I think this is the perfect time (post-Secret Wars, advantages of revisiting both Clone Sagas) to retcon Sins Past either out of existence entirely OR have it be a clone that Warren made as a glorified living sex doll. Dark? Yes. But better than bringing up the volatile subject of rape and inciting chaos among fans. I think retconning it as a clone (that had it's memories/brain patterns altered to be a glorified living sex doll) would be warmly welcomed by all Gwen fans. It exonerates her character by showing that she herself didn't do it AND her clone only did it because the memories were altered. And we've seen Jackal do that before in the 90s, so the history for his ability to do so is there.
Point being that now the general character of Gwen Stacy is in the pop culture conscious as more than a girl who got thrown off a bridge, but as a hero as well. Rather than just be looked at as a perpetual sacrifice in every medium, people can get a sense of the same character in different framing. There's a degree of transference between the two obviously, since one acts as the inspiration for the other.
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Not that I necessarily fully agree, but even the characterization of Gwen Stacy in the The Amazing Spider-Man films was inspired by a glimpse we saw of her in some of her earliest appearances. She mentioned being a science major along with Peter and even attended a demonstration of some nullifier or something that Ock stole during the "Doc Ock Wins" story arc because Miles Warren said the two were his best students.
There is gold to be mined with Gwen, especially considering some people forget she started ou a bit more interesting than the dancing story convenience that she became.
While tha'ts true, the whole 'OMG, is it really her? She's back again!' plot has been rehashed to death.
Also, has the 616 universe had a clone that WAS the old person come back to life? Two Gwens (maybe three), Dracula, Blade, Ben, Kaine, and Madeline and clone-Thor have all been thier own individual and unique new people.
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That's where slavish devotion to the source material is a problem. Not that TASM2 would have been saved by not killing Gwen, but Sony should have axed that direction once they saw fan reaction to Emma Stone's Gwen. People are so hung up on her death that they can't see other opportunities.
Or they should've realized that they needed to strengthen the core of the new Spider-Man franchise so it wouldn't have been as hurt by losing Gwen, who was one of the only universally liked elements of the ASM movies alongside Garfield as Spider-Man.
Which is why Conway said he wouldn't have killed off ASM!Gwen, because she was basically MJ in that franchise .
To be fair, Conway has said himself (and I agree) that 616 Gwen was more interesting dead.
And by the time he got his hands on her, I agree. The traces of the interesting character had been jettisoned for a perfect love who just hated that awful murderous Spider-Man. There was very little left to do with the relationship.
Here's what I find funny. Being that Emma Stone naturally looks a whole lot like MJ, why didn't they make her MJ in the first place?
Look, I know they dye hair, but I think in confusion when I keep seeing how she looks and I am like, wait! That's MJ! No wait, it's Gwen in this movie! What is going on?!!!
Even funnier, when you realise that Kirsten Dunst also dyed her hair to play MJ.
I picked this book up because I thought it might be a new direction for the story. I have not picked up anything since the last volume. To me, none of the characters feel like they have the heart they once did. For example, I don't feel like it is really Peter Parker I am reading about. Also, with characters dying and coming back ALL THE TIME, seeing Otto back just didn't have any impact for me. Finally, having the Warren back and the Gwen clone?, it all feels like a story I have read over and over again. I am keeping with it to hope it gets better and something new happens but it will definitely be a jumping off point for me if it does not pick up. I am tired of Slott.