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Spider-Man General Discussion

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This thread's for the Spider-Man comics and spin-offs, whether they're decades old or brand new.

  • Apart from the main Marvel Universe titles, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man "What If?" stories, crossovers, guest appearances in other books, Alternate Universe tales and things like Marvel's manga adaptations are all on-topic here.
  • Spider-Man 'family' books are on-topic (as are their own crossovers, guest appearances etc.) - e.g. Spider-Man 2099, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Venom, Carnage, Black Cat, Red Goblin and Spider-Verse.
  • Characters and comics that originated in Spider-Man but are no longer directly connected to the spider-franchise (e.g. Punisher, Silver Sable) are not on-topic, unless you're discussing historical connections and crossovers. If in doubt, check before you write a long post. If this isn't the right place, there's a more general Marvel Comics thread which covers them.

Technically, Marvel's Infinity Comics (and their predecessors, Infinite Comics) are webcomics, not comic books, but it's fine to talk about their Spider-Man stories here.

Discussions that are only about Spider-Man adaptations in other media (films, video games etc.) are off-topic, but discussing the differences between the adaptations and the original comics is fine - as long as spoilers for the adaptations are tagged.

Please follow the spoiler policy rules - tag spoilers for the latest issues, for any previews or content leaks, and for off-topic comics. When including spoiler tags, try to write so that tropers can make an informed decision before viewing them (e.g. which series and issue will they spoil?).

     Original Thread OP 
Since everyone likes talking about him. I know little about him(Ironically,I got nearly all I know about him from a Batman thread),but he's apparently important so I made this thread. Enjoy.

Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 10th 2023 at 10:58:13 AM

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#38326: Aug 9th 2025 at 7:52:27 PM

Those are movie fans in a series where Gwen is a supporting character apart of a wider story not her own.

The movie's Peni Parker has plenty of fans but the movie's depiction of Peni (at least before the second) is widely different from her comic self.

[up][up] Oh yeah I agree not every character should become a hero.

Its like if Miles' dad becomes a superhero. It feels..... unncessary. Like you could do it but you have a certain revulsion towards it because Miles is already the star.

Edited by slimcoder on Aug 9th 2025 at 7:53:30 AM

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#38327: Aug 9th 2025 at 8:55:38 PM

"I mean we absolutely have Spider-Gwen have a massive fandom without her supporting cast." That's because, as noted, she is part of the supporting cast there. Miles is the protagonist. When the second movie gave her an even bigger role, what did they do? They showed her relationship with her father, a part of her supporting cast. If she got a solo movie (one which doesn't include extra-dimensional team-ups), then you can bet your ass there'd be more use of her own supporting cast, because characters don't exist in vacuums and the audience likes to see their relationships with other people.

Also, it's not like those people who loved her in the movies have flocked to read the comics. The people who love her in the comics love her, in part, because of her relationships with the people around her. Her father, the Mary Janes, the Bodega Bandit. That's a part of the core appeal, the same as seeing Miles' relationships with his parents and with Ganke is a part of his core appeal. There's a reason that, when Miles was moved over to the 616, Ganke came with him. They could have just inserted a new character to be his best friend, but they didn't, because he already had the history with Ganke.

Moving Gwen over to 616, without bringing any of her supporting cast aside from her dad, also cuts out anyone she has a history with. It cuts out a part of who she actually is as a character. So why wouldn't her fans, why wouldn't the people who love her as a character, be exceptionally disappointed at the fact that a chunk of her character is being sliced off of her?

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#38328: Aug 9th 2025 at 9:01:32 PM

Too bad they won't show the relationship with her MJ. Would be a good joke with Peter, though.

Wake me up at your own risk.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#38329: Aug 9th 2025 at 9:02:48 PM

I really despise them trying to break up Gloria and MJ.

Like Nico and Karolina comes from I'm sure is racism against Xavin.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Aug 9th 2025 at 9:03:09 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#38330: Aug 9th 2025 at 9:09:23 PM

[up] I think Nico and Karolina comes from it being something a lot of people had kinda wanted to see ever since Karolina first revealed her feelings for Nico. For Earth-65 Gwen and MJ, too, people were reading subtext between them very early on.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#38331: Aug 9th 2025 at 9:11:42 PM

Fandom wanting it is there but it's also notably at the expense of queer black characters.

It's just...noticeable.

