The superhero genre has been thriving for years, and is showing no signs of slowing down. The most popular heroes have gotten a number of adaptations over that time, just look at the Spider-Man movies. But it turns out that Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin has some notes for the franchise (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription). Namely, that he’s sick of reboots for the wall crawler.
Three different live-action Spider-Man franchises have come over the years, in addition to animated projects like Into the Spider-Verse. And that’s not even counting how many reboots have happened in the comics. During a conversation with PopVerse, the visionary writer complained about this trend, specifically on the page. As he put it:
I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit. I sometimes… I don’t like retcons. I don’t like reboots. You know, I’m watching, I’m following a character or a superhero or something for years, sometimes decades, and then they come and say, ‘Oh, no. None of that stuff happened. We’re just going to start the whole thing over again.’ That always annoys the hell out of me.
Honestly, this seems like an understandable frustration, one that has likely affected fans of Spider-Man comics and movies. For instance, plenty of moviegoers were hoping for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 before it got scrapped in favor of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in the MCU. And the two live-action movie reboots are just a drop in the bucket compared to how many times Peter Parker’s story has been restarted in the comics.
While the Game of Thrones franchise has continued to expand through spinoffs like House of the Dragon and the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, there is only one official timeline, and it’s free of reboots. Although fans are still waiting for the last few book for A Song of Ice and Fire.
Later in his same conversation, Martin cited one specific Spider-Man comic book plot line that he had issue with being rebooted out of existence. In his words:
Peter Parker married Mary Jane. You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But what can you do?
Points were made. Actually seeing Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson marry was a big payoff for fans, but a Spider-Man reboot had to retcon this to start over. And Martin takes umbrage with that plan of action for the comics.
Mary Jane and Peter have never gotten married on the big screen, so hopefully George R.R. Martin is less annoyed by the movie reboots. Moviegoers who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have already seen three Peter Parkers, although having them together in No Way Home felt like a big payoff.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the next upcoming Marvel movie hitting theaters, arriving on July 31st as part of the 2026 movie release list. Let’s just hope another reboot isn’t on its way. At least, for Martin’s sake.