Behind the scenes Inker
John Romita Sr. recalled in a 2015 interview how the character to be killed off for what became
The Night Gwen Stacy Died was selected. Romita and
Amazing Spider-Man writer
Gerry Conway were initially asked by the editors to kill off
Aunt May. They organized a plot session at Conway's apartment and disagreed with killing Aunt May, opining that if she were to die, Peter would not have to worry about her anymore and be no longer treated as a child again, thus deciding to kill either
Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy. Romita proposed to kill the latter as the former served as a comical character at the time, taking inspiration of the decisions to kill off character from
Milton Caniff, author of the
Terry and the Pirates and
Steve Canyon comic strips. Writer Conway's memory of how Gwen was selected as the character to be killed off is more contradictory: in 2008 he told author Sean Howe that it was he and editor Roy Thomas who first discussed killing off Aunt May, but when Romita heard about this he suggested that Gwen was a more suitable candidate. Later, during a 2013 interview at the
Emerald City Comic Con, Conway contradicted himself by claiming that it was initially Romita's idea to kill off Aunt May and that he disagreed and had to talk Romita out of that choice.
Stan Lee, co-creator of both Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy, was consulted by Conway, editor
Roy Thomas and Romita about killing Gwen Stacy. When asked about how he accepted the decision, Lee said: "... I was just getting ready to go to Europe on some sort of a business trip... to meet somebody to discuss something about Marvel. And I think I wasn't thinking too clearly, because when they said, 'We'd like to kill Gwen Stacy,' I said, 'Well, if that's what you want to do, okay.' All I wanted to do was get them out of the office so I could finish packing and get out of there. ... and when I came back and found out that Gwen had been killed, I thought 'Why would they do that? Why would Gerry write anything like that?' And I had to be reminded later on that I had perhaps reluctantly or perhaps carelessly said 'Okay' when they asked me." Conversely, Romita recalls that Lee was already out of the country when the decision was made and that they took a time to talk him into it, yet Lee remained very upset.
Bridge The bridge in the original issue of
Amazing Spider-Man #121 was stated in the text to be the
George Washington Bridge.
The Pulse #4 (Sept. 2004) also states the bridge to be the George Washington Bridge. The art of
The Amazing Spider-Man #121, however, depicts the
Brooklyn Bridge. Some reprints of the issue have had the text amended and now state the bridge to be the Brooklyn Bridge rather than the George Washington Bridge. Titles supporting the Brooklyn Bridge include
The Amazing Spider-Man #147–148 (1975),
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987),
Web of Spider-Man #118 (1994), and
Daredevil v. 2 #8 (2000). In a television interview for the
Travel Channel's
Marvel Superheroes Guide to New York City (2004),
Stan Lee said that the artist for the issue had drawn the Brooklyn Bridge, but that he (as
editor) mistakenly labeled it the George Washington Bridge. This was corrected in newer prints of the issue. Different bridges are depicted in subsequent adaptations of the storyline.
Mary Jane Watson was thrown off the
Queensboro Bridge in both
Ultimate Spider-Man #
25 and the
Spider-Man movie, while in
Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Mary Jane is thrown off the George Washington Bridge.
Cause of death '' #121. The comic features a "snap" sound effect next to Gwen Stacy's head in the panel in which Spider-Man's webbing catches her. In
The Amazing Spider-Man #125 (Oct. 1973), Marvel Comics editor
Roy Thomas wrote in the letters column that "it saddens us to have to say that the
whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her. In short, it was impossible for Peter to save her. He couldn't have swung down in time; the action he did take resulted in her death; if he had done nothing, she still would certainly have perished. There was no way out." In the
History Channel special
Spider-Man Tech, Stan Lee states that her neck was indeed snapped. Physicist and comic collector
James Kakalios, in his book
The Physics of Superheroes, states that in the real world, the whiplash effect would have killed her. The comic book
Civil War: Casualties of War: Captain America/Iron Man (2007) concurred that the proximate cause of death was the sudden stop during a high-speed fall. An issue of
Peter Parker: Spider-Man revisits the issue, and further confirms Gwen died of a broken neck due to the use of the webbing. For some time, however, fans speculated that the shock of the fall itself caused Gwen Stacy's death, due to the Green Goblin telling Spider-Man in
The Amazing Spider-Man #121, "Romantic idiot! She was dead before your webbing reached her! A fall from that height would kill anyone — before they struck the ground!" In the 1987 edition of The
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Gwen's death is attributed to the fall, not to Spider-Man's webbing. In the fourth issue of
Marvels, it was reported that she died from the shock of the fall, however Phil, a photographer and witness, is unsure about exactly what kills her.
