Briefly stepping out of character...
I personally don't think that serialized characters should be married. There should be exceptions for parental-types--Reed and Sue definitely fall into this category--but I don't think Spidey should. My ideal would be for Peter and MJ to be living together but not married, as there are more directions they can go from there. Serialized storytelling is already full of "riskless" drama. When Superman risks his life to fight Metallo, the reader knows he isn't actually going to die, or if he does, that it won't be for long. And that's okay, because there are other things, more personal things, that actually can be at risk. But marriage can screw that up. If Clark and Lois have a fight, I know nothing's at stake, as DC would never have them get divorced, and a retcon would be a major undertaking. There's no drama there. (Not to say that the only relationship drama can come from whether a couple stays together or breaks up, but you know what I mean.) If Peter and MJ weren't married, they could actually act like a regular couple, as there wouldn't be a metatextual impetus keeping them locked together, and a major change wouldn't be necessary for them to break up from time to time.
To me, the Spider-marriage isn't essential to the mythos. I'd compare it to Dick Grayson being Robin. Yeah, it was a big deal for forty-some years, but then they moved on. When a non-essential aspect has been in place for twenty years, as the marriage has, I have no problem trying something different for a while. I've no idea if it'll be good or not, but we aren't talking about some sacrosanct conceptual element here.
I'm currently reading more Marvel comics than I usually do. Brubaker's Cap and DD are always good, Brubaker and Fraction's Iron Fist has been a breath of fresh air, Ellis' Thunderbolts is hilarious, I'm looking forward to Millar and Hitch's FF run...
