Spider-Man fans are convinced that Gwen Stacy is trans in Across the Spider-Verse.
The highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse is out now in cinemas and is being met with high critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has garnered scores of 95% from critics and 96% from the audience. As for Metacritic, it currently scores 86 from critics and 8.5 from the audience.
Without giving anything away, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse continues exactly where the first movie left off with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), teaming up with other Marvel Spidey buddies across the multiverse to save the day, for everyone against a new threat.
Going into spoilers for the 2018 movie (so, consider this a spoiler warning), unlike the death of Uncle Ben for Peter Parker, in her world, Gwen Stacy is dealing with the death of her best friend, Peter Parker at the hands of Lizard.
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Framed for his murder, the police have been hunting her down ever since. As a result, Gwen has to hide her identity not only from the criminals that will come for her but also from the residents of New York who see her as the villain.
Now we’re going into very minor spoilers for Across the Spider-Verse. As reported by ThePinkNews.com, some fans have theorised that Gwen might be trans. Not only by the fact that she feels like she can’t be her true self in the movies but perhaps also indicated by some visual clues during her scenes.
For starters, in some scenes featuring Gwen in Earth-65, the colour filter appears to be pastel blue, pink and white. Which of course are the colours of the trans Pride Flag. ThePinkNews mentions that this colour palette is used during a scene when Gwen opens up to her father (a police officer) about having to hide her identity.
Furthermore, speaking of her father, he can also be seen wearing a trans-Pride Flag bag on his police uniform. What’s more, in her bedroom, Gwen also has a “Protect Trans Kids” poster.
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Of course, this doesn't mean that Gwen is trans, as it hasn't been confirmed either way. However, whether she is trans or merely in support of the community, it’s nice to see that presentation nonetheless.
In our review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, we said: “This is a film that demands multiple rewatches. It deserves to be paused and rewound, every lovingly crafted frame and detail pored over and squealed in delight at. But for now? Go out and watch it on the biggest screen possible. And then go right back into the cinema and watch it again.”
In related news, MCU actor Tom Holland has said that he’s willing to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man for as long as possible. Happy days!
Topics: Marvel, Spider Man, Spider Man Miles Morales, TV And Film