Gwen Stacy isn’t from this Earth, but she’s here to stay – so it’s time to make herself at home! A new costume, a new life and – unfortunately for Gwen – new threats, starting with one that just might be her own fault! Something consumed by vengeance has slithered into Gwen’s orbit and will not rest until she has paid for her crimes! Who – or what – is Tantrum? This planet has other heroes she can rely on to have her back – including Silk, Miles Morales and Agent Anti-Venom – but Gwen still needs friends…and a new band! But their big break at a Battle of the Bands turns deadly when someone unexpected takes the stage by storm! And one of Spider-Man’s deadliest enemies has plans for Ghost-Spider!
COLLECTING: All-New Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider (2025) #1-10, Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider (2024) #15 (B story).
We've jumped through a lot of hoops to get Gwen established in the 616 multiverse proper, and these final ten issues of Stephanie Phillips' tenure with the character don't really feel like they're capitalizing on that at all. The stories told here, featuring a face-off with Gwen's old symbiote, a Battle of the Bands ruined by Shriek, and a plot by Mysterio to drive Gwen mad, could probably have all been told with the old status quo.
I know the whole point of a Cosmic Cube re-write is that no one notices, but I feel like there was so much more that could have been mined from having Gwen a true 616 resident - how did Peter react? The fact that there's another Gwen and George Stacy walking around should mean something, surely. And while giving Gwen a boyfriend in the form of the new Black Tarantula was a highlight of the previous run, he doesn't really get much to do in these issues aside from get beaten up.
This is fine overall, especially taken in a vacuum (I feel like I'm saying this a lot recently), but when you look at the last 15 issues that brought us here, it feels like a missed opportunity all around.
bringing gwen to earth 616 was a mistake. this was bad, if i'm gonna be honest. i was already expecting disappointment, bc gwen hasn't had a good run in years, but this was just .... ugh. the whole storyline with fabien was mid. nerfed tf out of silk. murphy was ok, ig. just boring, overall. also why did they change her suit? it looks terrible on her. the og suit was iconic and made her standout. atp just use the next multiverse event to bring her back to earth 65 and reset her continuity so she could have interesting runs again.