking out dozens of monthly titles. While Tara

521
00:34:00,482 --> 00:34:04,282
Speaker 2: wasn't a die hard collector, she did relate to one

522
00:34:04,322 --> 00:34:09,362
Speaker 2: of the company's lesser known characters, Millie the Model, a

523
00:34:09,402 --> 00:34:12,242
Speaker 2: fashion figure navigating New York City.

524
00:34:12,842 --> 00:34:15,602
Speaker 6: When I was aligned with Marvel for this job, I

525
00:34:15,602 --> 00:34:18,402
Speaker 6: got to go to the Marvel offices in New York

526
00:34:18,442 --> 00:34:21,922
Speaker 6: and see all the comic strip artists in their little desks,

527
00:34:22,002 --> 00:34:25,682
Speaker 6: you know, just before the word nerd came in, and

528
00:34:26,042 --> 00:34:28,322
Speaker 6: you know, both of us, you know, the comic book

529
00:34:28,402 --> 00:34:30,522
Speaker 6: artists and me as a model, where we're looking at

530
00:34:30,522 --> 00:34:33,602
Speaker 6: each other like, you know, we're like aliens, like we've

531
00:34:33,642 --> 00:34:35,082
Speaker 6: never been in each other's world.

532
00:34:36,122 --> 00:34:40,562
Speaker 2: Mary Jane had never appeared in a live action setting before.

533
00:34:41,082 --> 00:34:44,762
Speaker 2: She was never a character on the seventies Spider Man Show,

534
00:34:44,922 --> 00:34:48,322
Speaker 2: so this would be the first. Once it was official,

535
00:34:48,522 --> 00:34:52,362
Speaker 2: Tara was dispatched to the offices of designer Willie Smith

536
00:34:52,722 --> 00:34:56,962
Speaker 2: for a bridal fitting. If you don't follow the fashion world,

537
00:34:57,282 --> 00:35:00,402
Speaker 2: you might not be familiar with Willy's name, but he

538
00:35:00,642 --> 00:35:04,402
Speaker 2: was one of the premier designers of the decade, designing

539
00:35:04,562 --> 00:35:09,882
Speaker 2: suits for Caroline Kennedy's wedding the previous summer. Marvel believed

540
00:35:09,922 --> 00:35:13,282
Speaker 2: his stature in the fashion world would be another press

541
00:35:13,362 --> 00:35:15,202
Speaker 2: coup for them, and they were right.

542
00:35:16,042 --> 00:35:20,442
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was the eighties and fashion. First of all,

543
00:35:20,602 --> 00:35:23,282
Speaker 6: he was an African American designer and that was rare,

544
00:35:23,322 --> 00:35:26,722
Speaker 6: and he was incredibly successful, so that in itself needs

545
00:35:26,762 --> 00:35:29,762
Speaker 6: to be held with the respect that it deserves because

546
00:35:29,842 --> 00:35:30,402
Speaker 6: what he did.

547
00:35:31,522 --> 00:35:35,322
Speaker 2: Many of the articles about the wedding mentioned Willy's involvement

548
00:35:35,442 --> 00:35:39,002
Speaker 2: and his gown. It was a lacy white number with

549
00:35:39,082 --> 00:35:43,362
Speaker 2: a high collar and a trumpet skirt. Willie also designed

550
00:35:43,482 --> 00:35:47,122
Speaker 2: Spider Man's formal wear for the event, which required a

551
00:35:47,282 --> 00:35:52,202
Speaker 2: jacket with coattails, white spats, a cumberbund bow tie, and

552
00:35:52,402 --> 00:35:56,362
Speaker 2: other accessories that would blend with his costume. It was,

553
00:35:56,522 --> 00:36:01,242
Speaker 2: after all, Spider Man getting married, not Peter Parker. He

554
00:36:01,402 --> 00:36:06,402
Speaker 2: had a secret identity to protect. But Willie sadly wouldn't

555
00:36:06,402 --> 00:36:10,362
Speaker 2: be around owned for the ceremony. He died of complications

556
00:36:10,402 --> 00:36:14,282
Speaker 2: from AIDS in the spring of nineteen eighty seven. Mary

557
00:36:14,362 --> 00:36:23,242
Speaker 2: Jane's gown would be one of his final projects. Marvel

558
00:36:23,442 --> 00:36:26,802
Speaker 2: was banking on the novelty of a real comic book

559
00:36:26,802 --> 00:36:32,042
Speaker 2: wedding to attract press, and it worked. Newspapers around the

560
00:36:32,082 --> 00:36:38,162
Speaker 2: country ran notices breathlessly reporting the couple's two decade long entanglement.

