Who Is Paul in Spider-Man? Paul Rabin, Mary Jane and Zeb Wells's Run

Paul at a glance

Paul has only existed since 2022. He appears in the first issue of the sixth volume of The Amazing Spider-Man, launched by Marvel for the character's 60th anniversary and published twice a month according to Wikipedia. The issue opens after a time jump: Peter Parker has lost the trust of those close to him and of the Fantastic Four, and Mary Jane is living with a new partner, Paul, with whom she is raising two children. Originally announced for 6 April 2022, the issue finally came out on 27 April. For readers attached to the Peter and Mary Jane pairing built over decades, the shock is immediate; Mary Jane's place in the hero's life is explored in our article on Mary Jane. Fans who have stayed loyal to the original couple can wear its colours on their wrist with our Spider-Man bracelets.

One point often sparks debate: Mary Jane and Paul are not married. The recap page of #19 wrongly described them as married, and editor Nick Lowe set the record straight in the letters page of #28: they are 'not married (yet?)'. The 2025 press then talks of a boyfriend and a break-up, never a divorce. Peter and Mary Jane's wedding, meanwhile, is covered in our article on The Wedding, and the magical erasure of their marriage in One More Day.

The mystery of 'what Peter did'

For almost a year, Zeb Wells's issues keep a mystery going: what did Peter do to turn Mary Jane and his allies against him? Marvel's solicitation for #21 spells it out in capitals: 'WHAT DID PETER DO?!'. That issue, released on 8 March 2023 (#915 in legacy numbering), brings back Benjamin Rabin and switches to a flashback set a year earlier. In its preview, the two children call Mary Jane 'mommy', and one of them cries out that 'the Scribble Man is back', the nickname of the creature Paul and Mary Jane had saved them from. Marvel promises the truth in #25 and #26 and bills the whole thing as 'the most shocking issue of Amazing Spider-Man in 50 years'.

Back on Earth alone, without Mary Jane, who stayed behind in Paul's dimension, Peter tries to reopen the portal to get her back. The many sides of the character are described in our Peter Parker page, and the great stories of each era are put in context in our page on Spider-Man's major arcs.

Benjamin Rabin and Wayep, two 2008 creations

Paul's father is not a 2022 creation. Benjamin Rabin and the deity Wayep, spelt Wayeb in some sources, first appear in 2008 in the 'Sometimes It Snows in April' arc of The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #555 to #557, written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Chris Bachalo. In the middle of a blizzard over Manhattan, the web-slinger, helped by Wolverine, takes on Mayan warriors threatening Benjamin Rabin's group of mathematicians.

In #557, the ritual window closes and Wayep returns to its dimension. Fifteen years later, Zeb Wells reuses both creations from his 2008 arc: Benjamin Rabin returns in #21, and Wayep in #22 and #24. Spider-Man's great villains, past and present, are gathered in our guide to his enemies.

Four years in another dimension

Benjamin Rabin, emissary of the god Wayep, sends Peter and Mary Jane to another dimension, a desolate world where Paul lives. In #22, released on 22 March 2023, Paul has built a device, a watch, that can only send one person back to Earth, and Peter insists it should be Mary Jane. When Wayep gains the upper hand, though, it is she who activates the device: she sends Peter back to Earth, slicing Wayep in two along the way, then stays behind in the other dimension with Paul.

Time doesn't pass at the same rate there: a few hours go by for Peter, four years for Mary Jane and Paul. #25, released on 10 May 2023 (#919 in legacy numbering), tells the story of those years; Kaare Andrews draws the first part and John Romita Jr. the last ten pages of the main story. Mary Jane falls out of love with Peter there and, when he finally manages to reach them, she breaks up with him in favour of Paul. During those years, Mary Jane and Paul took in and raised two orphaned children: the boy is called Owen in every source consulted, while the girl's name varies from one source to another. The story would later establish that Mary Jane moved on because she believed Peter was dead, since he never came back for her.

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Issue #26: the truth and the death of Ms. Marvel

The Amazing Spider-Man #26, by Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr., comes out on 31 May 2023 and closes the arc that opened in #21. Benjamin Rabin appears as the Emissary, a pan-dimensional threat who wants to enter Marvel's main reality and become the avatar of the god Wayep, which requires sacrificing Mary Jane. Paul is his son: according to Popverse, the reveal comes in a flashback in which Peter confronts Paul. The children, for their part, are magical constructs created by Rabin to bond with Mary Jane; they vanish, because they had never really existed.

Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel, uses her shape-shifting power to take on Mary Jane's appearance. The Emissary stabs this decoy, the ritual fails, and Wayep's spirit devours Rabin for trying to trick it with a fake sacrifice. Unable to heal from her wound, Kamala reveals her identity to the heroes and dies in Peter Parker's arms on the final page. Pages from the issue had leaked online two weeks before release. The one-shot Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel, published on 12 July 2023, brings together G. Willow Wilson, the character's co-creator, Mark Waid and Saladin Ahmed. Other losses that marked the hero are gathered in the saddest moments in Spider-Man history.

