Hi! It’s Annie!
I’ve recently watched ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ twice. I think it’s safe to say that this is one of my favorite superhero movies right now…if not my absolute favorite. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such amazing storytelling for so many characters all packed into one movie. But the character that really struck a chord with me personally here was Gwen. There was so much about her that I really related to and it was done so perfectly that it really felt like she was real. She felt like a real flawed person to relate to. Because all relatable characters are flawed. Human beings aren’t perfect, so how are we supposed to relate to a character that’s written to be completely perfect? How are we supposed to truly connect to a character that makes no mistakes when humans make mistakes and learn from them all the time? There’s been an influx of people talking about Gwen in this movie because her arc, for the most part, is her messing up. Some fans have talked about how difficult it’ll be for her to come back from this and how her mistakes in this movie lessened her character in their eyes, while another group came out to defend Gwen by saying that she did nothing wrong in this film. And I disagree hardcore with both sides. I loved Gwen’s arc in the movie and I’m going to go into why this character is so important and so relatable. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL SPIDERVERSE MOVIES COMING UP!!!
Gwen and her Dad:
We all know from the last movie that Gwen is a bit of a loner. In her universe, because she got bit by the radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker, she becomes best friends with Peter who is now a completely normal person. Somehow Peter eventually puts the pieces together that his best friend is the Ghost-Spider, or Spider-Woman, and decides that he wants to be special just like she is. His scientific prowess is the same in every universe, which leads this Peter to create a liquid that he hopes will make him special and more like Gwen. But this causes that universe’s Peter Parker to become the Lizard and Gwen accidentally ends up dropping some building debris on him before realizing that it’s actually Peter. Her Dad is still the police chief in this universe, so he swears to find the person responsible for the murder of his daughter’s best friend. All very complicated and it makes Gwen feel like she can’t have anyone close to her. She can’t tell her Dad that his manhunt is for her and she feels like everyone close to her gets hurt. This is where her first mistake in this movie comes up. Gwen’s inability to do anything but push the people closest to her away causes a rift that everyone feels. She quits her band at the beginning of the movie and she has even kept her Dad at arm’s length because she’s worried he’s directly at odds with her. Though you understand where she’s coming from because her father is threatening to arrest her; she does ultimately run away from her issues when Miguel gives her a watch to enter the Spider Society. Gwen doesn’t correct this until the end of the movie when she learns the importance of your loved ones from Miles. When she finally opens herself up to have a conversation with her Dad, everything becomes much better for everyone involved. Struggling with having a different expectation for your future than your parents is something that I relate to, especially since I’m at such a transitional point in my life right now. It was important for me to see Gwen make a mistake in that process and then go back to fix it and have such strong support there for her. It’s the hope and comfort that those who truly love you, do so unconditionally. And I think everyone needs to hear at some point or another that the people closest to us aren’t going to leave us just because we make a mistake. Gwen learning to communicate with her Dad would not have happened if she didn’t mess up first. This kind of lesson is an important one and one that we don’t get without a character fumbling their relationships with others in some way.
Gwen and Miles:
Now this is probably where we see the most mistakes and relationship breakdown in the movie. Gwen selfishly visits Miles when she’s told not to because he’s one of the only people she has left and she misses him. This leads Miles into several unsafe situations and she becomes more deceptive towards him as the film goes on. Gwen at first doesn’t tell Miles exactly why she’s in his dimension and then lies to him about the Spider Society because she doesn’t want to tell him that he’s an anomaly. Later she even helps Miguel chase down Miles in the hopes that he will act according to the “canon” and let his father die. Gwen sees how much she hurts Miles by the end of the movie and finally stands up to the Spider Society despite not wanting to go back to life without it; but it doesn’t quite make up for how much she really hurts Miles and how she uses her position of privilege in the Spider Society to justify her actions. Hobie, who barely knows Miles, stands with him while Gwen doesn’t know what the right thing to do is. Gwen really has a lot to make up for here and we see her start by the end of it. She’s already made her own group to help find and rescue Miles and she completely drops out of the Spider Society; rightfully accusing the others of blindly following Miguel as she does it. I think we can all agree that her redemption has a great start. But Gwen also admits at the very beginning of the movie that she messed up. Gwen herself doesn’t think she handled the situation well. So I don’t quite understand the people arguing that Gwen did nothing wrong in this movie. She’s still an excellent character though. I think the movie does a great job of showing how selfish and misguided she can be; as most teenagers and young adults are. And we see her beginning to learn from it. She acknowledges her mistake and uses it to become a better friend. She recognizes that Miles handled the situation much better than she did and follows his example because she knows that’s what he would do for her. Gwen has had extremely bad luck with friends and relationships, but by the end of this movie we see her put her selfishness aside and actually start to embrace them. Again, all lessons we wouldn’t have gotten if Gwen hadn’t made the mistake. I’ve always been a bit closed off and unsure of how to really embrace my friendships and keep them going. Seeing Gwen do this simply by embracing the people around her and being herself around them felt a little like a revelation to me.