561
00:36:38,842 --> 00:36:42,562
Speaker 2: The duo were even available for quotes fretting that their

562
00:36:42,642 --> 00:36:46,242
Speaker 2: children would be born with eight legs or relating the

563
00:36:46,282 --> 00:36:50,162
Speaker 2: groom was so nervous he was pacing the ceiling. Pam

564
00:36:50,322 --> 00:36:54,002
Speaker 2: Rut of Marvel's publicity arm even got The New York

565
00:36:54,202 --> 00:36:57,762
Speaker 2: Times to make mention of the ceremony in a kind

566
00:36:57,802 --> 00:37:02,322
Speaker 2: of mock wedding announcement, a perk not even warm blooded

567
00:37:02,442 --> 00:37:04,802
Speaker 2: famous couples always get it.

568
00:37:04,882 --> 00:37:10,522
Speaker 10: Read Friday Night as chayse Stadium, Mary Jane Watson, an actress, model,

569
00:37:10,602 --> 00:37:13,682
Speaker 10: and computer business woman, will be married to the Amazing

570
00:37:13,762 --> 00:37:17,562
Speaker 10: Spider Man, a superhero also known to comic book cognizanti

571
00:37:17,922 --> 00:37:21,922
Speaker 10: as Peter Parker, a freelance photographer for the mythical Daily

572
00:37:21,962 --> 00:37:25,922
Speaker 10: Bugle in Manhattan. Stan Lee, publisher of Marvel Comics and

573
00:37:26,002 --> 00:37:28,362
Speaker 10: creator of Spider Man, will officiate.

574
00:37:29,362 --> 00:37:33,922
Speaker 2: Marvel scored another big coup when Tara, Jerry and stan

575
00:37:34,002 --> 00:37:38,162
Speaker 2: Lee made an appearance on Good Morning America the day

576
00:37:38,202 --> 00:37:42,082
Speaker 2: before the ceremony, In an era before the Marvel movie

577
00:37:42,162 --> 00:37:46,962
Speaker 2: machine started humming, this was major exposure. All they needed

578
00:37:47,042 --> 00:37:53,922
Speaker 2: now was to pull off the real thing. On June fifth,

579
00:37:53,962 --> 00:37:58,482
Speaker 2: the Marvel Repertory Company left their Manhattan office and headed

580
00:37:58,522 --> 00:38:02,882
Speaker 2: for shay Stadium. In addition to Spider Man, Mary Jane

581
00:38:02,962 --> 00:38:07,042
Speaker 2: and stan Lee, Captain America was on hand to be

582
00:38:07,042 --> 00:38:12,322
Speaker 2: best man. Hopefully sober this time. Firestar was there, as

583
00:38:12,482 --> 00:38:17,042
Speaker 2: was Iceman and the Hulk. Even the Green Goblin was there,

584
00:38:17,162 --> 00:38:21,002
Speaker 2: who we will remind you was responsible for the death

585
00:38:21,042 --> 00:38:26,282
Speaker 2: of Peter's other love, Gwen Stacy awkward. Once they were

586
00:38:26,362 --> 00:38:30,002
Speaker 2: at the stadium, the cast was directed to a spare

587
00:38:30,122 --> 00:38:33,322
Speaker 2: locker room so they could get changed and go over

588
00:38:33,402 --> 00:38:34,082
Speaker 2: their lines.

589
00:38:34,682 --> 00:38:40,442
Speaker 6: I got to get my wedding dress in the locker

590
00:38:40,522 --> 00:38:43,722
Speaker 6: room of the Mets. That's where I got dressed.

591
00:38:44,402 --> 00:38:45,242
Speaker 4: It's crazy.

592
00:38:46,002 --> 00:38:50,002
Speaker 6: My attendants were, you know, the incredible Hull, Captain America,

593
00:38:50,682 --> 00:38:54,122
Speaker 6: all these other Marvel characters, so surreal.

594
00:38:56,682 --> 00:39:01,122
Speaker 2: While they waited, Mets players began filing in, casting some

595
00:39:01,362 --> 00:39:05,722
Speaker 2: curious glances toward the comic book team up materializing in

596
00:39:05,802 --> 00:39:10,322
Speaker 2: the stadium. That led to Jerry having a very meta

597
00:39:10,442 --> 00:39:14,842
Speaker 2: moment of getting jealous of his character's fictional bride.

