This fall, Spider-Man meets his “other” counterparts as he and many other Spider-heroes from around the Multiverse are swept into a universal battle with the Spider-Man villain, Morlun. Comic Book Resources broke the story this morning on The Edge of the Spider-Verse which talks about the 5 part mini series that introduces the new “Spider-Men (and Women) of the event. Including one where Gwen Stacy became Spider-Woman.
Lowe: These are all stories that lead into “Spider-Verse.” By “Edge” we mean that you’re crossing the edge of “Spider-Verse” and about to turn into its driveway. Some of the characters in this miniseries will have pretty major roles in “Spider-Verse.”
In fact, you might see some of them in other “Edge of Spider-Verse” issues as well. “Edge of Spider-Verse” isn’t only this miniseries. It’s a banner for all the books that lead into the event. You’ll see issues of “Amazing Spider-Man” that are “Edge of Spider-Verse.” Both of the “Superior Spider-Man” issues #32 and #33 are “Edge of Spider-Verse” issues as well. There will also be an “Edge of Spider-Verse” issue of “Spider-Man 2099.” So through this miniseries and those issues you’re going to meet a lot of Spider characters who are going to be important to “Spider-Verse.”
“Edge of “Spider-Verse” #2 takes readers to a world where a radioactive spider bit Gwen Stacy and she became superhero known as Spider-Woman. What can you tell us about this incarnation of Gwen and her adventures in this issue? What do you find most interesting about her? In terms of plot and themes what is this issue about?
Latour: Well, one of the things I think is strongest about Spider-Man as a concept is that the themes run so deep that they really open themselves up to re-interpretation. On some level this is obviously that kind of story, but hopefully it isn’t a simple “What If” where the gender swap or the plot superficially change things. We’re trying to treat Gwen as a fully realized and fundamentally different person than Peter, to treat Spider-Woman as something new. But as we set out to do that it’s impossible not to think about what she shares with Spider-Man. What that seems to be, aside from the powers, is that they’re very much influenced by strong parents.
I’ve always gotten the sense that the Parkers were the kind of people who thought the community should police itself, that every person was responsible for the welfare of the whole. On the other hand Gwen’s biggest relationship is with her father, Captain Stacy, who maybe shares some of the same qualities as the Parkers, but at the end of the day he straps on a gun and a badge and takes it upon himself to police that community. To me that slight wrinkle adds an interesting nuance to the lessons she’ll learn.
Counterbalance all that with what I think is a fun, modern story about a young woman struggling with what she wants out of life. Gwen’s in a band, she wants to be an artist — but how practical is that when suddenly you can lift cars and stick to walls? What happens when you wake up and find you are basically a gun? Do you have to carry a badge too? Is it selfish to want something else?
Read the rest of the interview here at CBR.
Thoughts?
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@13 – “OSCOLA” made me laugh. You need something to wash down the Oscorn.
Have u guys seen the new Spider-Verse game that is coming out for iOS called Spider-Man Unlimited? http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F9zF9v7DTwo
I have to say though, that new future-science Spider-Man looks interesting. I like his design.
Argh…literally HUNDREDS of alternate Spider-People to tell stories about, and they go and just make up a bunch of new ones. I mean, aside from Noir and charitably Gwen, it sounds like these are all new characters.
@8: I’m not really excited about it either.
Bullcrap
I’m feeling like Charlie Brown at the beginning of A Charlie Brown Christmas. I know I should be excited about Spider-Verse. I see all these other readers excited, but I just don’t feel it. I have a nickel, is there a psychiatric stand nearby?
@4 – LOL!!!
Don’t know how to feel about this. Ultimate Gwen is the only version of the character I could ever see being a good Spider-Woman, so I hope this version is more like the USM version. That said Ultimate Gwen was really boring when she was Carnage, so I don’t know.
@#2- I don’t really see the point though. Gwen has proved herself far more useful dead than alive and it’d be scandalous to undo that, especially when you consider she is literally famous for dying. And if she’s brought back to life and made to be like Stone’s Gwen well…you might as well just make another character because she’s nothing like the original Gwen.
@#3-I disagree to an extent. creating alternate versions is fine so long as there aren’t like 4 or 5 at the same time. The real thing which dilutes him is having like multiple titles of the same version.
I demand that this Spider-Gwen respect her established continuity! She should act like a b!tch in her first few appearances and look downright devilish, then her personality should immediately soften and continue to do so until eventually, after each time she is defeated by a villain, she runs home to cry on her father’s shoulder.
All this whole Spider-verse thing is doing for ME is highlighting just how much Marvel has diluted the Spider-man character over the years. By creating SO many incarnations and alternate versions of him, they removed the uniqueness of the character. Its a reminder of just how many versions of the character Marvel has tried to throw at readers in recent memory, as well as just how convoluted Spidey’s history has become and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
It’s okay for moderns like us to say that the original Gwen wasn’t a well-developed character, and that she could be written a lot better today. Sure, Marvel could possibly mess up a new Gwen, but a good writer and editor could succeed at a refreshed/re-booted Gwen as well, especially if they follow the Emma Stone template (which is undoubtedly what this is about). But then, I’m one of those few old-timers who, after these forty long years, absolutely, absolutely does not care about Gwen staying dead.
It sounds like this Gwen will be nothing like the one we knew…which is probably a good thing in hindsight. I hope she doesn’t stick around the 616 universe beyond this event though.