Amid calls for Emma Stone to return as Gwen Stacy, the concept would both be fantastic but also risk ruining the story of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
SUMMARY
- Emma Stone's portrayal of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man deserved better, as her character had more potential and a stronger chemistry with Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker than any other love interest in the live-action Spider-Man films.
- While Stone's return as Gwen Stacy would be amazing, it could potentially ruin the story of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which excellently explored Garfield's Peter Parker's growth and redemption after Gwen's death.
- There are several ways for Emma Stone to return as Gwen Stacy, such as through the multiverse concept in Sony's Spider-Verse films or in the Sony Spider-Man Universe, but it remains uncertain if her return should be explored in light of No Way Home's story.
Emma Stone's return as Gwen Stacy after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 could prove to be a double-edged sword that would both be a great development while potentially ruining Spider-Man: No Way Home. Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man was the actress's first portrayal of the character in 2012. With the rebooted series trying to focus on different Spider-Man elements than the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, director Marc Webb opted for a different love interest than Mary Jane Watson for Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker.
This led to Gwen Stacy's appearances in the two Amazing Spider-Man movies played by the always-fantastic Emma Stone. In recent years, Gwen Stacy's popularity has grown due to Hailee Steinfeld's voice portrayal of the character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This has seen an influx of fan art and speculation of Emma Stone potentially reprising her role as Gwen especially after Andrew Garfield's resurgence in Spider-Man: No Way Home. While Stone's return would be amazing, it would also risk ruining the story of the third MCU Spider-Man film in the process.
Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy Always Deserved Better
One thing that Gwen Stacy's Amazing Spider-Man death proved was that Emma Stone's version of the character deserved better. While the scene makes for one of the more purely emotional in any live-action Spider-Man film, there is no doubt that her character had more potential and should arguably have had the iconic comic death scene saved for a third movie. The reason for this was simply Stone's fantastic performance as Gwen. Stone's Gwen is undeniably a better love interest for Spider-Man than any other live-action version, including Kirsten Dunst and Zendaya as MJ.
The reason for this largely stems from the electrifying chemistry Stone and costar Andrew Garfield had with one another. The two were always perfect in their respective roles and both Amazing Spider-Man movies shined when the duo was on-screen together. Unfortunately, Gwen's rushed demise and the quality of the Amazing Spider-Man films meant that Gwen deserved better overall. While both Stone and Garfield were fantastic, they were both trapped with subpar material that led to a complete reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise in the MCU.
Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy Return Would Create A Spider-Man: No Way Home Problem
While the fact that Stone's Gwen deserved a better run of things still stands, her return would risk ruining one of the better aspects of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Her character's death was wisely revised in No Way Home through Andrew Garfield's return as Peter Parker. The exploration of how his version of the character grew cynical, violent, and more brutal in the wake of Gwen's death but overcame that grief was a fantastic way to bring his character back after years in limbo. This all then tied into Tom Holland's Spider-Man journey as Garfield's - and Maguire's - version helped MCU Spidey overcome the death of Aunt May through shared trauma.
All of this exceptional material in Spider-Man: No Way Home spawned from Gwen's death, with one of the most crowd-pleasing moments of the film also doing the same. Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man was shown to save a falling MJ in No Way Home's third act which is made entirely more emotional after his failure to save Gwen from the same fate. The scene, combined with the other elements of Gwen's death utilized in the MCU film, helped to round off the plot point of Gwen's death perfectly making it more powerful and integral to Garfield's character while simultaneously meaning Emma Stone's Gwen returning could negate this aspect of the film.
Could Emma Stone Actually Return As Gwen Stacy?
Despite this potential pitfall of ruining No Way Home's Gwen-adjacent story, there are several ways Stone could return as the character. For one, Sony's Spider-Verse films have adequately established the multiverse of Spider-People being nearly endless. Camoes from Maguire and Garfield in Across the Spider-Verse as well as connections to the MCU through Donald Glover's Prowler appearance have made it possible for live-action variants of Spider-People to crossover into the Spider-Verse films. In the vast, endless possibilities of the multiverse, another version of Emma Stone's Gwen that is still alive could make an appearance in a way that does not tarnish the variant of the character from The Amazing Spider-Man.
Similarly, Sony's Spider-Man Universe has been long rumored to be building to Garfield's Spider-Man being the Web-Slinger active in that universe. With Morbius also introducing the concept of the multiverse to Sony's branch of films, Emma Stone's Gwen could make an appearance in that franchise. This could bring Garfield and Stone back together with the latter playing a different variant of the character, though this possibility could run into the aforementioned No Way Home problem. Regardless there are several ways Emma Stone could return as Gwen after her death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, though the questions of whether she should remain as prevalent as ever.
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