598
00:39:15,482 --> 00:39:19,122
Speaker 5: Here's Jerry, I'm like pointing out, you know, that's terreal

599
00:39:19,202 --> 00:39:22,602
Speaker 5: Strawberry sauntering down the hallway. He does a double take

600
00:39:22,642 --> 00:39:26,242
Speaker 5: and he sees her standing there, and he immediately, you know,

601
00:39:26,482 --> 00:39:30,242
Speaker 5: this cheshire cat grin the saunters over to her.

602
00:39:30,322 --> 00:39:31,322
Speaker 4: He's on his way to.

603
00:39:31,282 --> 00:39:35,162
Speaker 5: Work, for God's sake, and she's standing there and he

604
00:39:35,482 --> 00:39:38,642
Speaker 5: said who are you? And I'm like, I'm going to

605
00:39:38,682 --> 00:39:40,522
Speaker 5: get married to this woman in a couple of hours.

606
00:39:40,522 --> 00:39:43,122
Speaker 5: You know what, Jess, should I web the guy? I go,

607
00:39:43,282 --> 00:39:44,122
Speaker 5: what a homeworker?

608
00:39:44,202 --> 00:39:47,642
Speaker 4: You know, he's making moves on my on my fiance.

609
00:39:48,642 --> 00:39:53,002
Speaker 2: But not everyone was happy to see them. For baseball fans,

610
00:39:53,122 --> 00:39:56,522
Speaker 2: the most significant event to happen at Shay that night

611
00:39:57,002 --> 00:40:00,482
Speaker 2: wasn't the wedding. It was the return of Dwight Goodin,

612
00:40:00,842 --> 00:40:03,922
Speaker 2: a star for the Mets, who had been absent while

613
00:40:03,962 --> 00:40:10,402
Speaker 2: attending a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. To Gooden's treatment supervisor,

614
00:40:10,562 --> 00:40:14,922
Speaker 2: doctor Alan Lands, a comic book, wedding was a distraction.

615
00:40:15,242 --> 00:40:19,642
Speaker 2: His player didn't need talking to press, Doctor Lands said,

616
00:40:20,082 --> 00:40:23,082
Speaker 2: who needs this? It's horrible? In my way, it would

617
00:40:23,082 --> 00:40:27,082
Speaker 2: have been as routine an evening as possible. Marvel, however,

618
00:40:27,162 --> 00:40:32,482
Speaker 2: had booked Shay long before Goodin's return was scheduled. There

619
00:40:32,602 --> 00:40:37,522
Speaker 2: wasn't anything anyone, including doctor LANs, could really do about it,

620
00:40:37,962 --> 00:40:44,082
Speaker 2: and Spider Man has overcome worse odds. At seven point

621
00:40:44,082 --> 00:40:49,602
Speaker 2: fifteen pm, it was time. Jerry climbed into one limousine

622
00:40:49,682 --> 00:40:53,802
Speaker 2: and Tara in another. The two were driven out near

623
00:40:53,962 --> 00:40:58,202
Speaker 2: third base where a heart shaped podium and stan Lee

624
00:40:58,402 --> 00:41:03,242
Speaker 2: awaited them for Tara. It was another very weird day

625
00:41:03,362 --> 00:41:04,242
Speaker 2: at the office.

626
00:41:04,642 --> 00:41:07,522
Speaker 6: It made me pretend like I was a rock star

627
00:41:07,962 --> 00:41:11,162
Speaker 6: or the Pope standing in the roof of the limousine

628
00:41:11,322 --> 00:41:15,082
Speaker 6: in nineteen eighty seven. They were huge and waving at everyone.

629
00:41:15,842 --> 00:41:19,242
Speaker 6: That was hilarious. It was like, Okay, I'm going to

630
00:41:19,522 --> 00:41:20,882
Speaker 6: act out all my fantasies.

631
00:41:20,922 --> 00:41:21,642
Speaker 7: I'm the Pope.

632
00:41:21,762 --> 00:41:24,402
Speaker 6: You no blessing to all you know I'm a rock star.

633
00:41:25,322 --> 00:41:29,442
Speaker 2: The stadium announcer began reciting lines written for them by

634
00:41:29,522 --> 00:41:31,242
Speaker 2: comic book writer Peter.

635
00:41:31,162 --> 00:41:33,322
Speaker 10: David lazz.

636
00:41:34,762 --> 00:41:38,522
Speaker 11: In the United sixties, too feature legends After all Spies

637
00:41:38,562 --> 00:41:41,682
Speaker 11: beginnings one, It's the amazing.

638
00:41:41,322 --> 00:41:44,282
Speaker 8: That's the evasy Spider Man.

