Gwendolyn Maxine "Gwen" Stacy is a fictional comic character who appears in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student, Gwen was originally the first true love of Peter Parker before he developed deep feelings for her friend and rival Mary Jane Watson. Spider-Man writers and fans alike often debate Peter's "one true love": Gwen Stacy, or his subsequent love interest, Mary Jane. But it is very clear that as his first love, Gwen still holds a special place in his heart just as Ben Parker still influences him.
The character has been portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard in the 2007 film Spider-Man 3 and by Emma Stone as Peter Parker's friend and love interest in the 2012 reboot film The Amazing Spider-Man and the sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Publication history
Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965). The Green Goblin caused Spider-Man to apparently accidentally kill Gwen in The Amazing Spider-Man#121 (June 1973). Both the decision to kill Gwen and the method in which Marvel implemented it remain controversial among fans, but the death became a pivotal point in both Spider-Man’s history and in American comic books in general. Many point to Gwen's death as the end of the Silver Age of Comics.
Fictional character biography
Background
Gwen Stacy first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965). Peter Parker meets Gwen while both are studying as undergraduates at Empire State University. Initially, with Aunt May in the hospital, Peter feels troubled and ignores her advances. Furious, she dates both Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn. Gradually, however, a romance develops; Gwen, a science major, seems to appreciate Peter's intellectual personality. In the comic books, their relationship begins almost immediately after Peter stops going out with Mary Jane, who he starts seeing as shallow and self-absorbed.
Their relationship almost ends before it begins. A mind-controlled (police) Captain George Stacy, Gwen's father, gets into a fight with Peter, which Gwen observes. Thinking Peter attacked her father, she halts the relationship. Gwen eventually learns the truth. She and Peter reconcile. Their romance becomes more complicated when Gwen's father is killed by falling debris during a battle involving Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus. Gwen blames Spider-Man for his death, which sets their relationship back for a while. Gwen leaves for Europe to cope with her loss. She wants Peter to ask her to marry him and convince her to stay, but his guilt stops him from proposing.
Peter goes to London to see Gwen, but is forced into action as Spider-Man and leaves without seeing Gwen, reasoning that it would be too easy for her to put the pieces together if Peter Parker and Spider-Man are both sighted in London. Gwen eventually realizes her error in trying to pressure Peter into marriage. She returns to New York and they get back together.
Death
In The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973), by writer Gerry Conway and penciller Gil Kane, inked by John Romita Sr and Tony Mortellaro, the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn, who has identified Peter Parker as Spider-Man) holds Gwen Stacy captive on a tower of the George Washington Bridge. Spider-Man arrives to fight the Green Goblin. When the Goblin throws Gwen Stacy off the bridge, Spider-Man catches her by her leg with a string of web. He initially thinks he has saved her. After he pulls her back onto the bridge, he realizes she has already died. In shock and anger, Spider-Man nearly kills the Green Goblin in retaliation, but in the end chooses not to do so. But despite his restraint, the Green Goblin seemingly dies anyway when he is impaled by his own goblin glider while attempting to kill Spider-Man. Norman Osborn would not return for nearly three hundred issues. Peter is left wondering if Gwen was dead before the fall or if his attempt to save her by breaking her fall snapped her neck.
The death of Gwen Stacy had an enormous impact in the world of comic-book fandom. Before her, except possibly as part of an origin story, superheroes did not fail so catastrophically; nor did a loved one of the superhero die so suddenly without warning. Because of this, some fans and historians take the death of Gwen Stacy as one marker of the end of the period they refer to as the Silver Age of Comic Books.
In the real world, physicist James Kakalios shows in his book The Physics of Superheroes that, consistent with Newton's laws of motion, the sudden stop would have killed Gwen Stacy. The comic book Civil War: Casualties of War: Captain America/Iron Man (2007) concurred that the proximate cause of death was the sudden stop during a high-speed fall. An issue of Peter Parker/Spider-Man revisits the issue, and further confirms Gwen died of a broken neck due to the use of the webbing. Contradictorily, in the fourth issue of Marvels, the police forensic scientist reports that she died from the shock of the fall prior to her neck breaking, placing the blame on the Green Goblin and not Spider-Man.
