Amazing Spider-Man #10 Preview

[Frontier]

Marvel wants to have it both ways here, and it doesn't really work. Either they market Gwen as Spider-Man's dead girlfriend or they market her as a superhero.

I mean, as long as all the relevant characters who knew the old Gwen are around...

I am aware. But now they market Gwen Stacy as a hero.

This is a Peter Parker story though.

My point is this isn't who "Gwen Stacy" is to a mainstream audience any more.

I don't think they need to cater everything to what mainstream audiences expect. I don't think this will hurt Earth-65 Gwens' image any.

Peter and MJ aren't real.

Yeah, but they have established characterizations and histories.

I mean, a lot of people were bringing up how Peters' being comfortable with Osborn made no sense because of Gwen's death.

Even Spencer brought up Gwen's death a fair bit during his run.

[Kevinroc]

I mean, as long as all the relevant characters who knew the old Gwen are around...

This is a Peter Parker story though.

This is a Peter Parker story tying into a big event and could just as easily had the big Cosmic Entity take on the form of Uncle Ben, a character Marvel isn't trying to market as a big time superhero who just got put in Fortnite. My point is Marvel is trying to have it both ways with this character. To market her as a major superhero, while also claiming she is the greatest love of Peter's life (as Brevoort and Cebulski have recently said during the various Spider-Man 60th Anniversary Celebrations), and they can't have it both ways here. They need to pick one.

And we know what the movies, shows, games, etc. are going to pick.

I don't think they need to cater everything to what mainstream audiences expect. I don't think this will hurt Earth-65 Gwens' image any.

Never said it would.

Yeah, but they have established characterizations and histories.

I mean, a lot of people were bringing up how Peters' being comfortable with Osborn made no sense because of Gwen's death.

The current run has a lot of problems because Wells insists on teasing a mystery that he continues to provide no context for (I know the rumors say Dark Web) and doesn't even seem particularly interested in.

Even Spencer brought up Gwen's death a fair bit during his run.

Felt more like passing references instead of constructing an actual story around it (unless you're talking about his last arc which retconned Sins Past, in which case, are we sure that was Spencer?).

[Frontier]

This is a Peter Parker story tying into a big event and could just as easily had the big Cosmic Entity take on the form of Uncle Ben, a character Marvel isn't trying to market as a big time superhero who just got put in Fortnite. My point is Marvel is trying to have it both ways with this character. To market her as a major superhero, while also claiming she is the greatest love of Peter's life (as Brevoort and Cebulski have recently said during the various Spider-Man 60th Anniversary Celebrations), and they can't have it both ways here. They need to pick one.

And we know what the movies, shows, games, etc. are going to pick.

There's probably a legitimate in-story reason for why it's appearing as Gwen instead of Uncle Ben.

And frankly 616 Gwen and Earth-65 Gwen are so distinct from each other that they may as well be two separate characters. I don't think that's going to change at all.

Felt more like passing references instead of constructing an actual story around it (unless you're talking about his last arc which retconned Sins Past, in which case, are we sure that was Spencer?).

The arc where we got Carnage Norman or Last Remains made her death feel pretty relevant.

[Kevinroc]

There's probably a legitimate in-story reason for why it's appearing as Gwen instead of Uncle Ben.

And frankly 616 Gwen and Earth-65 Gwen are so distinct from each other that they may as well be two separate characters. I don't think that's going to change at all.

"Gwen Stacy" is the name of a superhero who just got put into Fortnite. The dead civilian love interest isn't culturally relevant anymore. No matter how much Marvel wishes it were so.

The arc where we got Carnage Norman or Last Remains made her death feel pretty relevant.

This is just going to continue as time passes. Now Spider-Gwen is in Fortnite (which wasn't the case when Spencer was writing). This version of Gwen is going to continue to appear in movies, shows, games, etc. while the dead civilian love interest will not.

[Mercwmouth12]

"Gwen Stacy" is the name of a superhero who just got put into Fortnite. The dead civilian love interest isn't culturally relevant anymore. No matter how much Marvel wishes it were so.



This is just going to continue as time passes. Now Spider-Gwen is in Fortnite (which wasn't the case when Spencer was writing). This version of Gwen is going to continue to appear in movies, shows, games, etc. while the dead civilian love interest will not.

MJ is in Fortnite as 2; versions of her self also

[Kevinroc]

MJ is in Fortnite as 2; versions of her self also

We're not getting dead civilian Gwen in Fortnite.

[Mercwmouth12]

We're not getting dead civilian Gwen in Fortnite.

I'm saying she's more popular and that she's more well known. Not that we'll get a boring shell of a character. Did her full giant size mini even sell well?