639
00:41:45,002 --> 00:41:46,282
Speaker 9: Today it's too great.

640
00:41:46,282 --> 00:41:52,042
Speaker 11: America institutions Spider again, and that's as SI institution that

641
00:41:52,522 --> 00:41:57,522
Speaker 11: patron the manage the marvels of fighting Whomanness.

642
00:41:57,602 --> 00:41:59,362
Speaker 8: The marriage of Spider American is.

643
00:41:59,482 --> 00:42:04,642
Speaker 11: Not miss miss marriage at once. Now duens, cast your

644
00:42:04,682 --> 00:42:08,482
Speaker 11: guys to serve you and enjoin see wall ride.

645
00:42:11,722 --> 00:42:14,562
Speaker 2: Jerry was poised on top of the limo in a

646
00:42:14,722 --> 00:42:18,722
Speaker 2: classic Spider Man crawl. He leaped down to the ground,

647
00:42:19,082 --> 00:42:23,482
Speaker 2: hoping his hamstrings wouldn't give out. Stanley then proceeded to

648
00:42:23,682 --> 00:42:27,882
Speaker 2: ham it up with some innocuous, if somewhat sexist banter.

649
00:42:28,922 --> 00:42:32,922
Speaker 11: Do you, Spider Man, being of sound mind and superbody,

650
00:42:33,562 --> 00:42:36,762
Speaker 11: take Mary Jane to be your lawfully wedded wife, forsaking

651
00:42:36,882 --> 00:42:40,002
Speaker 11: all other heroines? Do you promise never to leave your

652
00:42:40,042 --> 00:42:43,282
Speaker 11: footprints on the walls or ceiling or cobwebs in the corners?

653
00:42:44,122 --> 00:42:45,442
Speaker 11: And do you agree to pinch.

654
00:42:45,242 --> 00:42:46,562
Speaker 1: Hit for the Mets if they ask you?

655
00:42:47,362 --> 00:42:47,642
Speaker 6: I do?

656
00:42:50,562 --> 00:42:55,002
Speaker 11: Do you, Mary Jane, being of sound mind and spectacular body,

657
00:42:55,442 --> 00:42:59,322
Speaker 11: agree to forsake other masked Marvelites, to never swat a

658
00:42:59,362 --> 00:43:03,402
Speaker 11: spider and to huh comfort and kiss away any bruises

659
00:43:03,442 --> 00:43:07,242
Speaker 11: incurred after a long day of bashing bad guys and

660
00:43:07,402 --> 00:43:08,682
Speaker 11: stay at a net's walk off.

661
00:43:09,602 --> 00:43:09,802
Speaker 3: I do.

662
00:43:12,642 --> 00:43:17,082
Speaker 2: Jerry and Tara slipped custom rings onto their fingers. Each

663
00:43:17,202 --> 00:43:18,842
Speaker 2: had a spider setting.

664
00:43:19,602 --> 00:43:20,682
Speaker 11: Please repeat after me.

665
00:43:21,602 --> 00:43:26,442
Speaker 1: With these rings, I the web, with these wings, I

666
00:43:26,762 --> 00:43:27,762
Speaker 1: the wedde.

667
00:43:32,922 --> 00:43:38,362
Speaker 2: With that, Tara executed a practiced swoon, allowing Spider Man

668
00:43:38,562 --> 00:43:44,162
Speaker 2: to mime a kiss with the marriage also came a

669
00:43:44,442 --> 00:43:48,682
Speaker 2: divorce of sorts. By this point, Jim was no longer

670
00:43:48,922 --> 00:43:53,282
Speaker 2: editor in chief at Marvel, his issues with Cadence Industries

671
00:43:53,362 --> 00:43:56,562
Speaker 2: and New World had come to a head while he

672
00:43:56,722 --> 00:44:00,082
Speaker 2: was still consulting with the company. His tenure as the

673
00:44:00,162 --> 00:44:03,202
Speaker 2: boss had come to an end, but he was still

674
00:44:03,322 --> 00:44:08,162
Speaker 2: invited to the ceremony like everyone in as Jim had

675
00:44:08,202 --> 00:44:12,162
Speaker 2: been gifted the comic featuring the wedding and other Spider

676
00:44:12,242 --> 00:44:14,962
Speaker 2: Man merchandise. To commemorate the event.

