Spider-Man (Patreon)

I think the biggest mistake made in regards to Spider-Man storytelling is that it's either seen as a teen movie--which it's never really been, as even when Spider-Man was in high school, his love interest was the secretary at the adult job where he worked, so so much for lusting after a cheerleader or anything--or occasionally as high drama.

It's not. It's a sitcom, with Peter continuously trying to improve his lot in life, get the girl, keep people safe, and being flustered (either comedically or dramatically) by the obstacles placed in his way. Spider-Man basically has a lot more Louis C.K. in his DNA than John Hughes. And this is why you need a supporting cast, so that different characters can rise to prominence, bounce off Peter, and then recede into the distance until they're needed again.

Otherwise, the storytelling is just case of the week stuff. (Arguably, all arc-based storytelling is just television's attempt to cover up the routine of case of the week storytelling.) Peter either sees something going down as Spider-Man and tries to stop it, or photographs something going down as a Daily Bugle employee and tries to stop it. Those are pretty good story engines--one of them has J. Jonah Jameson in it, after all--but alternating every Spider-Man story with those two premises until the end of time would get old. 

Unfortunately, it seems like the alternative Marvel has chosen is just open contrivance, where Peter randomly becomes a millionaire CEO, or Doctor Octopus, or a mystical hoodoo man, and we get some stories out of that. They're not rooted in character or relatability, it's just 'Homer Simpson gets a new job'. What has to happen is that Peter interacts with a part of his supporting cast, and that is connected to the case of the week to give it variety and flair. The connectivity of Peter Parker's life and Spider-Man's crusade. After all, isn't the best Spider-Man story of all the time that Peter needed to fight Doctor Octopus to save Aunt May's life from health troubles?

The problem there is that Peter, as we know him, isn't the most conductive to this storytelling. And it's baked into his characterization. He works all the time (since he's poor and needs to provide for his dependents). When he's not working, he's being Spider-Man, because of his sense of responsibility. In what free time he does have, he's socially awkward, neurotic, and bullied. 

To quote a wag's dismissal of The Big Bang Theory, "what happens when a babe moves in next to three nerds? CONSTANT SOCIAL INTERACTION." 

So, just to get the whole thing out of bed, you either need a contrivance where friendless loser Peter somehow has an ocean of friends and numerous hot chicks vying for his attention (once you have Catwoman trying to suck you off, you're the biggest example of 'Hollywood Dateless' ever invented). Or...

And this is where Mary Jane is the MVP of Spider-Man. Because once you explain how Peter and MJ get together--a story that people already want to buy, invest in, and believe right off the bat--you have Peter with someone who is socially outgoing, adventurous, and full of charisma. Need Peter to go to a museum for your plot? "Hey, Petey, let's check out the museum!" Need to introduce Peter to a new character? "Hey tiger, this is my new friend Carol." Once you position Mary Jane, not as a housewife, but as a Gal Friday who is intimately involved in Peter's adventures, you have a ton more avenues to take.

Heck, if you really wanna manage Peter's supporting cast, just make a few of them more MJ's friends than his. Say, give MJ a girl gang of Sha-Shan, Glory Grant, and Silver Sable (she's always been an ersatz Black Cat, so the oddity of having her be friends with MJ instead would at least give her an interest factor out of the gate). That's a bunch more characters you can use without cluttering Peter up too much.  

Basically, the more characters and relationships you have believably assembled, the more goals you can set for Peter ("I have to help MJ's friend Carol.") and the more obstacles you can put into his path ("But I have to help the Avengers."/"But I have to take pictures for Jolly Jonah."/"But I have to stop Doc Ock!"). And that just makes for better and better storytelling. Having Mary Jane in his life doesn't hurt that by undoing his romantic woes (unless you're saying that every marriage is perfectly happy 24/7), it introduces new storytelling avenues while getting rid of an increasing lucrative contrivance (Peter is a friendless loser who dates a new beautiful woman every week).