Replays Several subsequent issues have echoed Gwen's death when others fell from great heights during Spider-Man's battles. On most occasions, he saves them by jumping after them and working with their momentum, rather than trying to stop them with his webbing (as he did in the
What If? where he saves Gwen), most notably when he jumped off the same bridge to save
Sarah Stacy. In another storyline, the Green Goblin once again replays the scenario, this time with Spider-Man's wife
Mary Jane Watson. As with Gwen, Mary Jane plummets toward her death (this time from the recoil from her gun when she shoots at the Green Goblin). Learning from his previous error, Spider-Man uses multiple weblines and catches every major joint, saving Mary Jane from suffering the same whiplash effect that killed Gwen. A similar event occurs when Spider-Man saves
Anna Maria Marconi—the girlfriend of
Otto Octavius during a time when he was in Spider-Man's body—when Green Goblin uses her as a hostage and throws her off a building after learning that his true enemy has returned, Peter reflecting as he catches Anna Maria that he has learned over time to catch every joint in moments like this to limit potential whiplash. During the
Civil War, both
Iron Man and
Captain America cited Gwen as argument for their opinions on the
Superhuman Registration Act. Iron Man argued that if Spider-Man had received proper training as registered heroes were given, he would have saved her, while Captain America argued that Gwen was only in danger because the Goblin knew Spider-Man's identity, the Act requiring heroes to register their identities with the government. After
Jane Foster becomes
Valkyrie, she is reminded of how Spider-Man failed to save someone in a similar situation when she is forced to use her shape-shifting weapon to catch the fatally wounded
Heimdall as he falls from a building after being attacked by
Bullseye, and expresses concern that her actions have made Heimdall's wounds worse, but Heimdall gives no indication that he blames Jane for his death.
Attempted resurrections As John Romita Sr. recalls, Stan Lee's initial reaction towards Gwen Stacy's death was negative because he thought that Romita, Conway and Thomas had done it behind his back and he demanded that they bring her back immediately. Thomas, Romita and other editorial board members, however, convinced him otherwise, stating that this would be an "embarrassing silliness" and could ruin the emotional impact of her death. Among the changes to continuity going as far back as 1971, Straczynski's original script had, as a consequence of
Mephisto erasing Spider-Man's and Mary Jane's marriage from reality, Gwen Stacy being restored to life as her death never happened as well her affair with
Norman Osborn. Gwen was ultimately resurrected, albeit temporarily, during the "
Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" crossover event. In the story, Gwen is resurrected by
Ben Reilly alongside other deceased Spider-Man supporting characters, initially helping him achieve his goals but eventually assisting Peter and dying after the two of them make amends with each other. She was again revived, albeit for just a few minutes, by the
Celestial the Progenitor during the event "
A.X.E.: Judgment Day", as a gift to Peter for passing his judgment.
What If? In a non-canonical
parallel universe story in
What If?
#24 – "What If Gwen Stacy Had Lived?", Spider-Man saves Gwen by jumping after her rather than catching her with a web-line (in the same way he saved Mary Jane in the
film), allowing him to cushion her from the impact as they hit the water and subsequently give her CPR. In the aftermath of this rescue, he proposes to Gwen after revealing his secret identity to her, and, in a subsequent confrontation with the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn finally fights off his evil side when Harry moves to protect him from Spider-Man regardless of what he'd become. Their life, however, is not destined to be a happy one; to ensure his victory, the Goblin had sent
J. Jonah Jameson proof of Spider-Man's real identity, which Jonah had subsequently published and used to acquire a warrant for Peter's arrest, thus forcing Peter to escape from the police mere moments after his wedding to Gwen. As the issue ends, Gwen departs with
Joe "Robbie" Robertson, who promises Gwen that they would do whatever they could to help Peter after he berates Jonah for his actions and quits the
Bugle. In
What If?
vol. 2 #42 – "What If Spider-Man Had Kept His Six Arms?", Peter is able to prevent Gwen's death by using his additional arms to catch her as she falls. At the end of the
one-shot What If: The Other
by
Peter David, Peter (now calling himself "Poison") uses part of the
Venom symbiote attached to him resurrect Gwen. In
What If? Punisher
#1 – "What if Peter Parker became the Punisher?", Peter, who is the
Punisher in addition to Spider-Man, is able to save Gwen by killing the Green Goblin and webbing her body to a suspended scaffold on the bridge. Feeling guilty over almost getting her killed, he quits being the Punisher to be with her, leaving his costume in a bin, where it is found by
Frank Castle. In
What If...Dark? Spider-Gwen #1, Spider-Man saves Gwen by jumping after her, but the Green Goblin cuts his web line when he tries to shoot it at the bridge, resulting in him breaking his neck on a pillar of the bridge while his corpse cushions Gwen's fall. As the Goblin leaves, Gwen discovers Peter's secret and hides his costume before the authorities retrieve his body. She vows to take revenge on the Goblin and dons Spider-Man's costume. As she lacks training and super powers, she decides to work together with Harry and set up a trap for the villain. After successfully capturing him with a web bomb, she prepares to kill him with her father's gun before realizing doing so would betray Peter's memory. Harry however does pull the trigger and is horrified upon discovering his father was the Green Goblin. Blaming Gwen for his father's death, Harry becomes the new Green Goblin while Gwen promises Peter she will clean up the mess she made as Spider-Woman. ==Reception==