Line #24 YMMV/SpiderGwen


1	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
2	** Peter Parker's characterization. Peter Parker, before his transformation, goes back to his Creator/SteveDitko roots; an awkward, angry misanthrope who often made vague "[[TheDogBitesBack I'll show them one day!]]" threats in his head. While some people like this take on Peter for how it explores what could have happened if he didn't get superpowers, others aren't fans of it and think his bitter and angry persona makes hard to believe he and Gwen were best friends.
3	** Mary Jane Watson, who has a bossy, ItsAllAboutMe mentality before her character development. While some like the idea of a Mary Jane that's so different from the charismatic and gregarious version that is the norm for the character, others found her attitude to be a bit too abrasive and annoying to even serve as a good HateSink.
4	* BrokenBase:
5	** The "Gwenom" story arc. Was it an interesting and refreshing variant on the usual symbiote storyline or a depressing series of events that too dark and angsty for its own good? The comic itself even lampshades this, with the Watcher of Earth-65 complaining that the story [[TooBleakStoppedCaring has gotten so dark that he no longer cares]].
6	** Creator/SeananMcGuire's run of the character, specifically the increased focus on Earth-616. Some fans found the idea of Gwen needing to juggle life in both her home dimension and the main Marvel Universe as a fun story concept that would allow the character to branch-out into more interesting storylines that would allow her to interact with other popular Marvel heroes. Others thought that Gwen's occasional jaunts to the mainline universe were more than enough; that part of what made her comics special was the vastly different WhatIf-nature of Earth-65, and the idea of her more regularly interacting with Spidey's usual rogues gallery defeats the point. And of course, both sides had plenty of people who were upset when the final issue of ''ComicBook/GhostSpider2019'' [[LeftHanging concluded on the unceremonious note of]] [[spoiler:Gwen being exiled from Earth-65 by her versions of Sue and Johnny Storm.]]
7	* CantUnhearIt: If you're reading the comics, you're probably hearing either Creator/DoveCameron or Creator/HaileeSteinfeld as Gwen.
8	* CommonKnowledge:
9	** A ''lot'' of fanart tends to depict Gwen with longish-hair and wearing the classic Gwen Stacy headband, despite the canon depiction in her main series initially having short messy hair, as befitting her tomboyish nature. This even extends to her appearing like this in official team and event books, as well as subsequent volumes of her own series. As a result, a lot of people think she's ''just'' classic Gwen Stacy with spider-powers; to the point that when other media has variants that adhere more closely to the characterization of Earth-65 version of Gwen show up, such as in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', some are surprised by her being a sardonic, punk-styled character.
10	** Following ComicBook/{{Gwenpool}}'s creation, fan artists -- and even some official Marvel productions, like ''Franchise/MarvelRising'' -- got them mixed up and began depicting Spider-Gwen with partially pink-dyed hair like Gwenpool's.
11	** Following the release of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', many fan-artists, and even official cover artists, began drawing Gwen wearing ballet shoes as part of her costume--changing over to sneakers after the release of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'', but the comic version of Gwen's costume just had blue feet and she's never displayed any interest in ballet.
12	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Of ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse''. Her introduction box tagging her as "Your new favorite" ended up being an understatement; not only did she receive her own standalone series, but she quickly came to seen as part of a "[[PowerTrio Spidey Trio]]" alongside Peter Parker and ComicBook/MilesMorales outside comics in shows and movies like ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan'', ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' and ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'' (the latter of which gained her a massive LGBTFanbase). She also appeared as a main character under the name "Ghost Spider" in the ''Franchise/MarvelRising'' franchise. The popularity of this alternate version of Gwen Stacy also birthed a variant cover month featuring Gwen as various other Marvel heroes that resulted in another series called ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'', who ''herself'' became immensely popular.[[note]]That said, in the comics proper, Gwenpool is an original character who has no relation to Gwen Stacy outside of the name (her full name is Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole).[[/note]] This all culminated in Marvel officially announcing in 2023 that this incarnation of Gwen will be made a ''[[CanonImmigrant permanent resident]]'' of Earth-616 similar to what happened with Miles Morales post-[[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 Secret Wars]].
13	* EvilIsCool: This villainous version of Matt Murdock. Imagine the more optimistic MagnificentBastard Matt from Creator/MarkWaid's ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' run, except instead of being a good guy, he's a remorseless crime lord who manages to get ''everyone'' into his pocket, and rubs their faces in it as he does so.
14	* FandomRivalry: Spider-Gwen unfortunately garnered this with fans of other "Spider-Girls", specifically [[ComicBook/SpiderGirl Mayday Parker]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsSpiders Anya Corazon]]. The character's immense popularity has been seen by fans of the other two as "stealing" the focus that could have gone to them. These feelings got exasperated in no small part due to ''ComicBook/WebWarriors'', where writer Mike Costa didn't try and hide that Gwen was the character he really wanted to write over the latter two.
15	* FanficFuel:
16	** Whatever kind of shenanigans this dimension's version of [[GenderSwap Captain]] [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica America]] has gotten up to on her dimension-hopping adventures is definitely ripe for some stories about it.
17	** The fact Gwen's universe is so drastically different from the main universe, with characters going down different paths or others fulfilling their usual role, the potential for some ''very'' creative reiterations is pretty prominent.
18	* FanNickname: "Spider-Gwen", naturally, since just calling her Spider-Woman as is in-universe [[Characters/SpiderWoman would get confusing really quick]]. This even became canonized as the name of her first few series. Some fans and cosplayers also called her "White Widow", before Marvel finally gave her a second codename in the form of "Ghost Spider."