During a later encounter, the Green Goblin throws Mary Jane off of the Brooklyn Bridge. Peter, having learned from Gwen's death, is able to save her using multiple net-webs that attach across her body (he is inadvertently assisted by how the Goblin throws her, as her body is mostly horizontal instead of vertical like Gwen's), thus stopping her entire body at the same time and preventing her neck from breaking.
After death
Within the fictional universe, Gwen Stacy's death has enormous repercussions. Mary Jane Watson feels the loss of Gwen deeply and becomes a more mature, compassionate person. Gwen's death also draws Peter and Mary Jane into a closer friendship, and eventually to romance. Miles Warren, one of Gwen's professors, was secretly in love with her. Following her death, Warren grows increasingly insane and adopts the persona of the Jackal. In the fourth and final issue of the miniseries Marvels (April 1994), photographer Phil Sheldon befriends Gwen Stacy, who has absolved Spider-Man of any blame for her father's death. Gwen's simple faith in heroes convinces Sheldon of the purpose of the "Marvels" (i.e., superheroes)â€"to protect innocents such as Gwen. He resolves to write a book to praise the heroes and what they should mean to humanity. When the Green Goblin kidnaps Gwen and holds her hostage to bait Spider-Man, Sheldon frantically follows the resulting chase in a taxi. He arrives at the George Washington Bridge in time to see Spider-Man fight the Goblin and to see Gwen accidentally knocked off the bridge and killed, despite Spider-Man's desperate attempt to save her. Sheldon's faith in the Marvels is shattered. He retires from news photography, but not before passing on the body of his work to his assistant Marcie.
Clones
Approximately two years after her death, Gwen Stacy reappears in Amazing Spider-Man #144 (May 1975), perfectly healthy but with no memory of the time since her death. The Jackal has managed to create a clone of Gwen and has babies with her, and uses her as part of a plot against Spider-Man in the original Clone Saga. At the end of that story, Gwen's clone leaves to find a new life for herself.
In the 1988 crossover "The Evolutionary War", the High Evolutionary, who had once been Miles Warren's teacher, captures Gwen's clone. He is dismayed to learn that Miles Warren has perfected the art of cloning and thus lies to the new men that it was nothing more than a genetic construct created by a virus that he injected his apprentice, Joyce Delaney.
During the second "Clone Saga", Gwen Stacy's clone, now married to a clone of Professor Warren named Warren Miles, sees a copy of Peter Parker's book of Spider-Man photos, Webs, and remembers (to an extent) her real history. She returns to New York City. During this storyline, she again disappears from Spider-Man's life. It was recently revealed the Gwen Stacy clone introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #144 was in fact the second Gwen clone Miles Warren created and has been living in London under the name Joyce Delaney. This clone was murdered by the Gwen Stacy clone known as Abby-L.
Another Gwen clone appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #399 (March 1995). This clone believes she is the real Gwen. She dies from clone degeneration in Spider-Man vol. 1, #56 (March 1995), the next issue of the story arc.
A further Gwen clone appears in the "Sibling Rivalry" crossover storyline between Superior Spider-Man Team-Up and Scarlet Spider. She joins the Jackal (alongside Carrion and a regular Miles Warren clone) in capturing Superior Spider-Man and Kaine. She is sympathetic towards "Peter" and Kaine, but at the same time utterly loyal to the Jackal. When the Spiders break free, Superior Spider-Man disarms and attempts to kill her, but is stopped by Kaine. When the Jackal's lab is engulfed in flames, Kaine offers to save her, but she refuses, and is seemingly consumed by the fire.
Sins Past and Sins Remembered
The story arc Sins Past" by J. Michael Straczynski in The Amazing Spider-Man #509â€"514 (August 2004â€"January 2005) reveals Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin's alter ego, fathered twins, a boy and a girl, with Gwen Stacy, to whom she gave birth while in France shortly before her death. She vowed she would raise them with Peter (despite the fact that he was not aware of Gwen's infidelity) and refused to allow Norman access to them. Seeing her as a threat to his potential heirs, the Green Goblin killed Gwen. Norman Osborn then raised Gwen's two children, a boy and a girl named Gabriel and Sarah. Due to Norman's enhanced blood, the twins aged about 2 to 3 times faster than normal and became adults within the span of a few years. Osborn told them Peter was really their father and was responsible for their mother's death.