677
00:44:15,242 --> 00:44:18,042
Speaker 3: They gave away tens of thousands of free comics to

678
00:44:18,122 --> 00:44:20,922
Speaker 3: people as entered the stadium. I never saw so many

679
00:44:21,002 --> 00:44:24,122
Speaker 3: paper airplanes and comics thrown on the trash and thrown

680
00:44:24,162 --> 00:44:27,402
Speaker 3: on the floor. See I don't think a baseball fans

681
00:44:27,642 --> 00:44:31,682
Speaker 3: necessarily a very congruent with the comic book fans, And

682
00:44:32,002 --> 00:44:34,802
Speaker 3: no one paid any attention to their wedding that was

683
00:44:34,882 --> 00:44:35,922
Speaker 3: going on in the field.

684
00:44:36,842 --> 00:44:41,882
Speaker 2: Still, he and Stan were essentially two proud dads watching

685
00:44:42,002 --> 00:44:45,362
Speaker 2: as the characters they cared for were whisked off in

686
00:44:45,482 --> 00:44:48,842
Speaker 2: a limo. As the Mets took the field. New York

687
00:44:48,882 --> 00:44:51,802
Speaker 2: would beat the Pittsburgh Pirates that night, five to one.

688
00:44:52,402 --> 00:44:55,682
Speaker 2: Dwight Gooden pitched into the seventh inning and got the victory.

689
00:44:56,722 --> 00:45:00,802
Speaker 2: A wedding reception followed at Tunnel, a hot nightclub in

690
00:45:00,922 --> 00:45:04,482
Speaker 2: the city that was located and an abandoned subway tunnel.

691
00:45:05,042 --> 00:45:08,282
Speaker 2: There was a cake as well as an overheating Hulk

692
00:45:08,722 --> 00:45:11,442
Speaker 2: who had to be dragged off the dance floor before

693
00:45:11,522 --> 00:45:16,282
Speaker 2: he fainted. Nineteen eighties superhero costumes were not made for

694
00:45:16,522 --> 00:45:17,442
Speaker 2: hard partying.

695
00:45:18,002 --> 00:45:20,242
Speaker 5: They had a big party and also with the Spider

696
00:45:20,282 --> 00:45:22,642
Speaker 5: Man with a mask with a mesh on over the eyes,

697
00:45:23,082 --> 00:45:25,882
Speaker 5: you get into a dark club or something, you know,

698
00:45:26,762 --> 00:45:29,482
Speaker 5: you just can't see for Ur's sake, so it's just

699
00:45:29,602 --> 00:45:32,722
Speaker 5: moving very slowly and kind of feeling your way around.

700
00:45:32,482 --> 00:45:33,202
Speaker 4: More than anything.

701
00:45:33,402 --> 00:45:37,202
Speaker 2: So of course the Shea Stadium event was just a

702
00:45:37,402 --> 00:45:42,202
Speaker 2: tease for the real thing. Marvel's business was comic books,

703
00:45:42,762 --> 00:45:46,042
Speaker 2: and in the pages of Spider Man, Peter Parker and

704
00:45:46,282 --> 00:45:51,162
Speaker 2: Mary Jane Watson had their canonical wedding, with Peter appearing

705
00:45:51,322 --> 00:45:56,322
Speaker 2: as himself rather than his crime fighting persona. The plot

706
00:45:56,522 --> 00:46:01,722
Speaker 2: was hatched by Jim Shooter and scripted by writer David Mcaliny.

707
00:46:02,362 --> 00:46:06,882
Speaker 2: It involves Peter having a midlife crisis, questioning his stability

708
00:46:07,242 --> 00:46:11,002
Speaker 2: in an ever changing world and looking for domestic bliss.

709
00:46:11,642 --> 00:46:14,962
Speaker 2: He pops the question to Mary Jane, who doesn't give

710
00:46:15,042 --> 00:46:18,282
Speaker 2: him an answer at first. Opting instead to head to

711
00:46:18,442 --> 00:46:22,122
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh to see her sister and help her father, who

712
00:46:22,322 --> 00:46:26,442
Speaker 2: happens to be a scoundrel who traffics in stolen rare books.

713
00:46:27,362 --> 00:46:32,082
Speaker 2: She does eventually say yes. The wedding, held in The

714
00:46:32,202 --> 00:46:37,042
Speaker 2: Amazing Spider Man Annual number twenty one, is tinged with suspense.

715
00:46:37,722 --> 00:46:40,562
Speaker 2: Peter can't help but worry that he might be putting

716
00:46:40,762 --> 00:46:44,522
Speaker 2: Mary Jane in the same harm's way as Gwen Stacy.

