Since her silver screen debut in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Gwen Stacy has been a more widely known fan-favorite Spider-Person. However, this alternate-universe version of the character first appeared in comic book panels in 2014. In the primary continuity of Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man runs, Gwen dates Peter Parker and, tragically, meets her end in a Spidey rescue gone wrong. Longtime Spider-Man writer Dan Slott and editor Nick Lowe approached writer Jason Latour with an idea — to create a story that featured Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman. At first Latour was hesitant.
In the original continuity, Gwen Stacy was less of a fully-formed character and more of an agent for change in Peter’s life; her death is a tragic plot point that informs Spider-Man’s journey more than anything else. Even so, the canon event and its consequences had shaped that Spider-Man mythos for four decades, hence Latour’s initial uncertainty about introducing a new Gwen Stacy. Thankfully, the effort to reinvent the character won out, and Spider-Gwen made her debut in Edge of Spider-Verse #2. With Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse only boosting Gwen’s popularity, many fans are wondering about her Spider-Person origins, and if her official moniker is Spider-Woman or Ghost-Spider.
How Does Gwen Become Spider-Gwen?
In the comics, Earth-65’s Gwen Stacy is fairly similar to the Gwen audiences know from the Across the Spider-Verse film. She’s a drummer for the band the Mary Janes — though she certainly has a closer relationship with her bandmates, including Mary Jane Watson, than the film’s version of Spider-Gwen. Much like Peter Parker and Miles Morales, Earth-65’s Gwen Stacy is bitten by a radioactive spider, which bestows her with web-slinging abilities and encourages her to take up the mantle of Spider-Woman.
So, while this alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy doesn’t die, not everyone is in the clear. In a role reversal of sorts, it’s Peter Parker who meets a tragic end. In order to stand up to the peers who bully him, a chemically-enhanced Peter becomes Earth-65’s version of the Lizard. In Across the Spider-Verse, Gwen stops Lizard-Peter, who dies — and the storyline plays out much the same in the comics. Afterward, everyone’s favorite news barker, J. Jonah Jameson, pins Peter Parker’s death on Spider-Woman, which results in a hunt for the webslinger — a hunt led by Gwen’s police officer father.
Are Spider-Gwen and Spider-Woman The Same?
Yes, Spider-Gwen and Spider-Woman are the same person on Earth-65. In the comic books’ version of the Spider-Verse saga, Gwen is one of many Spider-People with the mantle of Spider-Woman. In Across the Spider-Verse, fans learn that Jess Drew, for example, is another universe’s Spider-Woman.
What makes Gwen unique, though, is that she’s the only Spider-Person who is also Gwen Stacy — hence the Spider-Gwen nickname. As she tells Miles Morales in Across the Spider-Verse, in every other universe, Gwen Stacy is close with Spider-Man, and dies as a result. Not to mention, Peter's death on Earth-65 mirrors the demise of Gwen’s counterparts across the multiverse.
Why Is Spider-Gwen Now Called Ghost-Spider?
Sharp-eyed fans of Across the Spider-Verse might have noticed that Gwen Stacy’s voice actor, Hailee Steinfeld, is now credited as Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider. If Spider-Gwen is her Earth’s Spider-Woman, where did the Ghost-Spider moniker come from? The answers lie in the comics. After the Spider-Verse thread, Gwen joins up with the Web Warriors — Spider-People with interdimensional-travel devices — and even entertains a romance with Miles Morales.
When she finally makes it back to her own universe, Gwen loses her powers and seeks help in all the wrong ways. Namely, she enlists the services of scientist Elsa Brock. If that name rings a bell, it’s probably because it’s reminiscent of Eddie Brock, the character in the primary Spider-Man continuity who becomes Venom. On Earth-65, though, the Venom symbiote helps Gwen Stacy transform into "Gwenom." The Gwenom saga results in Gwen Stacy revealing her identity publicly.
Arrested for the murder of Peter Parker, Gwen serves time until the events of Spider-Geddon unfold. (A sequel to Spider-Verse, the Spider-Geddon volumes compose a universe-hopping crossover event, too.) During the fifth volume of this wild crossover, Gwen survives an explosion, leading Miles to wonder, briefly, if she’s a ghost. But that’s not exactly where the Ghost-Spider name begins in earnest. After the crossover event, Gwen struggles to be a superhero and a normal person on Earth-65. Without a secret identity, things are rough — and the symbiote doesn’t make things any easier, especially since scientist Elsa Brock has vanished.
In an attempt to better her situation, Gwen travels to the primary Marvel Earth, Earth-616, to find Eddie Brock, Elsa’s counterpart. The only problem? Eddie isn’t a scientist. Thankfully, Peter Parker is brainy and eager to aid Gwen. While on Earth-616, Spider-Gwen teams up with Spider-Man. When asked who she is while in costume, Gwen hesitates; Earth-616 already has a Spider-Woman. She settles on the name Ghost-Spider as an ode to her dead multiverse counterparts. After all, “Death loves Gwen Stacy.”
Earth-616 proves to be a great place for Gwen. With her secret safe, she can attend college, and, best of all, no one bats an eye at Ghost-Spider’s interdimensional commute. Given that Ghost-Spider is the most recent iteration of Spider-Gwen — the run began in 2019 — it’s no wonder that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse would lean into Gwen Stacy’s latest “Spidersona.”