19	* FriendlyFandoms: ''Radioactive Spider-Gwen'' was considered [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent Marvel's answer]] to the popular 2014 retool of [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl2011}} Batgirl.]] The fact that they have similar tones and have both been commercial successes had added to this. Babs Tarr, the artist of the Batgirl retool, even drew a variant cover for this series, which included Gwen carrying a tiny Batgirl keychain.
20	* IAmNotShazam: "Spider-Gwen" isn't the name of the character, it's just the name of her first three comic book runs. In-universe, Gwen naturally uses the name Spider-''Woman'' when operating on her native Earth-65. Unlike most instances of this trope however, this doesn't double as a FandomEnragingMisconception, since "Spider-Gwen" is still used as a FanNickname to help distinguish the character from [[Characters/SpiderWoman all the other Spider-Women]], even after Marvel gave her the secondary alias of "Ghost Spider" (first in other media, then the comics themselves) for that exact purpose.
21	* LesYay:
22	** Quite a few fans interpreted Gwen's relationship with Mary Jane in this manner prior to the reveal that [[spoiler:MJ is dating Glory Grant, and even afterwards]]. It's understandable, considering both characters' [[LoveInterests love interest]] in Earth-616, Peter Parker, is deceased in Spider-Gwen's world, and MJ's interactions towards Gwen could be seen as BelligerentSexualTension on her part. Panels like [[http://i.imgur.com/p3Pabid.jpg this]] -- actually an AlternateUniverse Spider-Gwen, not the one from Earth-65 -- seeing print also fueled the flames. Creator/SeananMcGuire's tenure as writer toned up the subtext between them: in an issue of ''Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider'', Gwen wonders if the lyrics of one of MJ's songs are unsubtle hint that MJ has a crush on her, and their interactions in the ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' tie-in involve the symbiote-possessed MJ acting like a jilted lover towards Gwen. ''Spider-Gwen: Smash'' dials it up to eleven, with everyone except Gwen--even the villain Dr. Bruce Banner--being able to see how badly Em Jay is pining over Gwen. [[spoiler:While Em Jay finally confesses she loves Gwen in ''Giant-Size Spider-Woman'', it's as she's leaving to join Natasha Romanoff's squad of superheroes; leaving Gwen with nothing to tie her to Earth-65.]]
23	** MJ gets this a bit with Glory as well, since they are almost always together and are almost always arguing LikeAnOldMarriedCouple. ''Especially'' after an issue focused entirely on MJ, showcasing her attempts to keep Glory from quitting the band and her genuine affection for her friends. [[spoiler:And then comes issue #32 where they're in bed together, with WordOfGod confirming that they are a couple. Unfortunately for MJ, Glory gets fed up with her pining over Gwen in ''Spider-Gwen: Smash'' and breaks up with her.]]
24	** In the first arc of ''Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider'', Gwen is trapped in another dimension where it is heavily implied that the Gwen and MJ of that world are a couple.
25	* MorePopularReplacement: Of the original ComicBook/GwenStacy. While most people accept that the original was a very important character due to her death, many don't like her inconsistent characterization over the years from a high maintenance woman to a pure ingénue. In contrast, many enjoy this version of Gwen for having more of a consistent characterization as an excitable tomboy drummer who is still shaken over her greatest failure, on top of being a Spider-person herself. As a result of this, most current adaptations featuring Gwen Stacy tend to lean towards the personality of this version of the character as opposed to her original incarnation.
26	* OlderThanTheyThink: This isn't the first story with an AU version of Mary Jane being attracted to women. ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'' had her as a lesbian, and also as the one with Spider powers.
27	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Mary Jane does get better later on, sharing some heartfelt conversations with Gwen that don't revolve around how Gwen keeps flaking out on the band. Also, once she figures out that Gwen and Spider-Woman are the same person on her own ( and despite Gwen's attempts to deny it), MJ is supportive to the point of trying to both cover for her ''and'' discourage Spider-Woman hate.
28	* TheScrappy: This version of Mary Jane, at least at first. While intentionally written as a HateSink, many people found her more annoying and one-dimensional, rather than enjoying her as a LoveToHate kind of character and even accuse her portrayal of being disrespectful towards 616 MJ. Fortunately, this faded once she got more focus, and later on she becomes something of an EnsembleDarkhorse.
29	* TestosteroneBrigade: Gwen herself isn't really a MsFanservice in the stories themselves (in fact, she's explicitly flat-chested and wears tomboyish clothing), but she has attracted this kind of attention. Mostly because of the costume being skin-tight and often getting FanserviceCover depictions that focus on her ass (which ''is'' generally depicted rather generously). Overall, she's become something of a sex icon among the ''Spider-Man'' fandom in a way that ''traditional'' Gwen Stacy never was.
30	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The original run by Latour/Rodriguez/Renzi had a unique art style, which was lost after the book was relaunched with a different creative team, with the new art being seen as some as skewing too close to that of "standard" comic book art.
31	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: A number of reader feel that it would have been more interesting to keep Peter Parker around instead of giving him DeathByOriginStory, either as a supporting character or a recurring villain.
32	* TheWoobie: Gwen. Yeah, she may have survived in this universe, but her best friend was killed and she was held responsible. And things only get worst from there. She also has the existential dread of knowing that on most Earths, she's a DamselInDistress who ultimately ends up dead.

Context YMMV / SpiderGwen