Gwen Stacy is Back and Her New Power is Terrifying

Marvel has once again decided to drag Gwen Stacy back to the limelight in the new Gwenpool series. The long-dead woman has returned worse than ever, sporting a new black suit and an edgy attitude that’s straight out of the depths of the ‘90s. While she might have once been the fiery but kind girlfriend of Peter Parker, now Gwen’s an outright villain who has it out for the intrepid and thrown-together team of Gwenpool, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man. And even worse than her new villainous style is the powers she sports thanks to her unknown benefactor, one of which could legitimately change the course of the Marvel Universe in the worst way possible.

Gwen is Back and Worse Than Ever

We first saw the revived Gwen at the very start of Gwenpool #1, where she tore apart three assassins sent to test her by the Architect, the mysterious person who seemingly brought her back from the dead. Afterwards, he told her that her final test before being set on the wider Marvel world would be for her to take down three escaped Deathloks. He called her Gwenpool, which Gwen immediately refuted, saying she should never, ever be called Gwenpool.

Gwen found her targets in the middle of a battle with Hawkeye, Spider-Man, and the real Gwenpool. The trio had just literally kicked the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom out of town, but were jumped by these three almost immediately after. The three robo-zombies have the heroes held at gunpoint, screaming that the age of heroes is over, and that the “Great Reboot” is upon the world. Gwen Stacy easily dispatches the would-be assassins, which naturally draws the ire of the heroes as she tries to take care of them too. And oh boy, is she ever equipped to do it.

[RELATED: Marvel’s Ultimate Gwen Stacy Is Almost Unrecognizable]

Gwen’s Powerset is Terrifying 

Based on just the limited action and solicitations have told us about the new Gwen Stacy, we went into this knowing that she would be the spiritual successor to the Weapon X program. Effectively she’s the nightmare combo of Wolverine and Deadpool enhanced by pure edginess. She’s rocking a next level healing factor, adamantium claws that are about the length of swords, and a gun. That last one seems overkill, but come one, what part of edgy Gwen Stacy revival implied she wouldn’t come back strapped? Beyond that, she’s rocking some pretty serious combat training, given that she was able to hold off even an injured Gwenpool with next to no problems.

However, all of those powers pale in comparison to the last ability that hasn’t been confirmed, but is practically shoved in our faces throughout the issue. Gwen Stacy seems to share Gwenpool’s ability to manipulate reality, and that’s really, really bad to have in the hands of a villain. There’s plenty of evidence to support this, even if the writers haven’t said it yet. For one, there’s the fact that she’s wearing a darker version of Gwenpool’s outfit, which is obviously meant to draw a comparison between the two. It also works as a smoke screen to hide this power from the reader’s attention, as the costume also makes Gwen the representation of what most people imagine when they hear the name Gwenpool.

Beyond that, however, the biggest evidence is in Spider-Man’s reactions. When Gwenpool first used her reality-warping to launch Fin Fang Foom into the stratosphere, Peter was doubled over in pain as his Spider-Sence screamed that something was wrong. This happened again later in the issue, when the tone turned way darker, which signaled the arrival of Gwen Stacy on the scene. Peter seems to be able to detect Gwenpool’s fourth wall shattering power, and he reacted the same exact way to Gwen’s entrance. Then there’s the Deathloks shouting about the “Great Reboot,” which just screams fourth wall shenanigans. The villains escaped from the mysterious Architect, which implies that he has a hand in this wonky shifting of how things should be. It’s even possible that he’s the one who gave this power to Gwen by making her into a Gwenpool, so she could enact his plan to end superheroing forever.

Gwen Stacy is evil, lethal, and can probably warp reality to her heart’s content now. I don’t need to explain why all of this is bad news for our heroes. As much as I wanted to hate this concept going in, I have to say it has me hooked enough to at least check out the next issue. A battle between two people who can hop along the panels of their comic like they’re playing hopscotch is never something you want to miss.

Gwenpool #1 is on sale now!