[Kevinroc]

I'm saying she's more popular and that she's more well known. Not that we'll get a boring shell of a character. Did her full giant size mini even sell well?

The fact that this seems to be the first post in this thread even talking about the mini should tell you all you need to know about how big an impact it left.

[Mercwmouth12]

The fact that this seems to be the first post in this thread even talking about the mini should tell you all you need to know about how big an impact it left.

I'm talking about sales numbers or rank. not the impact which has nothing to do with the conversation

[Frontier]

"Gwen Stacy" is the name of a superhero who just got put into Fortnite. The dead civilian love interest isn't culturally relevant anymore. No matter how much Marvel wishes it were so.

I don't think cultural relevance matters so much as narrative relevance to the topic of Spider-Man.

Gwen Stacy in hero form doesn't really have much to do with Peter Parker. The Gwen that Peter Parker actually knew, loved, and lost? Plenty.

This is just going to continue as time passes. Now Spider-Gwen is in Fortnite (which wasn't the case when Spencer was writing). This version of Gwen is going to continue to appear in movies, shows, games, etc. while the dead civilian love interest will not.

I'm not saying they're going to stop marketing Spider-Gwen or that version of Gwen Stacy, just that 616 Gwen and her death still has an impact as far as the story of Spider-Man.

I'm still expecting them to fuse the two again at some point.

[Kevinroc]

I don't think cultural relevance matters so much as narrative relevance to the topic of Spider-Man.

Gwen Stacy in hero form doesn't really have much to do with Peter Parker. The Gwen that Peter Parker actually knew, loved, and lost? Plenty.

I'm not saying they're going to stop marketing Spider-Gwen or that version of Gwen Stacy, just that 616 Gwen and her death still has an impact as far as the story of Spider-Man.

I'm still expecting them to fuse the two again at some point.

Again, Marvel is trying to have it both ways on this subject. And they are going to have to pick who they want "Gwen Stacy" to be. Do they want her to be the lost love of Peter Parker's life or do they want her to be a superhero?

Because we're seeing others (including other parts of Marvel) pick the latter. You won't ever see them pick the former again in movies, shows, games, etc.

Saying they are different Gwens who represent different things doesn't really work when seeing comics most famous victim get the chance to be the hero was one of the cornerstones of Spider-Gwen's initial sources of popularity.

[Frontier]

Again, Marvel is trying to have it both ways on this subject. And they are going to have to pick who they want "Gwen Stacy" to be. Do they want her to be the lost love of Peter Parker's life or do they want her to be a superhero?

Because we're seeing others (including other parts of Marvel) pick the latter. You won't ever see them pick the former again in movies, shows, games, etc.

Saying they are different Gwens who represent different things doesn't really work when seeing comics most famous victim get the chance to be the hero was one of the cornerstones of Spider-Gwen's initial sources of popularity.

I know, but it feels like Spider-Gwen has kind of evolved beyond that to the point where she's very loosely connected to anything having to do with the original Gwen Stacy beyond the hair color and her dad (at times).

I honestly don't know if I'd completely write off love interest Gwen. It really just depends on what the adaption or story needs them to do. I mean, if media has shown anything it's the one thing the two Gwen's have in common is updating/changing their personality or function to service the story, sometimes melding the two.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

I know, but it feels like Spider-Gwen has kind of evolved beyond that to the point where she's very loosely connected to anything having to do with the original Gwen Stacy beyond the hair color and her dad (at times).

I honestly don't know if I'd completely write off love interest Gwen. It really just depends on what the adaption or story needs them to do. I mean, if media has shown anything it's the one thing the two Gwen's have in common is updating/changing their personality or function to service the story, sometimes melding the two.

I think so too. Spider-Gwen really has no connection with 616 Gwen besides name and hair color, and I also think general audiences have been trained to accept more than 1 version of a character.

[Kevinroc]

I know, but it feels like Spider-Gwen has kind of evolved beyond that to the point where she's very loosely connected to anything having to do with the original Gwen Stacy beyond the hair color and her dad (at times).

I honestly don't know if I'd completely write off love interest Gwen. It really just depends on what the adaption or story needs them to do. I mean, if media has shown anything it's the one thing the two Gwen's have in common is updating/changing their personality or function to service the story, sometimes melding the two.

If Gwen shows up in the Insomniac games, do you expect she'll be a doomed love interest or do you think she's going to become a superhero over the course of the narrative?

[Frontier]

If Gwen shows up in the Insomniac games, do you expect she'll be a doomed love interest or do you think she's going to become a superhero over the course of the narrative?

Green Goblin's gotta kill somebody when he finally shows up.

I don't imagine they'd do a straightforward take on either version of Gwen anyways.