717
00:46:45,682 --> 00:46:50,482
Speaker 2: Mjy also has second thoughts, tempted by the flashy lifestyle

718
00:46:50,642 --> 00:46:55,082
Speaker 2: of a rich suitor named Bruce, but true love cannot

719
00:46:55,282 --> 00:46:59,482
Speaker 2: be denied. The couple eventually climb the steps of City

720
00:46:59,562 --> 00:47:03,722
Speaker 2: Hall in holy matrimony. Mj is even wearing the gown

721
00:47:04,202 --> 00:47:08,162
Speaker 2: designed by the late Willie Smith. It was also the

722
00:47:08,362 --> 00:47:12,362
Speaker 2: first time Marvel had ever sold a comic with two

723
00:47:12,682 --> 00:47:16,682
Speaker 2: different illustrations on the cover, one with Peter next to

724
00:47:16,802 --> 00:47:21,442
Speaker 2: Mary Jane and one with Peter in costume. The choice

725
00:47:21,602 --> 00:47:25,722
Speaker 2: of comics was something DC had done the previous year

726
00:47:25,922 --> 00:47:29,442
Speaker 2: with their Man of Steel miniseriies same.

727
00:47:29,362 --> 00:47:31,842
Speaker 4: Cover with their alterations. It was a big hit.

728
00:47:32,322 --> 00:47:34,682
Speaker 3: I didn't realize that we were probably doing the first

729
00:47:34,922 --> 00:47:38,402
Speaker 3: variant cover in comics. And I never did it again

730
00:47:38,842 --> 00:47:40,882
Speaker 3: while I was at Marvel, and never at any of

731
00:47:40,922 --> 00:47:44,202
Speaker 3: my other companies. But people realize, hey, they have to

732
00:47:44,282 --> 00:47:47,922
Speaker 3: buy two of them, and so everybody, including Marvel after

733
00:47:48,002 --> 00:47:52,002
Speaker 3: I left, started doing tons of these alternate covers. So

734
00:47:52,122 --> 00:47:55,122
Speaker 3: we ended up accidentally starting a trend.

735
00:47:56,202 --> 00:48:00,562
Speaker 2: Stanley took a different tact. In the comic strip Mary

736
00:48:00,722 --> 00:48:04,522
Speaker 2: Jane's uncle, a judge, writes up a marriage license and

737
00:48:04,762 --> 00:48:08,122
Speaker 2: invites the two to get hitched at his house. Just

738
00:48:08,282 --> 00:48:11,042
Speaker 2: before he can make it official, Peter ducks out to

739
00:48:11,122 --> 00:48:14,802
Speaker 2: save a painter from falling off his scaffolding. Fortunately, the

740
00:48:14,922 --> 00:48:18,682
Speaker 2: fire department gets their first leaving Peter to return to

741
00:48:18,802 --> 00:48:22,882
Speaker 2: his bride. Even j Jonah Jamison has kind words for

742
00:48:23,002 --> 00:48:27,922
Speaker 2: the two. For Marvel, the event was worth its weight

743
00:48:28,122 --> 00:48:32,642
Speaker 2: in publicity. Mentions of the wedding appeared in newspapers all

744
00:48:32,722 --> 00:48:37,042
Speaker 2: over the country. Spider Man got a segment on Entertainment Tonight.

745
00:48:37,762 --> 00:48:40,282
Speaker 2: It was also one of the first times that a

746
00:48:40,402 --> 00:48:46,202
Speaker 2: media company would use multimedia, telling a story that spanned comics,

747
00:48:46,362 --> 00:48:51,802
Speaker 2: strips and live action performers that's common today in an

748
00:48:51,882 --> 00:48:55,522
Speaker 2: era of big budget movies and tie in video games.

749
00:48:56,162 --> 00:49:00,682
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty seven, it was breaking new ground, but

750
00:49:01,082 --> 00:49:06,242
Speaker 2: comics readers know that nothing is ever really permanent. When

751
00:49:06,442 --> 00:49:12,402
Speaker 2: character die, they come back to life eventually. Entire universes

752
00:49:12,522 --> 00:49:17,242
Speaker 2: can be destroyed and rebuilt, histories wiped out and restored.

753
00:49:18,002 --> 00:49:21,722
Speaker 2: It's inevitable when you keep writing stories about heroes who

754
00:49:21,762 --> 00:49:25,922
Speaker 2: have lived on for decades. It also means that from

755
00:49:26,042 --> 00:49:30,202
Speaker 2: the time they locked lips, Peter and Mjay were on

756
00:49:30,722 --> 00:49:37,042
Speaker 2: borrowed time. Despite the cruel capricious nature of comics, Peter's

757
00:49:37,122 --> 00:49:41,522
Speaker 2: marriage to Mary Jane endured. The couple remained Peter and

758
00:49:41,762 --> 00:49:46,682
Speaker 2: Mary Jane Parker in the comics for an amazing twenty years.

