Spider-Man 2 might be set to give Peter Parker the one thing comics refuse to let him have - a stable relationship

A new, free comic is setting up the story of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and maybe the most notable detail is that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson look like they're set to finally settle down into the stable relationship that comic books keep ripping away from them.

At the end of the 2018 Spider-Man game - spoilers for that will follow, by the way - Peter and MJ discuss moving in together. We don't see much of their relationship in Miles Morales, but it's clear their plans to live together have faded, though the couple do go on what must be an extremely romantic trip to cover an overseas war. Peter returns before MJ, however, and there's a bit of a question mark hanging over their relationship leading into Spider-Man 2.

A prequel comic for Spider-Man 2, originally published for Free Comic Book Day last week and now available digitally on Marvel.com, shows us a bit of how Peter and MJ's relationship is evolving as she returns to New York. Peter is reluctant to sell Aunt May's house in the wake of her death, and soon re-opens the question of having MJ move in. She quickly rejects the idea, but by the end of the comic, she and Peter are talking out their issues and getting closer together - just like normal adults in stable, long-term relationships do.

This setup makes it seem clear that Spider-Man 2 will put the focus on back on Peter and MJ, and some fans are already starting to grow hopeful that we'll see the couple settle down together, just like when they got married in the comics many, many years ago.

If you're not familiar with the comics continuity, Peter and MJ's long-term happiness has been a long-running point of frustration for Spidey fans. Every time the couple gets together, the fates conspire to split them apart, often resulting in some of the most absurd, groan-inducing stories comics have to offer.

Perhaps the most notable example is the infamous 2007 storyline One More Day, where - I promise I am not making this up - Peter sacrifices his marriage with MJ to Mephisto, a literal demon, in an effort to bring Aunt May back from the dead. That resulted in a controversial continuity reboot for Spider-Man which has only recently (and only partly) been undone. Now the couple is separated because MJ spent years in an alternate dimension where she had kids with another man.

The continued, increasingly absurd forces keeping Peter and MJ from happiness together has grown increasingly frustrating for comics fans (it's me, I'm fans), so it's little surprise to see hopes spring that we might see them settle down for real in another form of media. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Mephisto won't have a role in Spider-Man 2.

Despite the lack of info lately, Sony insists Spider-Man 2 is still launching this year.