Gwen Stacy

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See also Gwendolyne Stacy for a complete list of references to clarify differences between these closely named or closely related articles.


Gwen Stacy
Aliases:	Gwendolyne Stacy ^[1]
Continuity:	Marvel Universe
Notability:	Supporting character
Gender:	Female
Race:	Human
Location:	New York City, New York
Relatives:	George Stacy (father) ^[2] Helen Stacy (mother) ^[3] Arthur Stacy (uncle) ^[4] Jill Stacy (cousin) ^[5] Gwen Stacy (II) (clone) ^[6]
Status:	Deceased
First:	Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 #31
Final:	Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 #121

Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stacy is a fictional college student and a supporting character featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is associated with the Spider-Man line of comic titles and first appeared in the "If This Be My Destiny...!" story from Amazing Spider-Man #31 in December, 1965.

Biography[]

As a teenager, Gwen Stacy attended college at Empire State University. She became friends with Harry Osborn, who tried to introduce himself to a new student, Peter Parker. Parker had a lot on his mind however, due to a potentially fatal illness threatening the life of a his aunt, May Parker, and dismissed Harry and Gwen. The two thought that Peter was being stuck-up and initially felt that he was just a self-involved jerk. ^[7]

Gwen quickly developed an interest in Peter Parker, mostly because he was the only boy in school that wasn't constantly fawning over her. ^[8] Gwen began to take this personally, so she cajoled her friend Sally Green to ask Peter out on a date to gauge his reaction. Peter turned her down because he thought that Sally saw him as nothing but an egghead, but this served only bolster Gwen's already stale opinion of him. Peter eventually came to take note of Gwen, but when approached her, she just gave him the cold shoulder. ^[9] Things came to a head between them the following day and they exchanged barbs, admonishing each other's attitude. Flash Thompson intervened, threatening to beat Peter up for mistreating Gwen, but Peter stepped away from the conflict. Gwen was not convinced that Peter avoided fighting Flash out of a sense of cowardice. ^[10]

Notes & Trivia[]

The character of Gwen Stacy was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko.
Gwen Stacy is notable for being one of the first Marvel Comics characters to suffer an on-panel death. Moreover, she is but one of a very small number who has actually remained dead over the years.
Originally, the death of Gwen Stacy took place on the George Washington Bridge, but later stories have retroactively attributed the setting to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Gwen Stacy had a supporting role in the 2007 feature film Spider-Man 3, where she was played by actress Bryce Dallas Howard. The character was re-imagined for the 2012 reboot film Amazing Spider-Man, where she was played by actress Emma Stone and took on a much larger role.
In one alternate reality, Gwen Stacy actually survived the fall from Brooklyn/George Washington Bridge. In a story titled "What If Gwen Stacy Had Lived", Spider-Man power-dove from the top of the bridge, catching up to Gwen as she plummeted to her doom. He caught her on the way down, and then web-slinged his way low enough so that they would both survive the impact on the river. Gwen learned that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, and the two were ultimately married. ^[11]