The twins then attack Spider-Man, and he subsequently deduces their true identities. However, in seeking to confirm it, Peter goes to Gwen's grave and digs up a sample of her DNA to compare to the twins' DNA. Spider-Man tells Mary Jane about his initial encounter with Gabriel and Sarah, whereupon Mary Jane reveals she knew about Norman's involvement with Gwen. By the story's end, Peter has told the twins the truth. Sarah believes Peter and concludes he would never have dug up Gwen's grave to acquire a DNA sample if he thought there was even a chance he was their fatherâ€"but Gabriel does not. Gabriel takes the Green Goblin formula and briefly becomes the Grey Goblin. His glider explodes when it is shot by Sarah. He washes up on a beach with no memory of what happened.
"Sins Remembered", a follow-up story to "Sins Past" (published in The Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 2) issues #23â€"26, December 2004 â€" March 2005 and written by Samm Barnes with art by Scot Eaton) spins directly out of the events of Amazing Spider-Man #509â€"514. Spider-Man locates Sarah in Paris, where Sarah has her brother (suffering from amnesia) restrained in her home. With the help of Spider-Man and Interpol, Sarah helps build a case against a criminal called Dupres in exchange for the government's help with her rapid-aging disease. However, during this time Gabriel escapes and has yet to be seen again. This story arc was later collected as a trade paperback in 2005 as The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 5: Sins Remembered (ISBN 0-7851-1628-1).
Straczynski later stated he originally wanted to make Peter Parker the father of Gwen's kids but the editors vetoed the idea. They felt it would age Peter Parker too much if he had two adult children. The whole creative and editorial team then decided Norman Osborn would be the father. In an e-mail to the comic book website Newsarama, Straczynski claimed he regretted the version of "Sins Past" that went to press, and he had hoped to "retcon" it out of continuity during the events of the then-recent "One More Day" storyline: "I wanted to retcon the Gwen twins out of continuity, which was something I always assumed I could do at the end of my run. I wasn't allowed to do this, and yes, it pissed me off." In the original plans for "One More Day", the story would have ended with Gwen Stacy being resurrected by Mephisto's reality-warping spell along with Harry Osborn, but it was eventually decided to let her remain dead. Her son, Gabriel, has reappeared in subsequent stories. He exhibits a split personality where he commits crimes and then his heroic "American Son" persona tries to undo them. He is captured by Harry and Spider-Man. Sarah's present activities are unknown.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the two-issue mini-series X-Universe which detailed what happened to the rest of the Marvel Universe during the Age of Apocalypse, the Green Goblin never killed Gwen Stacy; instead she became the bodyguard of Donald Blake, who, in this reality, had never become the Mighty Thor. Sometime later in the mainstream universe in X-Man #37, the Age of Apocalypse version of Gwen is pulled from her reality to the mainstream Earth's George Washington Bridge, much to Spider-Man's shock.
House of M
In the House of M reality in which the Scarlet Witch alters reality to make mutants the ruling class over humans, Gwen was never killed. Instead, she married Peter Parker, and the couple had a young son. She had become a scientist, a savvy businesswoman, and a peace activist â€" and had a decidedly hostile relationship with chemical weapon developer Norman Osborn. Mary Jane Watson, a popular actress in this reality, played Gwen Stacy in the film adaptation of Spider-Man's life story. Gwen and her father read textual accounts of their deaths in the main universe, though they believe this simply to be the morbid imaginings of Peter Parker, who is suffering from mental health issues.
Marvel Adventures
Gwen Stacy first appeared in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53 as a new student of Midtown High. She had transferred from her previous school after the Torino Gang, a powerful New York mob, began harassing her in an attempt to keep her father, police captain George Stacy, from arresting members of their gang. However, the Torinos continued to harass Gwen at Midtown, prompting Spider-Man to help the police take down the gang. Like her father, Gwen believes Spider-Man is a hero. She subsequently began participating in a "Spider-Man Appreciation Society" designed to foster better public opinion of Spider-Man. Gwen is also attracted to Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker; although she openly flirted with him, Peter began dating a different girl, Sophia "Chat" Sanduval, which made Gwen very unhappy. Later, Gwen was brainwashed by Emma Frost into believing she was dating Peter. Gwen's brainwashing wore off (or was undone by Emma), but Gwen now believes her relationship with Peter ended when he chose Chat over her, causing her to treat Chat very coldly. She has since warmed to Chat, however. Recently, Gwen began a close friendship with Carter Torino who is the grandson of the head of the Torino Gang. Their relationship is complicated by the fact Gwen's father is still trying to take down Carter's criminal family.
