Spider-Man 3 could introduce Emma Stone as the MCU's Spider-Gwen, aka Ghost Spider. Possibly the greatest love of Spider-Man's life, Gwen Stacy tragically died in an iconic story published in 1973. Her death is generally seen as a key moment in comic book history, viewed as the end of the Silver Age and the beginning of the darker, grittier Bronze Age. And yet, despite the fact Gwen died nearly 50 years ago (and, unusually for comics, has mostly stayed dead), she's never been bigger.

Emma Stone played Gwen Stacy in Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the latter of which even included an adaptation of the character's heartbreaking death. The latter film released in 2014, at the same time comic book writer Dan Slott was preparing to launch the Spider-Verse event, which would see every different version of Spider-Man interact in one Multiversal adventure. Marvel took the opportunity to introduce some new alternate-reality versions of Spider-Man as well; with Gwen suddenly in the limelight again due to Stone's portrayal, Slott suggested somebody could create a new timeline where Gwen Stacy was the one bitten by that fateful radioactive spider. That idea found its way to Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez, and they came up with a character who social media called "Spider-Gwen" (and who Marvel now calls Ghost Spider). Six years later, Marvel is still publishing a popular ongoing series starring Spider-Gwen, and she's appeared in an animated movie as well as various animated TV shows. Gwen Stacy really has become remarkably popular.

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The 2020s could be even bigger for Gwen Stacy, with reports Emma Stone is returning as Gwen in Spider-Man 3 alongside Andrew Garfield. Evidence is building that Spider-Man 3 will be a Multiversal adventure in the vein of Spider-Verse; but is it possible Stone is coming back as Spider-Gwen, not Gwen Stacy?

The Problem With Bringing Back Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy

Gwen Stacys Death in The Amazing Spider-Man

Spider-Man 3 looks set to include quite an impressive number of characters, so many it's reasonable to assume most of these will just be cameos. These include two characters who died on-screen - Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx's Electro - but there are ways to retcon those villains as having survived. Gwen Stacy's death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, however, was the emotional core of the story. Gwen fell to her death, with Spider-Man desperately attempting to save her. Although he caught her with a web-line, Spider-Man miscalculated, forgetting the kinetic momentum. Gwen's neck audibly snapped - a shocking recreation of her death in the comics.

The scene is one of the most memorable in the entire ill-fated Amazing Spider-Man franchise, with Andrew Garfield perfectly demonstrating Peter Parker's grief. In thematic terms, it completes the story of The Amazing Spider-Man, with Peter unwisely choosing to let Gwen enter his world - against his promise to her father, and blind to the risks he is taking. There is a heartbreaking funeral scene, at which Peter mourns Gwen and wishes he had made a different choice, thereby saving her life. As far as Emma Stone is concerned, Gwen Stacy's Amazing Spider-Man story has come to an end.

Emma Stone Could Be Playing Spider-Gwen

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Emma Stone could, however, be playing a new version of Gwen Stacy - Spider-Gwen. J.K. Simmons already set a precedent for the same actor playing different iterations of a character across the Multiverse, reprising the role of J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Thus, rather than being the Gwen Stacy seen in The Amazing Spider-Man films, Stone could be a whole new version - one who has spider-powers of her own. This would actually be quite ironic, because back in 2014 Sony execs wished they hadn't killed off Stone's Gwen after #SpiderGwen went viral on Twitter. It would all have gone full circle in a rather amusing way.

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This would actually be a tremendously popular casting choice. Indeed, there has been a constant slew of fan-art throughout the year showing Emma Stone as Spider-Gwen, with many artists referencing Maguire and Garfield's expected returns and appealing for Marvel to make Emma Stone a hero in her own right rather than just a love interest.

What Would A Live-Action Spider-Gwen Mean For The Spider-Man Franchise?

Spider-Gwen Ghost Spider

It's currently unclear whether or not Emma Stone will have a major role; many Multiversal comic book stories include brief glimpses of other universes, one that occupy just a single panel, and it's entirely possible the same will be true in Spider-Man 3. Assuming she has a more significant role as Spider-Gwen, though, the dynamic between Stone and Garfield's Spider-Man would be particularly interesting. It would be evocative of the dynamic between Earth-616 Peter Parker and Spider-Gwen in the Spider-Verse event itself, with Peter terrified of seeing her get hurt, and frankly causing Spider-Gwen to get pretty irritated with him.

But even a brief glimpse of Emma Stone's Spider-Gwen would be important, in that it would establish her as existing somewhere in the MCU's Multiverse. It's worth stressing this would be of more interest to Sony than to Marvel, because they hold the license for all the Spider-Man related characters, and they've been interested in making a live-action Spider-Gwen movie since 2014. Sony could potentially use Spider-Man 3 as a springboard to launch a solo Spider-Gwen film, with Stone becoming a franchise lead in her own right.

In the comics, Spider-Gwen has essentially transformed Gwen Stacy from victim to survivor. Jason Latour viewed the traditional Gwen as one of the most prominent examples of the troubled "Women in Refrigerator" trope, in which a female character exists solely as a love interest whose death has a major impact on the male star. That was certainly the case in Sony's Amazing Spider-Man films, because everybody knew Gwen's fate was inevitable, and her death - however well-handled - was essentially fan-service. Spider-Gwen is a version of Gwen Stacy who is both literally and thematically empowered, existing in a universe where Peter Parker is the background character and she is the star. This transformation has happened in the comics, and it would be great to see it become part of the movies as well, with Spider-Man 3 giving Emma Stone a chance to suit up as a superhero herself.

More: Sony's Spider-Verse Can Use Spider-Gwen To Beat The MCU

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