Did anyone know that one of the writers where setting up a romance between Spidey and Ms Marvel but the higher-ups Marvel shot it down before it could actually finish, the set up already started with the Dark Reign.
It wasn't the higher ups who shot down the romance between Spidey x Ms. Marvel. It was Dan Slott who put a stop to it the moment he became the head writer for Spider-Man. He even said that if he had wrote the Spider-Date, he would reveal that the person that Carol was dating is a Skull impersonating as Peter Parker. Besides, if Slott had decided to explore their relationship, it would not be very good under his penmanship. I feel that the best way to protect the fans interest with Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel is to keep their relationship at the "PALS" level and increase the number of heroines interested in Spider-Man to Spider-Woman, Psylocke, Silver Sable, Black Widow, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel. All of them respectively would serve as an alternate to the Black Cat as Spidey's partner in a guest spot. And the list of heroines mentioned is to give a Spider-Man writer a choice as to which heroine he wants to pick of the six alternate to use in his stories.
Remember that the list of Spider-Man's female super heroes has increased to include Silver Sable and The Black Widow. Under the right circumstance, Natasha would come to admire Peter Parker more than anyone else.