Maybe that a random kid got spiderish powers at just the right time to replace the first one?

Next up, Punisher. I bet a lot of guys might read a female Punisher.

I'm betting the GP would have a problem with Sif growing a penis too (as would I). Or if you consider Sif too much of a background character, what about Jean Grey? Let's say the Phoenix Force returns and Jean Grey is reborn as an adult male. Ridiculous, yes?

The thing is, this new "Thor" isn't going to be the character Thor any more than Eric Masterson was. Sure, he pretended to be Thor for a while. Had all the powers and everything. Everyone called him Thor, even Odin. But he wasn't Thor, and we knew it and he knew it.

I disagree. Aunt May has a mysterious side that is only hinted at in the comics. On a more serious note: Rogue, Moonstone, Songbird (screaming mimi), Emma Frost, Mystique, AoA Blink, She-Hulk, and plenty of other women have compelling stories (and no, She-Hulk isn't just tits on a Hulk). Granted, Ororo, Jean Grey, Sue (Storm) Richards, and Alyson Blaire are all pretty boring, but there are equally boring male super heroes (actually, their respective significant others: T'Challa, Scott Summers, Reed Richards, Longshot).
Actually, now that I think about it, the current time-displaced Jean and Scott from the past are interesting.

I agree with this 100%. They can get away with it when it's not an established character (Spider-Woman [all three of them] isn't Spider-Man. She-Hulk isn't Hulk, Lady Bullseye isn't Bullseye, Namorina isn't the Sub-Mariner), but altering an established character arbitrarily (and badly; Thor just recently went through a long disgraced period and regained his honor. Leave the poor godling alone for a while). Maybe give Lady Octopus a chance to be Peter Parker for a while? That should sit well with the fans.

Not Southern Baptist. You'll need a sprinkling denomination.

Probably a screaming flower writhing in anguish if sci-fi authors are sufficiently prescient.

When this happens, it usually takes a lot longer to fix than it takes to drive in to work, because the way it breaks is unexpected. The proper method is to have an identical server get upgraded with this automatic maintenance window method the day before while you're at work or at least hours before the primary system so that you can halt the automatic method remotely before it screws up the primary system. If the service isn't important enough, let your monitoring software wake you up if there's a failure or ignore it until you get in at your normal time. Most of the time, having a regularly well-rested sysadmin is more important to a company than having "light-switch monitoring server three" running between 4AM and 8AM.

Philosophy created science without science's help.