Should Gwen Stacy appear in MCU Spider-Man franchise?

[Mister Mets]

I don't see any logical point of Liz Allen having more than a cameo or background role.



The MJ we got was whiny, annoying and godawful (And I say this as someone who deeply admires Dunst) I want to see a confident and sexy MJ. I do agree we need to see Felicia though.

I disagree with the idea that there's no logical point to Liz.

Unlike MJ and Gwen, she was in the comics when Peter was in high school.

And it allows Marvel/ Sony to go in a different direction, and do a film in which Spidey doesn't get the girl. Hell, he could realize that Liz isn't right for him, just as Aunt May introduces him to her friend Anna's niece at the end of the movie, allowing MJ to make her "You just hit the jackpot" intro.

[klefmung]

I disagree with the idea that there's no logical point to Liz.

Unlike MJ and Gwen, she was in the comics when Peter was in high school.

And it allows Marvel/ Sony to go in a different direction, and do a film in which Spidey doesn't get the girl. Hell, he could realize that Liz isn't right for him, just as Aunt May introduces him to her friend Anna's niece at the end of the movie, allowing MJ to make her "You just hit the jackpot" intro.

But Liz was NEVER a romantic interest in HS. It say he was attracted to her before he got powers, but basically every second after he met Betty Brant (within like, a week or two of him getting powers), she was the girl for him. Now, she was always paranoid Liz Allan wanted a piece of him, but that was just because she eventually started pursuing and following him.

[RobinFan4880]

It's Felicia Hardy's turn to be Peter's main squeeze.

[Kevinroc]

I disagree with the idea that there's no logical point to Liz.

Unlike MJ and Gwen, she was in the comics when Peter was in high school.

And it allows Marvel/ Sony to go in a different direction, and do a film in which Spidey doesn't get the girl. Hell, he could realize that Liz isn't right for him, just as Aunt May introduces him to her friend Anna's niece at the end of the movie, allowing MJ to make her "You just hit the jackpot" intro.

I think this idea is easier in theory than it is in practice. Look at how difficult it has been for Marvel to introduce Sharon Carter into the Captain America story because of the large emphasis placed on Peggy. It took until the third movie to really set up Steve and Sharon.

There's also the fact that Spider-Man fans don't care about Liz Allan. The Spider-Man films are in flux. They need to excite the hardcore Spider fans. With all the scrutiny they are under for rebooting yet again, they need to go out with both guns blazing. That's one of the reasons why they already said they weren't doing an origin story.

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

If you want order of appearance accuracy, then no.

I'd say no. Emma Stone did too good of a job in the ASM films, so they can't re-do Gwen for a long time.

Not a long time, but it will be hard to top Emma's Gwen.

[Ozymandias]

Ignoring Sins Past of course.

You've been away from the forum, for several months, so you don't know, but we've made quite some progress, in that regard. We'd love to read your input.

[SuperiorIronman]

This is what I was hoping for when the reboot was first announced, but I can understand why they wouldn't want to go that route. It would be more of a loose reboot.

However, there would be even less reason to use Gwen (other than a cameo) if that were the case. Why would they "bring back" a character who was never really introduced in the first place, and was popularized by an actress from the previous franchise who couldn't reprise the role?

I imagine it similar to that of Arrow with how it showed Sarah Lance in the flashbacks. We flashback every so often to Peter and Gwen before she died and over time if Marvel feels it could get away with it they can bring the charaecter back for something else. All that would be needed is that the charaecter becomes good enough for Marvel to consider it. She would be introduced in the series and we get to see Peter's development into where we first see him.

[Mister Mets]

I think this idea is easier in theory than it is in practice. Look at how difficult it has been for Marvel to introduce Sharon Carter into the Captain America story because of the large emphasis placed on Peggy. It took until the third movie to really set up Steve and Sharon.

There's also the fact that Spider-Man fans don't care about Liz Allan. The Spider-Man films are in flux. They need to excite the hardcore Spider fans. With all the scrutiny they are under for rebooting yet again, they need to go out with both guns blazing. That's one of the reasons why they already said they weren't doing an origin story.

I think the hardcore fans will be excited by a well-made fan, rather than a film that uses their favorite characters.

Fox's latest FF reboot had Doctor Doom, and it was awful.

Nolan's Batman trilogy created a new love interest, and that worked fine.

But Liz was NEVER a romantic interest in HS. It say he was attracted to her before he got powers, but basically every second after he met Betty Brant (within like, a week or two of him getting powers), she was the girl for him. Now, she was always paranoid Liz Allan wanted a piece of him, but that was just because she eventually started pursuing and following him.

Lis was the girl Peter was in love with for the first few issues of ASM.

She was part of his supporting cast for the first few years of the book.