Marvel Zombies Return
In the limited series, Marvel Zombies Return, Gwen of 'Earth Z' is still a college student out with her friends Mary Jane and Harry Osborn. The zombiefied Spider-Man travels to this earth and, despite his best intentions, turns the Sinister Six. They then slay and partly consume Gwen and her friends. To stop the spread of the virus, zombified Spider-Man obliterates the bodies.
Powerless
In the Powerless mini-series, Gwen Stacy again appears as the girlfriend of Peter Parker. Norman Osborn again kidnaps and attempts to kill her as a part of a plan to intimidate Peter. In a twist, the powerless Peter (with a limb crippled from a spider bite) manages to save Gwen from falling to her death.
Spider-Gwen
On Earth-65, Gwen Stacy is the one to be bitten by the radioactive spider, and becomes a superhero going by the name of Spider-Woman. She is also a member of a band led by Mary Jane Watson, simply called the Mary Janes. Shortly after Gwen begins fighting crime, Peter Parker attempts to exact revenge on those who bullied him, becoming this universe's version of the Lizard. Gwen subdues him, but Peter ended up dying towards the end of the battle due to the chemical he used. Spider-Woman is blamed for his death, causing an uproar for her arrest, led by J. Jonah Jameson. Her father, who is still a police chief in this world, begins a hunt for her. This follows Gwen into college, where she is still a member of the Mary Janes. At a gig of theirs, an assassin is sent after Gwen's father, who is in the audience. Gwen defeats the assassin, the audience and band clearing out during the battle. While they are alone, Captain Stacy holds Spider-Woman at gun point, with Gwen taking off her mask to reveal who she is. He tells her to run in his shock before he changes his mind, Gwen swinging off. In the distance, the Captain Britain from Earth-833, called Spider-UK, is watching, saying that Gwen will "do quite nicely."
Having been recruited by Spider-UK to team up with other Spider-Totems across the multi-verse, Gwen next appears in Earth-616 with Old Man Spider-Man and Spider-Man of Earth-70105 (who in that reality is Bruce Banner) to rescue Kaine who was under attack by the Inheritors.
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales
Issue #1 of Spider-Man: Fairy Tales follows the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, reimagined with Mary Jane Watson as the titular character. Gwen Stacy has been previously killed by the wolf. Issue #4 is an adaption of Cinderella with Gwen as Princess Gwendolyn. She falls in love with the masked "Prince of Arachne," who is revealed to be Peter Parker, servant to Sir Osborn, but is killed during a fight between Osborn and Parker.
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Gwen Stacy first appears at the end of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #5. She is the new girl at school and quickly becomes close friends with Peter Parker. In Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #9, Peter and Gwen take their relationship to the next level by sharing a tender kiss, much to the dismay of Mary Jane. They date for a time, though Gwen breaks up with Peter when she learns Mary Jane is the girl he truly loves. MJ, attempting to fix this, breaks up with Peter and reunites with Harry. Peter cannot commit to Gwen. She is unwilling to accept him as a friend and not a boyfriend.
Spider-Man Unlimited
In the fourth issue of the comic book based on the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series, Spidey encounters a Counter-Earth version of Gwen Stacy. She helps him escape a hidden paradise known as "The Haven".
Ultimate Gwen Stacy
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Gwen Stacy first appears in Ultimate Spider-Man #14 (December 2001) as a teenage girl at Peter's high school. In this continuity, Gwen, whose rendition by artist Mark Bagley was inspired by an early-career Madonna, has amber eyes, wears punk-style clothing, and harbors a rebellious personality. In her first appearance she gives a rousing speech on 'super powers'; in the next issue she pulls a knife on Kong, a classmate who was bullying Peter. She is suspended from school temporarily. Gwen becomes friends with Peter, which leads Mary Jane Watson to believe Gwen is vying for his affections.
