Ghost-Spider

Intelligent and quick-witted, Ghost-Spider has a sharp sense of humor and is a natural leader.

Return of the Sinister Six

Ghost-Spider had already ventured into the Spider-Verse once before, so it was no surprise when once again she was zapped into another dimension. Meeting up once more with all of her friends from her first adventure, and some new ones, they all teamed up at the Daily Bugle to take down the Sinister Six.

When the battle was won, the group returned to the Spider’s Nest, where Gwen and her allies had set up shop the first time they united. Peter B. approached Gwen to help locate Spider-Man’s world, Earth-84061, so that they could send him home. However, she could not find it, and determined that it had been destroyed.

Hesitant to tell Spider-Man, she informed him that he’d need a way to get back there, and told him he’d have to gather the parts to build a new Super Collider, in hopes it would buy her time to try and locate his world.

Living on the Edge

Gwen spearheaded the Super Collider project, working closely with Peni to construct it, sending Spider-Man to find the parts she needed. But after Spider-Man and Spectacular battled Spectacular Doc Ock, Spider-Man discovered that he was drawing quantum particles to himself and asked if Gwen had a way to discover why. She said she’d need to fix her Dimension Watch, which was damaged in the battle with the Sinister Six. But to do that, she’d need to go to the one place she was trying not to go back to: Home.

The Ghost

Since discovering that she couldn’t find Spider-Man’s world, Gwen did her best to avoid him, dreading to be the one to tell him that he couldn’t go home. Spider-Man, however, caught on to this, and mistakenly determined that he reminded her of the Peter Parker she’d lost. So when Gwen was heading to fix her Dimension Watch, Spider-Man made it so that he was the only available option for a lab partner, resulting in Gwen reluctantly bringing him along.

While in the lab, Spider-Man pressed Gwen for information about her Peter Parker, stating that he knew she was avoiding him. In order to draw attention away from the real reason, Gwen agreed to share the story of her Peter Parker.

Peter and Gwen were inseparable best friends. She defended him from bullies like Flash Thompson, they ate corn dogs together, and they were always there for each other. One day, a mutated Lizard attacked Midtown. Gwen suited up as Spider-Woman and put an end to the rampaging monster, but found out too late that it was Peter! She revealed her identity and tried to keep him alive, but the unstable Lizard formula ended up killing him, his last words being that he just wanted to be special like his best friend, Gwen.

Gwen sank into despair, becoming a fugitive, quitting her band and pushing away her friend Em Jay. She chose to be alone. She chose to be Ghost-Spider.

Getting some air from reliving these events, Gwen soon found herself face to face with her Peter Parker! However, he claimed that she broke her promise that they’d be friends forever, and that she let him die. He transformed into the Lizard and attacked her. Spider-Man soon found her and realized that it was actually Mysterio since his Spider-Sense was tuned to see through his illusions.

As a last resort, Mysterio posed as Peter and made Spider-Man appear as a Doppelgänger, stating that he was going to kill him if Gwen didn’t stop him. Gwen fought Spider-Man and nearly killed him, but soon realized she was being deceived. She broke the illusion and took down Mysterio.

Mysterio fled, leaving his helmet behind. But while they were wrapping up, Em Jay came from the school and Gwen revealed that she was Ghost-Spider, and had only pushed her away to protect her. Em Jay forgave her and they salvaged their friendship.

Back at the Spider’s Nest, Gwen had stopped avoiding Spider-Man. The two were hanging out when Spider-Man asked why she’d kept her distance. Gwen finally mustered up the courage to tell him the truth, but before she could, Miles interrupted and revealed that Spider-Man had retrieved Gwen’s old drum set. She decided to hold off on telling Peter the truth a little longer, and jammed out on her drums.

Web of Shadows

With her dimension watch repaired and in hand, Gwen was able to determine that Peter was absorbing quantum energy into himself whenever he sustained damage, revealing he could also expel this energy into powerful blasts, but he wasn’t supposed to do that.

Instead, Gwen worked with Peni to create a quantum battery that would safely siphon away the energy from Peter, and could double as a power source for the Collider.

After that the day was going relatively normally, but that didn’t last long when Electro cut the power to the Spider’s Nest, and Venom escaped. Gwen went to secure the Collider, but was ambushed by Venom, and taken over by a piece of his Symbiote.

By the time Peter and Peni found her, Ghost-Spider was gone. There was only… Gwenom! Gwenom pursued and attacked her friends, all at the orders of Venom’s hive mind. But working together, Peter and Peni freed their friends from the Symbiotes, and Gwen was herself again.

The experience may have been over, but it left a mark on Gwen, her stating that she while she had felt so much more powerful, she was not in control of her actions.

