The following contains mild spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, now playing in theaters.
Fans take to social media to make the case that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's Gwen Stacy is trans.
Since the June 2 release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, fans have posted at length about the parallels between Gwen Stacy's story and color motifs and common trans allegories. Many pointed toward the fact that Gwen's color scheme is the same as that of the trans flag (pink, blue, and white), as well as her monologue about the difficulty of hiding her true self from the people she loves as clear signs that the character is trans. Other evidence includes a visible "Protect Trans Kids" flag in Gwen's room and what appears to be a trans pride pin on her father's jacket.
The Story of Spider-Gwen
The Gwen Stacy of Across the Spider-Verse was introduced in the previous film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. Voiced by Hawkeye star Hailee Steinfeld, the character is based on the Gwendolyn Stacy of Earth-65, who first appeared in comics in 2014's Edge of Spider-Verse #2 by writer Jason Latour and artist Robbi Rodriguez. Originally introduced as Spider-Woman, the character has undergone a variety of name changes and powerset shifts over the years, with her currently operating as Ghost-Spider despite best being known as Spider-Gwen. After her powers were stolen away by her reality's Cindy Moon, Gwen bonded to a version of the Venom symbiote which imbued her with nearly identical and even expanded abilities compared to those she started out with.
Apart from bringing back Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy, Across the Spider-Verse sees a slew of fan-favorite heroes from across the Multiverse return to the silver screen, along with several new additions over the previous film's roster. These include Issa Rae's Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, who appears well into her pregnancy in a nod to the character's very similar comic book storyline. Across the Spider-Verse also marks the proper silver screen debut of Oscar Isaac's Miguel O'Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.
The role makes for movie history, as it cements Isaac's place as the first actor to take on three separate, major Marvel characters. The first of these was Isaac's turn as En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, which was followed by his starring role in 2022's Moon Knight. Although at least seven other actors have laid claim to two Marvel roles, none besides Isaac have surpassed that as of yet.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now in theaters.
Source: Twitter