Stan Lee hated the death of a character in the Spider-Man comics. He actually didn’t want Gwen Stacy to die. He had planned a positive future for her.
Who is Stan Lee? Stan Lee († November 2018) was a comic book writer and publisher, as well as a co-creator of numerous popular Marvel heroes like Iron Man, Hulk, and Doctor Strange.
Fans also know him for his numerous cameo appearances, in which he could always be found in the latest Marvel film.
As Stan Lee revealed in an interview in October 1978 with The Comics Journal, however, there was a decision regarding one of his comic characters that the author hated. It was about the fate of Gwen Stacy.
The character Gwen Stacy is also present in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Here you can see a trailer for the animated film:
“I hated it when Conway killed Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man”
What exactly did the author hate? In the interview, Stan Lee explained: “I hate it when people change the origins and the various little institutions and tricks that I have given to these characters and stories […] I hated it when Conway killed Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man. I hated it.”
This refers to a plot twist in the comics The Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 (1973) by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane. In these, the Green Goblin learns Spider-Man’s true identity and kidnaps Gwen Stacy to use her as bait. He wants to lure Spider-Man to him to kill him.
But during the fight, Gwen nearly falls to her death, but is caught in time by Spider-Man with a web. However, he breaks her neck – Gwen Stacy is dead.
This led to the later stories of Spider-Man pursuing a darker storyline and the character being profoundly affected by the death of his loved one. He later becomes more protective and rather anxious instead of hopeful.
You can read more about Marvel here with our colleagues from Filmstarts: “The best script Marvel ever had”: “Avengers” director mourns the discarded “Ant-Man” script by cult director
What did Stan Lee want instead? Originally, the comic book author created the character Gwen Stacy so that Spider-Man would ultimately get the happy ending he deserves and be happy with her.
Although MJ is now considered Peter Parker’s love interest, Stan Lee actually wanted Gwen Stacy to have that role.
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