[Geiseric]

They don't care about accuracy but they also aren't going to use a little known character when you have two characters that are much better known. They will probably use MJ just to make it a little different from ASM.

[Kevinroc]

I think the hardcore fans will be excited by a well-made fan, rather than a film that uses their favorite characters.

Fox's latest FF reboot had Doctor Doom, and it was awful.

Nolan's Batman trilogy created a new love interest, and that worked fine.

Nolan had the benefit of Batman not having a film in 8 years. You could see some excitement for Batman in film again. Contrast this to Spider-Man, where the Amazing films are still in recent memory, and Spidey is making an appearance in next year's Civil War.

[Geiseric]

Also batman doesn't have an established love interest. I have read a good amount of batman comics and I can't even think of one.

[Mister Mets]

Nolan had the benefit of Batman not having a film in 8 years. You could see some excitement for Batman in film again. Contrast this to Spider-Man, where the Amazing films are still in recent memory, and Spidey is making an appearance in next year's Civil War.

The main difference is that the response to Civil War will determine much of the anticipation for the next film.

If Civil War is disappointing and Spider-Man's scenes aren't well-received, anticipation will be limited, regardless of what girl Peter's in love with in his next film.

Same is true if Civil War is a hit, and Spider-Man is one of its best-regarded performance. Anticipation will be high for the next solo film whether Peter's in love with Liz, Gwen, MJ, Carlie Cooper or someone entirely new.

Plus, the MJ of the Raimi films is a different character than the MJ of the comics, which is another factor.

[Kevinroc]

Also batman doesn't have an established love interest. I have read a good amount of batman comics and I can't even think of one.

Catwoman. But you could make the argument that Gotham is his true love.

(Batman movies are weird because they struggle with concepts that we as comic fans would say are essential. Like Robin.)

The main difference is that the response to Civil War will determine much of the anticipation for the next film.

If Civil War is disappointing and Spider-Man's scenes aren't well-received, anticipation will be limited, regardless of what girl Peter's in love with in his next film.

Same is true if Civil War is a hit, and Spider-Man is one of its best-regarded performance. Anticipation will be high for the next solo film whether Peter's in love with Liz, Gwen, MJ, Carlie Cooper or someone entirely new.

Plus, the MJ of the Raimi films is a different character than the MJ of the comics, which is another factor.

Civil War has an interesting place in the MCU. But we'll probably hear more about the casting of the new Spider-Man supporting cast before we even see Civil War.

I'm talking about their need to want to appeal to the hardcore Spider-Man fan. It's been a long standing thought in movie making that if you can win over the hardcore, you can win over the casual audience. And given that there's a big mini now that puts emphasis on the Peter/MJ ship, that also just so happens to be the biggest tie-in to their big event comic, it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to think they will try to please hardcore Spidey fans by using MJ again.

You can make the argument that the casual audience won't care who the love interest is. And that is probably true. But they will want to excite the hardcore audience. And you don't get that with Liz Allan or Carlie Cooper or someone new.

[Geiseric]

Catwoman. But you could make the argument that Gotham is his true love.

(Batman movies are weird because they struggle with concepts that we as comic fans would say are essential. Like Robin.)

I don't count her and her like, they get their own category. They don't really fit into the traditional love interest role.

[Mister Mets]

Catwoman. But you could make the argument that Gotham is his true love.

(Batman movies are weird because they struggle with concepts that we as comic fans would say are essential. Like Robin.)



Civil War has an interesting place in the MCU. But we'll probably hear more about the casting of the new Spider-Man supporting cast before we even see Civil War.

I'm talking about their need to want to appeal to the hardcore Spider-Man fan. It's been a long standing thought in movie making that if you can win over the hardcore, you can win over the casual audience. And given that there's a big mini now that puts emphasis on the Peter/MJ ship, that also just so happens to be the biggest tie-in to their big event comic, it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to think they will try to please hardcore Spidey fans by using MJ again.

You can make the argument that the casual audience won't care who the love interest is. And that is probably true. But they will want to excite the hardcore audience. And you don't get that with Liz Allan or Carlie Cooper or someone new.

If you're going by recent comics sales/ buzz, there's just as much reason to include Gwen, given the success of Spider-Gwen, or foreshadow Parker Industries, given that the focus of ASM in coming issues.

I hope Sony doesn't base their film plans on what's big in the comics right now. They've got 50+ years of stories to use, so it should be about what makes the most sense for the story they're trying to tell about Peter Parker in high school in the MCU, rather than what happens to be done in the comics in an arbitrary time. Granted, the leaks have demonstrated that major media companies are capable of making major decisions for flimsy reasons.

Introducing MJ in the films (or Gwen) means that there should be at least three films featuring those love interests when Peter is in high school. That might not be the tack Sony wants to take.