Gwen is later taken in by Aunt May after her father, police captain John Stacy, is killed by a burglar wearing a Spider-Man costume. Her estranged mother does not want to take her in. Her living in the Parker house creates more tension between Peter and Mary Jane, and leads to their temporary break-up. Peter's relationship with Gwen is further complicated by her hatred of Spider-Man, whom she blames for her father's death. When Peter finds his friend Eddie Brock, Gwen confides in him about her feelings of isolation. Eddie then tries to kiss her. Gwen is shocked.
When she eventually learns Peter is Spider-Man, the angry Gwen pulls her father's gun on him. Fortunately, he manages to convince her he is not to blame for her father's death. Gwen runs off but returns, explaining she is just really mad at everything at the moment. She wouldn't have really shot him, a fact Peter already knew because his spider sense didn't go off despite Gwen's wrath. Gwen then agrees to keep his secret.
Gwen Stacy dies in Ultimate Spider-Man #62. Before her death, she made peace with Mary Jane and assured her she never had romantic feelings for Peter. She considered him just as a friend. She is killed by Carnage, a vampiric monster made by the splicing of genetic material from Peter Parker, his father, and Dr. Curt Connors. Although Peter is not in the area when she dies, he still feels some responsibility for her death, as he allowed Dr. Connors to use his genetic material for experimentation. His guilt makes him decide to retire as Spider-Man for a while. Eventually, he takes up his hero identity when his responsibility for the innocent becomes too great to overlook.
At the end of the arc, there was an issue that dealt with Gwen's death. Flash makes an off-color remark about Gwen's passing. It infuriates MJ to the point where she physically attacks Flash. It is revealed Flash had a crush on Gwen all along.
A girl seeming to be Gwen Stacy appears in Ultimate Spider-Man #98. Says Ultimate artist Mark Bagley, "Gwen’s return is integral to the Clone storyline and is basically a way to rock Peter's world...again." In this issue "Gwen" appears to have no memory of her "death" and believes she was in a hospital, from which she has escaped. In issue #100, after a raft of revelations, the stress of the situation enrages "Gwen". She transforms into what appears to be Ultimate Carnage before leaping out the window.
In the next issue, "Richard Parker" claims "Gwen" should not have met Peter at all, and was merely an experiment in stem cell research. This Gwen/Carnage fights with the Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, and the Spider-Slayer drones, until she is knocked unconscious by a beam of light, and taken into custody. In issue #113, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin causes a massive prison break from the Triskelion. An inmate appearing to be 'Gwen' walks out amidst the chaos, disappearing in the shadows. It has been revealed the creature posing as Gwen Stacy is still the original Ultimate Carnage Spider-Man faced earlier in its run. After "devouring" Gwen, this incarnation of Carnage has gone on to mimic her "essence" and now believes itself to be Gwen Stacy.
During the "War of the Symbiotes" storyline, Gwen/Carnage's back story in the Triskelion is revealed. It is shown Gwen has been taking some form of therapy with Tony Stark. However, when the Green Goblin broke out of the Triskelion, Gwen escaped and went to Peter Parker's house in a confused and terrified state, with Carnage's face on her body. During an exchange between Peter and Gwen, Eddie Brock attempts to attack Aunt May and retake his symbiote. In a rage, Spider-Man engages Venom on a nearby rooftop. During the fight, Gwen is shown to be able to use her symbiote to fight off Eddie but Eddie reabsorbs his symbiote along with the Carnage symbiote rendering Gwen Stacy an average girl. After SHIELD intervenes, SHIELD Director Danvers states Gwen will remain in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Peter and May argue for her to come back to live with them, with Tony Stark supporting the Parkers. In Ultimate Spider-Man #129, the Parkers are now helping to rebuild Gwen's life. Six months after the "Ultimatum" storyline, in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1, Gwen is living with the Parkers again and seems to be dating Peter. However, circumstances involving the Chameleon made Gwen realize she made a mistake dating Peter. She breaks up with him, but still lives with the Parkers due to Gwen and Aunt May has become close in a surrogate mother-daughter fashion. After Peter's death, Gwen and May re-located in France, but returned to New York after hearing about the re-emergence of a new Spider-Man. Afterwards, they meet the Peter Parker of the Earth-616 continuity after he was accidentally and briefly sent to the Ultimate universe, with Gwen being intrigued to learn about her counterpart (Although she is not informed that her other self dead, Gwen also 'neglecting' to tell Peter that she is a clone), as she also attempts to tell Mary Jane about the other Peter's arrival in their world.