The timing raises even more questions: the film The Marvels, in which Iman Vellani plays Kamala Khan, came out on 8 November 2023 in France and 10 November in the United States, and Zeb Wells worked on its screenplay without receiving a final credit. In April 2024, writer Cody Ziglar claimed on a podcast that Wells had told him Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, had asked for Kamala's death. It is second-hand testimony: Marvel called this version inaccurate and spoke of a 'collective editorial decision' the team had been working towards for some time.

Mary Jane becomes Jackpot, Paul stays in the shadows

#31, a giant-size issue released on 9 August 2023 (#925 in legacy numbering), contains a Mary Jane and Paul story written by Celeste Bronfman and drawn by Alba Glez, in which Mary Jane takes flight as a superheroine under the name Jackpot. Her powers come from technology designed by Paul, originally to fight Benjamin Rabin: a holographic slot machine whose spin randomly determines her abilities. Paul then acts as her tech support, the man in the shadows behind the screen. The Jackpot name had already been worn by others before her, as told in our article on Jackpot.

The same issue features the wedding of Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln, daughter of Tombstone; Peter is his best man. The ceremony turns into a battle and kicks off the Gang War event, following Dark Web, another event from the Zeb Wells era. Fan couples who love to match will also find plenty to enjoy among our adult Spider-Man pyjamas and our necklaces.

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Venom War, All-New Venom and the break-up

Mary Jane's life changes again with Venom. The Venom War event, written by Al Ewing and drawn by Iban Coello, ran from August to November 2024; its tie-in series Venom War: Spider-Man, by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Greg Land, shows Jackpot in action, with Paul's help. The Venom symbiote hijacks Jackpot's gauntlet to give her the strength to defeat her opponent; the spin then dooms her to disintegrate, and Venom bonds with her to keep her alive. The symbiote and its history are covered in our Venom and the symbiotes page.

After Venom War, Paul and Mary Jane take in Dylan Brock, the son of Eddie Brock, without Paul knowing that Mary Jane has become the symbiote's host. Venom and the other symbiotes, Carnage included, can be found in our Venom products. In All-New Venom #9, written by Al Ewing and drawn by Carlos Gómez, she leaves Paul, admitting that their relationship hadn't worked for a long time and that she had been pretending; Paul begs her to fix things. The symbiote itself, alongside Carnage, is collectable among our Venom and symbiote figures.

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Paul's death, in April 2026

The Death Spiral crossover links Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 7) and Venom from February to May 2026: serial killer Torment picks off people close to the Parker, Watson and Brock families, working inwards from the most distant to those closest to his target. Paul dies in Venom #256, the sixth chapter of the event, written by Al Ewing and drawn by Carlos Gómez, released on 1 April 2026. Torment, who has come to kill Dylan Brock, stabs Paul in the stomach outside his flat; Paul holds the killer off long enough for Dylan to escape, and Spider-Man, Venom and Carnage, then bonded to Eddie Brock, arrive too late to save him. Pages showing his death had leaked a few days earlier.

Some fans celebrated his demise, while critics saw it as a dignified exit: Comic Watch speaks of a departure 'with a bit of grace and dignity', and AIPT gives the issue 8.5 out of 10. The hero himself is collectable among our Spider-Man figures. Venom #258, released on 20 May 2026, opens with Paul's funeral: Dylan believes he is responsible for his death, and Peter and Mary Jane have a long conversation in which they settle their grievances. The Carnage symbiote, bonded to Eddie Brock during the event, first belonged to Cletus Kasady, whose journey is traced in the story of Carnage.

Why Paul divided fans

Paul was widely rejected by critics and readers, who mainly criticised him for serving to keep Peter and Mary Jane apart and for lacking personality. He even became a meme. Know Your Meme has an entry on him, added on 31 May 2023 and fed by Reddit posts, including the 'Send Paul to the ranch' joke from 25 February 2023, and German site Filmstarts notes that his name has become a running gag among fans. The hero's great love stories are traced in Spider-Man's love life and in Gwen Stacy vs Mary Jane.

Zeb Wells, for his part, left the series before Paul's death. #60, released on 30 October 2024, is the last issue he wrote; its main story, drawn by John Romita Jr., wraps up the Tombstone arc. The ten-part saga The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man, by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness, kicks off in #61 on 13 November 2024: Doctor Doom, now Sorcerer Supreme, hands the hero a magical suit and eight extra lives. The sixth volume ends with #70 on 26 March 2025, and the seventh launches on 9 April 2025 with Joe Kelly writing and Pepe Larraz and John Romita Jr. on art. The rivalry between the web-slinger and Doom is covered in Spider-Man and Doctor Doom.

Key takeaways