Did Gwen Really Have To Die? Amazing Spider-Man Writer Spills Some Painful Truth
Arguably the most important Spider-Man death, Gwen's demise broke the hearts of every fan — even those who have never read the comics.
The death of Gwen Stacy in The Night Gwen Stacy Died story arc of the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series was an event of colossal significance to both the character of Peter Parker and the American comic book community.
Previously, the very idea of killing off the girlfriend of a massively popular superhero and longtime character had been considered outrageous.
Her death marked the end of the Silver Age of comic books and the beginning of the much darker and grittier Bronze Age. It was also a major milestone in the history of Spider-Man, changing the character forever.
Such an important event could not be overlooked when adapting the story of the famous web-slinger for the big screen.
The circumstances of Spidey's rescue of Mary Jane at the end of Sam Raimi 's Spider-Man (2002) were almost identical to the situation from the comic book, albeit with a different girl and outcome.
However, in the next iteration of the Spider-Man franchise on the big screen, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), the event was transferred somewhat faithfully, with Gwen, portrayed by Emma Stone, dying in Peter's hands.
In light of this, comic book writer Gerry Conway was asked by fans if he would have wanted to kill off Gwen if her comic book character had been more like Emma Stone's version.
"If the Gwen Stacy of the comics had been more like Emma Stone, she'd have been MJ. So, probably no," said the author in response to a fan on Twitter.
The fans were quite surprised by this answer, although they could see the reasoning behind it.
"I mean, I think saying that the Emma Stone Gwen is just MJ is a bit of an exaggeration, but she does have a lot more of the appeal of the comic book MJ than anything resembling the original Gwen.
In general, it's telling that pretty much every later adaptation or re-imagining of Gwen had to more or less change her personality wholesale in order to make her an appealing character.
Meanwhile, MJ keeps her core personality throughout most versions, with fans seeing it as a downgrade whenever too many changes are made," Reddit user Theta-Sigma45 said.
Some people also point out that Gwen's character in the comics was not as interesting as Emma's version, so her death in the movie felt much more meaningful because of the actress' performance.
After Spider-Man: No Way Home was released, bringing Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man back on screens, many fans (reluctantly) revisited the painful memories from 2014, already rallying for a Garfield-led Spider-Man threequel.
After all, doesn't the multiverse give Gwen a chance to survive somehow?..