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Comic book fans have grown somewhat numb to the dreaded retcon over the years. Depending on the company, retcons and reboots may come with alarming frequency, often rewriting established canon to make way for something new. For Game of Thrones author and firmly established Spider-Man fan George R. R. Martin, this has become a growing source of frustration over the years.

During a conversation with Popverse, George R. R. Martin talked about his love for comic books, relishing in the fact that there are decades of comics to read so he’ll never risk running out. However, he did have one issue with the way comic books are handled.

“I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit,” he explains. “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.”

Martin cited one specific and very famous retcon that Marvel pulled years ago as an example.

“Peter Parker married Mary Jane,” he said, referencing the (in)famous Spider-Man One More Day and Brand New Day storylines where Spider-Man had his marriage to Mary Jane erased from continuity. “You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But what can you do?”

We’re with you, George R. R. Martin. We’re still not over those Spider-Man retcons either.

Here's how to watch all the big panels from New York Comic Con 2025.