It's also a skeevy message that you shouldn't move on from Unrequited Love.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#38332: Aug 10th 2025 at 4:17:30 AM

Back on Gwen for a bit, it is really fascinating you can pinpoint the exact moment she became unviable, the part where she pointed out that Spider-Man still killed her dad by recklessly causing Doc Ock to lose control of his tentacles and resulting in collateral damage, and the story agreeing with her by framing it as Spider-Man’s fault in the next storyline with Doc Ock barely being mentioned.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#38333: Aug 10th 2025 at 4:27:34 AM

[up][up] Both points are fair. And I do hate the Never Move On thing in romances. "These two were a couple when I was a kid reading comics, therefore, they need to get back together, regardless of anything that's happened since, and regardless of any other love interests they may have." It does get frustrating.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.
lalalei2001 Since: Oct, 2009
#38334: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:03:15 AM

[up][up] I wonder what the kid Captain Stacy died saving thinks of all of it.

(If it's anything like Matt Murdock's terrible luck he'd grow up to be a supervillain...)

The Protomen enhanced my life.
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#38335: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:08:38 AM

Dunno if that ever happened, but I do know in Marvels, we saw the perspective of one of the civilians who assumed that it was Spider-Man who deliberately broke the chimney and dragged Stacy to finish the job.

I think the actual Gwen died hating Peter when she found out he was Spider-Man according to Clone Conspiracy.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
HamburgerTime Since: Apr, 2010
#38336: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:13:09 AM

I wasn't aware that Conway actively disliked Gwen before this conversation. The story I've always heard was that he wrote himself into a corner as to whether Peter should reveal his secret identity to her or not, and decided to "cut the knot" by removing her entirely.

LoneCourier0 The Wandering Geek from A Diverse Land (Unitroper) Relationship Status: How YOU doin'?
The Wandering Geek
#38337: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:13:42 AM

Seriously, just how much demonization Gwen needs just to make MJ look good?

"Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try."
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#38338: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:15:52 AM

Got it the other way around, back in the day, it was MJ who was demonized to make Gwen look good, and she still kinda is by virtue of Gwen dying and constantly being treated as a saint by the narrative to make it seem like MJ is a second fiddle character to Gwen, when MJ had more going on with her.

Never forget that one time Stan Lee gave Gwen MJ's haircut. [lol]

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
lalalei2001 Since: Oct, 2009
#38339: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:20:07 AM

And then gave MJ an awful short curly haircut nobody liked.

The Protomen enhanced my life.
RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#38340: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:21:40 AM

It really says a lot that MJ has endured a lot of Marvel's editorials stunts to try to make her unpopular with fans.

Stan Lee even compared how she overshadowed Gwen when he wanted Gwen to be the main love interest to something out of the Twilight Zone with how these characters take on a life of their own.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#38341: Aug 10th 2025 at 10:58:08 AM

It’d be interesting to bring in the kid Captain Stacy saved but the question there is how much time has passed?

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#38342: Aug 10th 2025 at 11:04:21 AM

5-6 years since Peter had supposed to be out of college for a while, I guess.

Wake me up at your own risk.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#38343: Aug 10th 2025 at 11:15:39 AM

Yeah the kid is probably old enough now to be seriously messed up with survivors guilt

Not that there’s a minimum age for that

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Saiga Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: Getting away with murder
#38344: Aug 10th 2025 at 11:54:59 AM

I wasn't aware that Conway actively disliked Gwen before this conversation.

I've never seen anything to indicate that he does. He simply didn't think she was an interesting character.

HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#38345: Aug 10th 2025 at 12:15:19 PM

Yeah. He just recognized that MJ was the superior love interest.

And Gwen dying was just a lot of stars aligning (them wanting to kill someone important to Peter, Conway wanting to get Peter and MJ together, and him believing that Gwen would achieve an iconic-ness in death that she'd never achieve while alive) that lead to her getting the axe.

He wrote the recent What If Dark comic where Gwen did live, but Peter died in her stead, and she took up the Spider costume to avenge him. I've often wondered what it felt to write that story for him, and if his feelings for Gwen has changed after all this time.

I would imagine no, however.

One Strip! One Strip!
lalalei2001 Since: Oct, 2009
#38346: Aug 10th 2025 at 3:40:51 PM

TIL Order and Chaos once claimed they created Spider-Man so years later he could help defeat Thanos and save billions of lives.

The Protomen enhanced my life.
AlexHopeLife Since: Feb, 2025
#38347: Aug 10th 2025 at 3:44:20 PM

"Yeah. He just recognized that MJ was the superior love interest."

Being superior to a character who is only remembered for her death is not difficult.

RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#38348: Aug 10th 2025 at 4:12:41 PM

That's not true, people also remember the time Gwen Stacy went Republican.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
lbssb The sleepiest good boi Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
The sleepiest good boi
#38349: Aug 10th 2025 at 5:48:20 PM

[up]I'm sorry what? I don't remember that one...

Disney100 Marathon | DreamWorks Marathon
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#38350: Aug 10th 2025 at 5:58:17 PM

She supported some shady politician with a tough on crime politician because of her grudge against Spidey. JJJ outed him when he realized he was a racist, IIRC.

Wake me up at your own risk.

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