2014 was the year of Gwen Stacy's on-screen death and unexpected rebirth in the world of comics. Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 recreated the infamous demise of Peter Parker's love interest for the first time in live-action, although it was a rushed eleventh-hour death on top of multiple plots and sequel bait moments. It did not work, nor did much else about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, causing Sony to scrap the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man era. Yet thanks to Dan Slott's Spider-Verse event later that year, Gwen returned in the form of Spider-Gwen, a heroic variant who received the radioactive spider bite in her world instead of Peter. To say she was a hit with fans would be putting it mildly.
Nine years later, Spider-Gwen (aka Ghost-Spider and Spider-Woman) is still going strong. She's making her return to the big screen with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, has yet another miniseries on comic shelves, and remains a hit with female cosplayers worldwide. All of this popularity, however, overshadows Spider-Gwen's most obvious legacy. That is, transforming the way pop culture regarded a character whose biggest impact on Marvel lore until that point was -- for better or for worse -- her own death.
The Genre-Defining Impact of Gwen Stacy's Death
From a historical perspective, killing Gwen in 1973's Amazing Spider-Man #121 (by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane and John Romita Sr.) changed so much for superhero storytelling. Staking a clear divide between the goofy Silver Age and mature Bronze Age of Comic Books. This story further heralded the comic industry's embrace of darker, more adult-oriented narratives, complete with real-world problems and heroes who endured long-term consequences. Additionally, what shocked and captivated readers even back then was the ambiguous nature of Gwen's death and, more importantly, who should be blamed for it. Decades later, people still argue whether the thing that actually killed Gwen was the fall itself or Peter's webbing unwittingly breaking her neck.
The biggest loser of this fallout, so to speak, was Gwen's identity. For decades, the repercussions of her death outweighed Gwen's actual role in Peter's life, even when she wasn't part of the story. Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, for example, both "adapted" this scene by replicating key iconography moments (a bridge, a girl, and a devastating fall) while substituting Gwen with Mary Jane as the helpless love interest. If these scenes generated tension or heartbreak, it's because longtime comic readers understood the visual parallels. Parallels that remained constant even as new versions of Gwen appeared in the Ultimate Universe comics, live-action movies and The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. As for the Jackal's deranged obsession with Gwen Stacy or the now-retconned Sins Past, the less said the better.
Gwen Stacy Entrance Into the Spider-Verse
The Spider-Woman of Earth-65 changed everything. With the Spider-Verse crossover, readers were introduced to a Gwen Stacy, unlike anything they'd seen before. She was proactive, artful, and wisecracking, yet saddled by the guilt of her own tragic origin story. In this case, losing her Peter -- who became that universe's Lizard, only to die battling Spider-Woman -- and fighting crime in a city that blamed her for his death. This Gwen felt "new." Like a fresh take on a character people had seen before, embodying a more contemporary version of Peter's 1960s outsider status.
Her costume boosted this appeal. Compared to other Spider-Verse characters, her uniform stood out with its white, black, and purple color palette and web-lined hood, making her feel even more original in a literal crowd of alternative webheads and obscure Marvel callbacks. Cosplayers found Gwen's look very popular, and Marvel did, too, releasing a series of variant covers promoting other Gwen-themed Marvel icons, such as the fan-favorite mercenary Gwenpool.
As for Spider-Gwen, she simply kept going. Post-Spider-Verse, fans learned more about Gwen's everyday life and the other wild Marvel variants who populated her alternate Earth. Marvel expanded upon Gwen's relationship with the multiverse, giving her a larger role in Spider-Verse's 2018 sequel, Spider-Geddon, and eventually a new life alongside Peter and Miles Morales. On top of comic appearances, she became a frequent staple of 2010s Marvel cartoons, voiced by Dove Cameron in Ultimate Spider-Man and Marvel Rising -- the latter of which introduced her Ghost-Spider moniker.
Into the Spider-Verse and Beyond
More importantly, these comics and adaptations made Gwen Stacy feel three-dimensional. Like her identity extended beyond that tragic death scene. As Ghost-Spider, Gwen's stories are now about her struggles and triumphs, rather than her being a supporting player or love interest for someone else. Even her recent miniseries are devoid of Spider-Man, instead focusing on her relationships with alternate Marvel hero versions of herself and, in a very Jackal-inspired callback, genetic Gwen-hybrid clones. Both are familiar premises, and they work because the comics treat their titular lead like a person and not a damsel.
Over a decade ago, Gwen Stacy was best remembered for how her life ended. Now, she's publicly celebrated as one of Marvel's most recognizable superheroes, a total 180 from what seemed like a constant in Marvel readers' lives since 1973. That development can not be overstated enough, especially since the comics and movies clearly aren't done with her yet.