759
00:49:47,362 --> 00:49:51,562
Speaker 2: That's actual years, not comic time. It took the demon

760
00:49:51,802 --> 00:49:56,762
Speaker 2: Mephisto to dissolve their union, forcing Peter to erase just

761
00:49:57,122 --> 00:50:00,242
Speaker 2: this one part of his life in order to spare

762
00:50:00,322 --> 00:50:03,842
Speaker 2: the life of his beloved aunt May. The story arc

763
00:50:04,002 --> 00:50:07,922
Speaker 2: was co written by Joe Quesada, who had long believed

764
00:50:08,122 --> 00:50:12,322
Speaker 2: the marriage hemmed in the story possibilities of the characters.

765
00:50:13,002 --> 00:50:16,882
Speaker 2: In Marvel terms, he was the green goblin bursting out

766
00:50:16,922 --> 00:50:19,842
Speaker 2: of that wedding cake. It's all a bit of a

767
00:50:20,002 --> 00:50:24,602
Speaker 2: soap opera, and not one that fans loved. Critics believed

768
00:50:24,682 --> 00:50:28,082
Speaker 2: that splitting Peter and mj up via a deal with

769
00:50:28,282 --> 00:50:33,082
Speaker 2: the Devil, Marvel was abandoning its core tenants of realism,

770
00:50:33,602 --> 00:50:37,322
Speaker 2: in this case the emotional toll of a consensual divorce.

771
00:50:38,322 --> 00:50:41,642
Speaker 2: But deciding what's real or not in the world of

772
00:50:41,802 --> 00:50:48,402
Speaker 2: Spider Man is a difficult task. There's comic continuity, movie continuity,

773
00:50:48,842 --> 00:50:54,122
Speaker 2: and comic strip continuity. In the strip, stan Lee maintained

774
00:50:54,242 --> 00:50:58,562
Speaker 2: the two were married. They remained in relative wedded bliss

775
00:50:58,682 --> 00:51:01,762
Speaker 2: for the rest of the strip's run, which ended in

776
00:51:01,922 --> 00:51:06,122
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, not long after stan passed away at the

777
00:51:06,202 --> 00:51:11,602
Speaker 2: age of nineteen. No matter the medium, the relationship between

778
00:51:11,682 --> 00:51:16,642
Speaker 2: these two seems to resonate with audiences. Though Marvel held

779
00:51:16,802 --> 00:51:21,642
Speaker 2: other high profile weddings, including one between X Men Mutant's

780
00:51:21,842 --> 00:51:26,202
Speaker 2: Scott Summers and Geen Gray in nineteen ninety four, no

781
00:51:26,642 --> 00:51:31,722
Speaker 2: comic romance has ever captured reader's imaginations like the one

782
00:51:31,882 --> 00:51:36,162
Speaker 2: on display at Shay Stadium back in nineteen eighty seven.

783
00:51:37,122 --> 00:51:41,442
Speaker 2: That wedding was the last time Tara Shannon portrayed Mary

784
00:51:41,562 --> 00:51:45,682
Speaker 2: Jane Watson, and to memory that hasn't been wiped out

785
00:51:45,722 --> 00:51:50,482
Speaker 2: by Mefisto. The dress, unfortunately, is another story.

786
00:51:51,122 --> 00:51:55,282
Speaker 6: The just got stolen unfortunately right after the event. Yeah,

787
00:51:55,882 --> 00:51:59,042
Speaker 6: from one of the delivery trucks. That's also a big

788
00:51:59,122 --> 00:52:01,642
Speaker 6: part of seventh that happened. If you've followed any of

789
00:52:01,682 --> 00:52:04,882
Speaker 6: the Godfather books, you know, trucks.

790
00:52:04,562 --> 00:52:10,322
Speaker 2: Disappear, continued modeling before segging into becoming a life coach.

791
00:52:11,042 --> 00:52:14,282
Speaker 6: That was a really memorable, fun moment to get to

792
00:52:14,322 --> 00:52:16,682
Speaker 6: be a part of, you know, this thing that now

793
00:52:17,202 --> 00:52:21,722
Speaker 6: what the Marvel universe literally is right now, I'm related

794
00:52:21,762 --> 00:52:24,682
Speaker 6: to it in this very strange and delightful way.

