‘All-New Venom’ Writer Al Ewing Not A Fan Of Spider-Man Romantic Rival Paul Or His Relationship With MJ: “They Should Not Be Together”
In confirming that the sole reason for Paul’s continued appearances across Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man line is an editorial mandate, All-New Venom scribe Al Ewing has admitted to not only having absolutely zero affinity for the alternate-universe-son-of-a-super-villain, but also outright loathing the forced romance between him and Mary-Jane Watson.
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The British comic book writer, who in addition to penning the Venom symbiote’s ongoing adventures currently pens such notable titles as Immortal Thor Vol. 1 and DC’s Absolute Green Lantern revealed his personal take on MJ’s widely-loathed beau during a recent appearance on John Siuntres’ Word Balloon podcast.
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Speaking to MJ’s new symbiote status quo, Ewing told his host that when it came to fleshing out her extended cast, his main goal was to “make sure she’s got a reasonable supporting cast of people without powers. So, you know, Robbie [Robertson]’s around, Dylan [Brock]’s around, and Paul is around.”
Laughing as he raised the last name on that list, Ewing proceeded to confess that while he didn’t quite feel the more fervent hatred towards Paul, he still cared little for his character.
“I do see Paul as just an incredibly ordinary person,” he said. ” I don’t think he’s the devil. I don’t think he’s a saint. He’s not like, MJ’s ideal man. They should not be together.”
“I’m saying it, [series artist] Carlos [Gómez] is saying it, we’re all saying it,” Ewing chuckled. “I don’t hate Paul as much as most people. I don’t exactly love it, but my goal writing him is sort of, ‘He’s needy. He’s not great. It’s not a great relationship. It’s probably coming to an end’.”
Turning to address a viewer’s declaration, as highlighted by Siuntres that “THAT’S WHAT WE ARE ALL SAYING!!! Everyone knows this, EXCEPT FOR EDITORIAL!!!”, the Marvel Comics veteran playfully lamented, “I hate to disappoint you, but it’s not like I’m sneaking into the building in the dead of night to write these comics. It all goes through editorial.”
His thoughts piqued by this comment, Ewing then took a moment “to get a little bit serious” on the topic of ‘creator vs. editorial’.
“There are times when I think that people imagine that the people in the comics and the people who work on the comics are the same level of real,” he asserted. “Like we’re all as fictional as each other. People come up with these little fanfictions about what’s going on behind the scenes, and it’s like, no, you’re always way off.”
“There’s stuff I can’t talk about, but there will come a point where I will be able to tell you exactly what editorial thinks of Paul, and you’ll see it with your own eyes,” ,” Ewing continued. “I cannot say anything more about future story lines, but I will say I don’t hate Paul as much as the readers do. I just think he’s not great.”
“He’s not a monster,” he concluded, “but he’s not great.”
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