Gwen and Hobie:
There’s been some debate on this. Though we only have some information about their relationship to each other, I personally think it’s safe to say that it’s platonic. There’s something very sweet about the way that Gwen and Hobie take care of each other throughout the movie and I think the knowledge that Gwen crashes at his place and even has a toothbrush there is just an extension of that. I think the two of them are just abandoned young people who have learned to take care of each other and have a strong friendship because of that. There are a few people who seem to think that Gwen and Hobie are further proof of Gwen’s betrayal towards Miles. I think that is very wrong for several reasons. This idea that men can absolutely date around when they aren’t official yet while women can’t has continued to be an issue for women. The double standards there are gross. Miles and Gwen were never dating and Gwen honestly thought she wouldn’t see Miles again. But, unless this is clarified to be incorrect in the next movie, I really don’t see any romantic connection between the two and I don’t think there’s supposed to be one. I personally love the platonic relationship between Hobie and Gwen. Because, for the thousandth time, men and women can be just platonic friends. And it’s really nice to see that Gwen has somebody she can fall back on during the most difficult parts of her life.
Flawed Characters:
I feel like this movie in particular really drove home to me just how much people in general still have an aversion to flawed characters. I’ve seen several people condemn Gwen Stacy in this movie and say that she can’t be redeemed in the next one. That her betrayal of Miles proves that she’s a bad person. I think this condemnation of Gwen is extremely misguided. I used to be a person who had a certain amount of skepticism when it came to flawed characters. When a character would make a mistake in media, I used to get annoyed with it and add it to a list of reasons why the character just “didn’t work”. Going through my twenties and having a rough time figuring out myself and wondering which decisions in my life would come to be mistakes and which wouldn’t, has been a harsh slap in the face. Protecting yourself from making the mistake is often what leads you to make more mistakes. Being human is about falling and getting back up. What really determines who you are is what you do after the mistake is made. How you decide to get back up. As I said before, Gwen acknowledges her mistake at the beginning of the movie and by the end of it is already turning it around. I don’t see how that is unredeemable. If characters were never flawed, we would never see ourselves in them when we truly needed to be seen the most. I am so glad that this movie took a risk with Gwen’s character here in this way, and I think the storytelling was so beautiful that they pulled it off perfectly. Let’s be honest here, Miles idolized Gwen so much in the first movie that I think she needed to be knocked off the pedestal and seen as a kid who’s only a year older than Miles is.
I am absolutely in love with this depiction of Spider Gwen now. I’ve always been in the Spider-Man fandom and I’ve always wanted to be a Spider Gwen fan. I mean, look at her, the Spider Gwen suit is my exact aesthetic. I was never expecting to get into this character in such a personal way. This last movie made this character mean so much to me. And while I understand where the confusion over her character is coming from; I don’t think condemning her helps anybody or really grasps the points that the writers were trying to make here. I personally can’t wait to see how her relationship builds again with Miles in the next movie, and how she uses her strength and newfound support to prove herself again. I can’t wait for the next one! Though I really do hope they take their time and treat their artists better. We don’t need to rush the next one, especially if slowing it down means better working conditions.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 