795
00:52:25,762 --> 00:52:28,682
Speaker 2: Jerry Coulpit still had a lot of work to do.

796
00:52:29,322 --> 00:52:33,882
Speaker 2: He portrayed Spider Man from nineteen seventy eight until two

797
00:52:33,962 --> 00:52:37,442
Speaker 2: thousand and one, when his home of New York was

798
00:52:37,562 --> 00:52:39,922
Speaker 2: attacked in a very real way.

799
00:52:40,722 --> 00:52:44,522
Speaker 5: I was going through my own thing and wasn't performing

800
00:52:44,882 --> 00:52:46,922
Speaker 5: in any kind of normal way at that point in

801
00:52:46,962 --> 00:52:50,802
Speaker 5: my life. But it just made it very clear that

802
00:52:51,322 --> 00:52:53,682
Speaker 5: it was time to hang up the webs chair, and

803
00:52:54,002 --> 00:52:56,082
Speaker 5: we'll give it up chair, let's move on.

804
00:52:57,122 --> 00:53:00,882
Speaker 2: Jerry swung into the corporate world, but is still acting

805
00:53:01,002 --> 00:53:05,962
Speaker 2: today in film and on television. His twenty three years

806
00:53:06,122 --> 00:53:09,282
Speaker 2: in the webs is still very much on his mind.

807
00:53:10,042 --> 00:53:13,042
Speaker 4: I still wake up from Spider Man dreams. I still do.

808
00:53:13,642 --> 00:53:16,162
Speaker 5: I did it so much, you know, making appearances at

809
00:53:16,282 --> 00:53:19,082
Speaker 5: huge venues, which I did plenty of. You know, of

810
00:53:19,402 --> 00:53:23,122
Speaker 5: that anxiety about quoint no one what is going to

811
00:53:23,122 --> 00:53:25,082
Speaker 5: be happening. But I'm Spider Man, Forgot's sake, so I

812
00:53:25,122 --> 00:53:28,442
Speaker 5: can do it. That sort of thing is still waking

813
00:53:28,482 --> 00:53:29,322
Speaker 5: me up from dreams.

814
00:53:29,562 --> 00:53:31,522
Speaker 4: I'm still dreaming about being Spider Man.

815
00:53:33,162 --> 00:53:36,562
Speaker 2: In two thousand and two, the year after Jerry hung

816
00:53:36,682 --> 00:53:40,922
Speaker 2: up the Webshooters, Toby maguire made his debut in the

817
00:53:41,122 --> 00:53:45,362
Speaker 2: first Spider Man movie, but none of the live action

818
00:53:45,602 --> 00:53:50,122
Speaker 2: feature films have ever married off Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

819
00:53:50,722 --> 00:53:55,082
Speaker 2: That honor is still one that belongs exclusively to Jerry

820
00:53:55,242 --> 00:53:59,802
Speaker 2: and Tara, who have this small but crucial chapter in

821
00:53:59,962 --> 00:54:02,602
Speaker 2: Marvel history all to themselves.

822
00:54:03,642 --> 00:54:06,762
Speaker 1: I now pronounce you spider Man and White.

823
00:54:29,202 --> 00:54:32,122
Speaker 7: Very Special Episodes is made by some very special people.

824
00:54:32,682 --> 00:54:35,882
Speaker 7: This show is hosted by Danish Schwartz, Sarah Burnett, and

825
00:54:36,042 --> 00:54:40,202
Speaker 7: Jason English. Today's episode was written by Jake Rosson. Our

826
00:54:40,282 --> 00:54:44,762
Speaker 7: producer is Josh Fisher. Editing and sound designed by Chris Childs,

827
00:54:45,522 --> 00:54:49,362
Speaker 7: Mixing and mastering by Beheid Frazier. Special thanks to our

828
00:54:49,442 --> 00:54:54,602
Speaker 7: voice actors Katie Maddy, Chris Childs and Josh Fisher. Original

829
00:54:54,682 --> 00:54:58,082
Speaker 7: music by Alis McCoy, research in fact checking by Jake

830
00:54:58,162 --> 00:55:03,162
Speaker 7: Rosson and Austin Thompson. Show logo by Lucy Kintonia. Our

831
00:55:03,202 --> 00:55:06,722
Speaker 7: executive producer is Jason English. You'd like to email the show,

832
00:55:06,922 --> 00:55:09,722
Speaker 7: you can reach us at Very Special Episodes at gmail

833
00:55:09,802 --> 00:55:14,522
Speaker 7: dot com. Very Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts.