Gwen Stacy: Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider Appreciation Thread 2022

[Frontier]

I hope they don’t make her and mj a thing

I just don't see a romantic relationship between these two that would both be A. plausible or B. healthy even if EmJay has a lot of romantic frustration regarding Gwen. Personality-wise they're just not a great fit.

[Dron]

She was a lesbian Spider-MJ from Exiles. Ended up in a relationship with Exiles' member Sunfire (a super powered variant of longtime Wolverine love interest Mariko Yashida). But she's not what I would call a "major Spider" (and she was killed in Spider-Verse, which is not a great look).

I'm talking about a character who has had their own title.

You could argue Cindy with her villain frienemy she's been flirting with in her mini and solo. Or Jessica Drew (616) has a long standing ship thing with Carol.

[Mercwmouth12]

You could argue Cindy with her villain frienemy she's been flirting with in her mini and solo. Or Jessica Drew (616) has a long standing ship thing with Carol.

So you could classify Felecia and Cindy as bi. so take the win for now until things are more clear

[Kevinroc]

You could argue Cindy with her villain frienemy she's been flirting with in her mini and solo. Or Jessica Drew (616) has a long standing ship thing with Carol.

Nothing has actually happened on these fronts so I don't think they mean much of anything. I'm not classifying them as any such thing.

I just don't see a romantic relationship between these two that would both be A. plausible or B. healthy even if EmJay has a lot of romantic frustration regarding Gwen. Personality-wise they're just not a great fit.

I don't necessarily disagree with this. Gwen doesn't need to be in a relationship with EmJay or anything. But the obvious and annoying queer baiting is embarrassing in 2022. Marvel clearly doesn't want to say their highly merchandisable character might also enjoy kissing a girl and it's embarrassing and cowardly.

[Frontier]

I don't necessarily disagree with this. Gwen doesn't need to be in a relationship with EmJay or anything. But the obvious and annoying queer baiting is embarrassing in 2022. Marvel clearly doesn't want to say their highly merchandisable character might also enjoy kissing a girl and it's embarrassing and cowardly.

Are we talking Mary Jane or Gwen?

[Kevinroc]

Are we talking Mary Jane or Gwen?

I'm talking about Gwen.

[Frontier]

I'm talking about Gwen.

I don't think comic Gwen's interested one way or another.

[Kevinroc]

I don't think comic Gwen's interested one way or another.

My point is that I think Marvel is being cowardly on the subject. It's no coincidence that none of the major Spiders are canonically queer. (And by "major Spiders", I mean any Spider character who has actually headlined their own title.) That they keep queer-baiting specifically with this character is what I have found annoying.

[Frontier]

My point is that I think Marvel is being cowardly on the subject. It's no coincidence that none of the major Spiders are canonically queer. (And by "major Spiders", I mean any Spider character who has actually headlined their own title.) That they keep queer-baiting specifically with this character is what I have found annoying.

I don't think it's a coincidence so much as something that just hasn't really been developed that much or they've gotten an opportunity to really do yet. Black Cat is one of their lead characters despite not being a Spider and they were able to canonically depict her as bisexual.

I think if anything has been consistent about Gwen from her inception is her seeming lack of interest in anything romantic or relationships even if they haven't put the Ace label on her yet. Which is maybe for the same reason they didn't do it with Nadia Van Dyne because of a characters' marketability, but it at least has been consistent in how she's been depicted.

[Kevinroc]

I don't think it's a coincidence so much as something that just hasn't really been developed that much or they've gotten an opportunity to really do yet. Black Cat is one of their lead characters despite not being a Spider and they were able to canonically depict her as bisexual.

I think if anything has been consistent about Gwen from her inception is her seeming lack of interest in anything romantic or relationships even if they haven't put the Ace label on her yet. Which is maybe for the same reason they didn't do it with Nadia Van Dyne because of a characters' marketability, but it at least has been consistent in how she's been depicted.

It looks like Sony is going to make the call for them by pushing Miles x Gwen in their Spider-Verse films. And I don't have a problem with that pairing, but this is how people are going to see them. Because Marvel are too cowardly to put a label on it, one will be put on for them.

[Frontier]

It looks like Sony is going to make the call for them by pushing Miles x Gwen in their Spider-Verse films. And I don't have a problem with that pairing, but this is how people are going to see them. Because Marvel are too cowardly to put a label on it, one will be put on it for them.

I doubt the Sony movies are even going to use the Ghost Spider name which Marvel has tried really hard to make happen because, for some reason, there can't be two Spider-Woman's so that disconnect will probably always be a thing.

Although even after ITSV it didn't seem like there was a rush to quickly pair up Gwen and Miles again, surprisingly enough.

[Kevinroc]

I doubt the Sony movies are even going to use the Ghost Spider name which Marvel has tried really hard to make happen because, for some reason, there can't be two Spider-Woman's so that disconnect will probably always be a thing.

Although even after ITSV it didn't seem like there was a rush to quickly pair up Gwen and Miles again, surprisingly enough.

We're going to continue to see adaptations that set Peter and Gwen with powers in the same world. And in those settings, MJ will be Peter's love interest (if the adaptation even does any kind of romance).

What I'm talking about is they have an opportunity here to market a character as canonically queer, and they refuse. And it comes across as cowardly. They never expected this character to take off as she did, and now they're too scared to make a statement about her.

Meanwhile DC has marketed a queer Robin, Superman, and Aquaman (or is Jackson still Aqualad?) and made Harley & Ivy into an official couple (even if they aren't on at any given time). It's embarrassing seeing Marvel acting in this manner.

[Frontier]

We're going to continue to see adaptations that set Peter and Gwen with powers in the same world. And in those settings, MJ will be Peter's love interest (if the adaptation even does any kind of romance).

I'm tired of a bunch of Spiders together outside Spider-Verse .

What I'm talking about is they have an opportunity here to market a character as canonically queer, and they refuse. And it comes across as cowardly. They never expected this character to take off as she did, and now they're too scared to make a statement about her.

Meanwhile DC has marketed a queer Robin, Superman, and Aquaman (or is Jackson still Aqualad?) and made Harley & Ivy into an official couple (even if they aren't on at any given time). It's embarrassing seeing Marvel acting in this manner.

I don't think they really think of it so much as de-emphasizing her being a queer character but making her more of a conventional Superhero Spider character.

So, like, in McGuire's run she's a more competent Superhero, gets her secret identity back, goes to college in 616...

As far as the MJ dynamic...I mean, the writers of her solo don't seem to like MJ compared to their feelings on Gwen, so I think that plays into it somewhat.

[Kevinroc]

I'm tired of a bunch of Spiders together outside Spider-Verse .

I don't disagree, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening.

I don't think they really think of it so much as de-emphasizing her being a queer character but making her more of a conventional Superhero Spider character.

So, like, in McGuire's run she's a more competent Superhero, gets her secret identity back, goes to college in 616...

As far as the MJ dynamic...I mean, the writers of her solo don't seem to like MJ compared to their feelings on Gwen, so I think that plays into it somewhat.

I think Marvel doesn't want to present this character as being canon queer. That's the simplest and most logical explanation.

[Frontier]

I think Marvel doesn't want to present this character as being canon queer. That's the simplest and most logical explanation.

I don't think they really think about it that hard any more than they think about writers depicting EmJay as a repressed b#tch who wants to get into Gwen's pants.