There have been many controversial storylines inSpider-Man’shistory, and sometimes even retcons can’t fix them. Beyond the ill-receivedOne More Day, there are a few other Spider-Man storylines that Marvel has actually tried to retcon, but to very little effect. While most fans hated theSins Paststoryline, for example, very few fans cared for Marvel’s attempt to fix it either.
Gwen Stacy was once one of the most important people in Peter Parker’s life. She was his first true love interest, even before Mary Jane Watson. Not only that, butGwen Stacy’s death was a groundbreakingmoment in comic book history. Killing off the main hero’s love interest had never been done before.
Unfortunately, Marvel wasn’t content to leave that iconic story in Spider-Man’s past. Instead, Marvel hasrevisited the death of Gwen Stacy over and over, trying to put new spins on it and get new stories out of it. One of the most hated stories about Gwen’s death is without a doubtSins Pastby J. Michael Straczynski and Mike Deodato Jr.
Spider-Man: Sins PastRecontextualized Gwen’s Death - For the Worse
TheAmazing Spider-Man#509 by J. Michael Straczynski, Mike Deodato Jr, Joe Pimentel, Matt Milla, and Cory Petit
The major conflict of theSins Paststoryline wasSpider-Manbeing continually under attack by two mysterious assailants, Gabe and Sarah. Spider-Man eventually uncovered their true identities as the children of Gwen Stacy. The confusing part, though, was that the two insisted hat they were Peter’s children, despitethe fact that Peter and Gwen were never intimate with each other before her death. It was eventually revealed that, no, it wasn’t Peter who fathered children with Gwen Stacy, but none other thanthe Green Goblin, Norman Osborn.
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In a frankly disturbing flashback, Mary Jane reveals Norman and Gwen had an affair during the time Norman was hiding in Europe and Gwen took a trip there. The two coincidentally met up, and Gwen was seduced by the older man, resulting in her pregnancy with two twins. This twist did not go over well with fans for a multitude of reasons, one of the biggest being the ridiculous idea that Gwen Stacy would sleep with the father of one of her best friends,Harry Osborn.
This Spider-Man Retcon Completely Changed Gwen Stacy’s Death
And Not for the Better
Sins Pastwas Marvel’s way of trying torecontextualize Gwen Stacy’s deathat the hands of the Green Goblin, who caused her infamous fall in the original story. Instead of Norman going after her because she was Peter’s current love interest, this new backstory shows that he killed her because she was threatening to go public with the pregnancy. While hurting Peterwas certainly part of Norman’s motivation, changing it so he was murdering her to keep his children a secret was certainly a bizarre choice, and it was one that most fans just couldn’t get behind.
It was clear that Marvel had no idea what to do with this story thread…
After the reveal that Norman was the actual father of the twins, Gabriel Stacy found a hideout left by Norman and took on the moniker of the Gray Goblin. Gray Goblin’s tenure was very short-lived, as Gabriel was quickly defeated and immediately lost his memory. After that, it seemed that Marvel didn’t really know what to do with the two siblings, asthe characters aimlessly bounced around in different comics. Gabriel became an amnesiac and then another clone of him became the American Son - and then Gabriel later even developed a split personality - while Sarah floated around without true narrative purpose.
It was clear that Marvel had no idea what to do with this story thread, and eventually, the twins both died. That could have been the end ofSins Past’sterrible legacy, and it would have just been another weird moment inSpider-Man’s history that fans don’t really like to talk about, like the Clone Saga. But one writer wasn’t content to let this moment stay and attempted to retcon it years later in theKindredstoryline, to mixed results.
The Goblin Twins Returned to Torment Spider-Man Even More
The Amazing Spider-Man#73 by Nick Spencer, Ze Carlos, Carlos Gomez, Marcelo Ferreira, Alex Sinclair, and Joe Caramagna
Due to the fact that the twins were unstable clones - another story altogether - they eventually degraded to the point where they died, landing them in the pits of Hell and as the playthings of Mephisto. Wanting to amuse himself, Mephisto continually sent the twins back to Earth as the demons known as Kindred. Every time the clones died, Mephisto would torture them and send them back again to try and kill Spider-Man. It was through this storyline that their true nature was finally revealed, as writerNick Spencer tried to undo some of the damage done bySins Past.
It was revealed that Gwen Stacy was never actually pregnant with Norman Osborn’s children. It turns out that an insane Harry Osborn had created the two clones from Norman and Gwen’s DNA to torture both his father and Peter. He even went so far as having Mysterio hypnotize both Norman andMary Jane Watson into believing that Gwenhad slept with Norman. Even after Harry’s death,his ridiculous plan was continued by an artificial intelligencethat inherited Harry’s revenge plot. This AI raised the two twins.
This Spider-Man Plot Point Didn’t Add Anything to Gwen, Norman, or Peter
The Retcon Barely Managed to Make Things Better
This retcon tried to absolve Gwen Stacy of her connection to Norman Osborn, with the major reveal that the twins were just clones, entirely unrelated to her. While the change certainly helped the situation, it’s still hard to get over the fact that Marvel even attempted such a story to begin with. Apparently, the original plan was for the children to truly be Peter Parker’s, but Marvel was worriedthat this would make Peter seem too old, so the publisher decided that someone else should be the father, like Norman Osborn.
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Overall,Sins Pastwasn’t a great story, and it didn’t add anything new to Spider-Man’s character. The most important part of adding in a new story twist is that the twist opens up more potential stories. Giving Spider-Man a clone in the form of Ben Reilly opened up a huge amount of story potential. Killing off Gwen Stacy, for what it’s worth, had a lot of story potential as well. Having Gwen Stacy secretly get pregnant by Spider-Man’s worst enemy didn’t add anything to either of their characters. If anything, it just madeSpider-Manmiserable and had people retroactively disliking Gwen Stacy.
The Amazing Spider-Man#509 and #73are available now from Marvel Comics!
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is the name given to several individuals who have employed a spider-moniker throughout Marvel Comics. Typically gaining their powers through a bite from a radioactive spider, the different Spider-Man heroes employ super-strength, agility, and intellect while utilizing webbing to swing and tangle up their foes. The most notable of these Spider-Men is Peter Parker, who remains one of the most popular superheroes throughout the world.