When Green Goblin returns and escaped custody after S.H.I.E.L.D. was shut down, he arrives to the front yard of Aunt May's house and confronts the new Spider-Man. Gwen and Aunt May are in watching the broadcast media where battle of the new Spider-Man and Green Goblin. Suddenly Spider-Man emerges to aid his predecessor to fights as Gwen and Aunt May are surprised. Green Goblin fled and the two Spider-Men departs, Gwen is unsure if Peter was "him", Aunt May tells that motives of her nephew was truly him. Later, Gwen and Aunt May walks over to Mary Jane's house and overheard of Peter's unknown resurrection, Gwen sprint over and joyfully reunite with him. After the two Spider-Men defeat Green Goblin, Peter tells Gwen that he intends to go on a quest to find out himself about the truth of his mystery resurrection.
Early in the series, Ultimate Spider-Man #25 (October 2002) paid homage to Gwen Stacy's death in the Earth-616 continuity, although Gwen herself was not involved. The Green Goblin tossed Mary Jane off the Queensboro Bridge. Spider-Man caught her leg with his webbing, just as with Gwen. The issue ended with a cliffhanger: when Spider-Man pulled Mary Jane up, she appeared to be either unconscious or dead. The cliffhanger was resolved in the next issue when Mary Jane awoke in #26, uninjured.
What If
In "What if Gwen Stacy had lived?", Peter manages to save Gwen by jumping after her rather than catching her with a web-line. In doing this, he was able to cushion her from the impact as they hit the water and subsequently give her CPR. In the aftermath of this rescue, Gwen sees him without his mask. After explaining himself to her, Peter proposes to Gwen. She accepts. In a subsequent confrontation with the Green Goblin in his apartment, Norman Osborn finally fights off his evil side for good upon seeing his son Harry move to protect him. Realizing he cannot kill his own son, Norman returns to normal. During a battle in the warehouse, an escaping Goblin mails to "Spider-Man's second greatest enemy" (J. Jonah Jameson) proof of Spider-Man's real identity. On the day of Peter's wedding to Gwen, Jonah has published the expose and uses it to acquire a warrant for Peter's arrest, thus forcing Peter to escape from the police mere moments after his wedding to Gwen. The shock of her nephew "being that awful Spider-Man" causes Aunt May to have a heart attack as well. As the issue ends, Gwen departs with Joe 'Robbie' Robertson, who promises Gwen they will do whatever they can to help Peter and quits the Bugle.
In "What If Spider-Man Had Kept His Six Arms?", Spider-Man (whose six-arms mutation was permanent here) was able to prevent Gwen Stacy's death.
At the very end of Peter David's one-shot titled "What If: The Other," Peter Parker (now calling himself "Poison") uses part of the Venom symbiote attached to him in the resurrection of Gwen Stacy. She takes the appearance of Carnage.
In other media
Television
- Gwen Stacy was deliberately excluded from the 1990s animated series, as the creators felt they could neither allow her to live nor deliberately include a character who was going to die. As a result, a variant of the bridge scene occurs with Gwen replaced by Mary Jane Watson with both Mary Jane and Green Goblin are cast into a dimensional void. Also, aspects of the character were blended with Felicia Hardy. Gwen herself did appear in the episode "Farewell Spider-Man" voiced by Mary Kay Bergman. She appears as the fiancée of the high-tech armored Spider-Man (that resembles Iron Man), thus never in a relationship with Peter Parker in this parallel universe. The primary version of Spider-Man meets Gwen for the first time. Gwen plays a role in help defeating Spider-Carnage.
- Gwen Stacy appeared in almost every episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man voiced by Lacey Chabert. In the series, she was portrayed as a shy girl who is one of Peter Parker's best friends, and later, love interest, although the series is canceled before they got into a relationship. It was stated by Greg Weisman that he wanted to do Direct to Video movies, continuing Peter's story into college and beyond. Gwen's death was a possibility for one of the storylines occurring in one of the DTV's.