Spider-Punk

With Peter out, Gwen stepped in to interview the fifth Spider for the team’s Web-Warriors initiative, Hobie Brown, Spider-Punk. Upon discovering Brown was a fellow punk rocker, Gwen was overcome with excitement.

When explaining his story, however, Gwen discovered that Spider-Punk used lethal tactics on his world to deal with the corrupt, Venomized President Osborn, having decapitated him with his guitar. The wedge between the two was driven even deeper when Gwen discovered Hobie had a deep resentment for cops, her own father being police Captain George Stacy.

Gwen ultimately told Hobie that while she respected his revolution, she was a hero at heart and could not let him join the team. Spider-Punk parted amicably, even jamming out with Gwen on her drums before he left!

The Battle Within

Having restored her friendship with Em Jay and forming a new one with Spider-Punk, Gwen organized the trio as a new band, one more conducive to Spider-themed extracurricular activities. Gwen was, however, stunned when Spider-Punk showed up in Em Jay’s garage with a radically new look (and accent) than the last time she’d seen him, which he credited to his tour in London.

Em Jay was immediately smitten with this new band mate, and the two bonded instantly, making fun of Gwen’s goody-two-shoes nature and discussing the new song Em Jay had written for her. The group started to jam, and were doing well, but the noise began to unsettle Gwen. Or rather… something deep inside her. A remnant of Venom, left from his escape, remained within Gwen. And it hungered.

Gwen suddenly aborted practice, opting to go get corn dogs, and leaving her friends suspicious of her odd behavior. High above the city, the three were bonding over the fried treat, when Gwen began to feel it again… Venom. She lashed out, prompting her friends to try and help her. But it was too late. The Symbiote consumed her, and Ghost-Spider had once again become the monstrous Gwenom!

She attacked her friends, but Hobie and Em Jay coordinated a counterattack, Hobie keeping Gwen busy while Em Jay made as much noise as a punk rocker possibly could. This irritated Gwenom to no end, and she put a stop to Em Jay’s noise by throwing her off of the roof!

Seeing one of her few friends left plummeting to her doom was enough for Gwen to break free of Gwenom’s grasp, just in time to save her. Hobie, having dealt with Symbiotes before, asked Gwen if she was sure, positive, that Venom’s lingering influence was gone. Gwen assured him it was, and he, and Em Jay, believed her.

The band returned, finished their song, and Gwen revealed to Hobie that Em Jay had a crush on him. The two set off for their first date. Gwen watched happily as they strode off. While repressing what still lie within… Venom.

Joy to the Spider-Verse

When the Green Goblin destroyed Christmas, Gwen and Miles were tasked with restoring the music since the boom box had been sabotaged. Miles called in the other Miles, the Web-Warrior from Advanced’s world, since he mixed music. Unfortunately, Uncle Aaron’s trash beats wouldn’t be enough to save Christmas.

Just as they were ready to give up, Gwen suggested the three of them make their own song, what with her being a drummer, Web-Warrior Miles a music mixer, and her Miles a fledgling singer (she’d heard him butcher the words to Sunflower enough times). The three jammed out, doing their part to save Christmas.

For the Love of MJ

With Peter B. depressed about his anniversary coming up with his ex-wife MJ, Gwen agreed to help Miles and Peter put together a special dinner for them. While put off by the unexpected appearance of his wife at first, Peter B. decided it was time they had an adult discussion, prompting Gwen to lead all the “kids” out.

While outside, Miles and Gwen were suddenly doused with a mysterious gas, which led them to seek higher ground. Up on the roof, it seemed like Miles wanted to tell Gwen something. She maybe even wanted to tell him something back. Unfortunately, they never got the chance, as they were surprise attacked by the Green Goblin, the earlier gas having stripped them of their Spider-Sense. The two lay unconscious… for the rest of the day…

The Night Gwen Stacy Died

Gwen had gone with Miles and everyone else to get their Spider-Sense restored, but when she got back to the Spider’s Nest, they all found Peter waiting for them, holding Mysterio’s leftover helmet for before. When Gwen questioned what was going on with Peter, he accused her of playing dumb, and demanded, loudly, that she reveal the secret she’d been keeping this whole time. Gwen was speechless. Somehow, Peter found out.

She finally admitted to the room that she was unable to locate Peter’s world, and that it had been destroyed. She attempted, profusely, to apologize to Peter, but he would hear none of it. After crashing out, he whispered into Gwen’s ear that her Peter, the friend she’d lost, would be ashamed of her, then stormed off.

Gwen was struck with despair. Miles tried to console her, but it was too late. For anything. Every Spider’s newly restored Spider-Sense began to tingle to an extreme and painful degree. Gwen finally realized that it was the Master Planner. And that they were too late.

One More Day

Ghost-Spider will return to stop the Master Planner in Spider-Man: Return to the Spider-Verse Episode 13: One More Day