Film
Sam Raimi series
- Gwen Stacy is portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3. She is a potential new love interest for Peter Parker, serving as an unintended rival to Mary Jane Watson. Gwen is a classmate and lab partner of Peter Parker and Spider-Man rescues her early in the film from a construction crane accident. She kisses an upside-down Spider-Man in similar fashion to how Mary Jane did in Spider-Man which causes MJ to become angry and hurt. As Peter is at the top of Dr. Connors's quantum mechanics class, he tutors her. She considers Peter a genius and is very fond of him. She is also friends with Eddie Brock as he took pictures of her so Gwen could be a model. His relationship is short-lived, as Peter, under the influence of the symbiote, steals her from Eddie. He dances with her at the same jazz club where MJ works, but Gwen realizes Peter is doing this to make MJ jealous, Gwen was upset about this and walks up to Mary Jane and sadly said "I'm so sorry", and storms out of the club, leaving Peter behind. She is later present at Harry Osborn's funeral.
Marc Webb series
- Emma Stone portrays Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man as Peter Parker's love interest. She works as an assistant at Dr. Curt Connors's laboratory at Oscorp, where Peter gets bitten by the spider. She subsequently develops a crush on him, and he soon reveals to her his secret identity as Spider-Man; this is in contrast to the comics, where Gwen never knew Peter's secrets. (Also in contrast to the comics, Gwen has three younger brothers instead of being an only child; moreover, their father is happily married instead of being a widower.) Gwen also plays an important role in the Lizard's defeat, by helping Peter develop an antidote for Connor's serum (the one that turns people into reptilian hybrids) using her own scientific background. Unfortunately, her father is killed by the Lizard before Peter can defeat the villain. George begs Peter to keep Gwen out of his dangerous life. Peter honors that vow without telling Gwen immediately; this affronts Gwen until she realizes what her father did, and subsequently forgives Peter. However, when Peter later wonders if he should keep said promise, she just smiles at this development.
- Emma Stone reprises her role as Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Gwen continues to work at Oscorp, under control of Harry Osborn, Peter's best friend, but because Peter keeps breaking his promise to Gwen's father to stay away from her he continually breaks up and makes up with her so to settle they try being just friends. Their relationship is further strained when Gwen tells Peter that she is moving to Oxford University in England. Gwen witnesses Peter, as Spider-Man, his first fight with Max Dillon aka Electro who is also an employee of Oscorp and when she begins looking into Max's incident she is shut out and forced to run from the company. Later when Gwen is in a taxi for the airport Spider-Man leaves a message in web on the bridge saying "I love you" and he then swoops her up onto the bridge and tells her that he is going wherever she goes. However, their reunion is cut short when Electro starts shorting out the power to the city and Spider-Man and Gwen work together to stop Electro first by making Peter's web shooters electric-proof with a car battery and then by reversing the electrical charge so Spider-Man can fire it at Max and destroys him. Coming out of the control tower, Harry arrives with mutated skin, a glider and a battle suit. Learning Spider-Man is Peter thanks to Gwen, Harry takes Gwen hostage atop of the power plant's clock tower. Dropping her through the glass rooftop, Spider-Man saves her and begins battle against Harry. Gwen watched as the two fight and then begins to fall again thanks to Harry being knocked off of his glider. Gwen dangles as the two wrestle on the gears above and the web line eventually breaks. Spider-Man catches her with another web an instant too late as her head hits the concrete floor, killing her instantly. Gwen's death sends Peter into depression for five months, but finally after a talk with Aunt May and being inspired by watching Gwen's graduation speech about hope and life, he is able to resume being Spider-Man to honor her memory and beliefs.
- Webb told Entertainment Weekly that the third film's story will focus on Peter's recovery from Gwen's death.
Video games
- Gwen Stacy is briefly mentioned in Spider-Man: Edge of Time. When a futuristic version of Peter Parker reveals his plans to Spider-Man 2099, he mentions he can save the lives of Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, George Stacy and countless others.
- Gwen Stacy appears in The Amazing Spider-Man voiced by Kari Wahlgren.
- Gwen Stacy makes her debut as a playable character in the recently released Lego game, Lego Marvel Super Heroes voiced again by Kari Wahlgren.
- Gwen is mentioned in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but does not appear.
