As any fan of the Spider-Man comic books can tell you, Gwen Stacy is primarily known for two things: being Peter Parker’s first love and dying, so when Emma Stone landed the role in “The Amazing Spider-Man,” it also seemed like a death sentence.
Thankfully, Stone survived the first movie, but set photos from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which wrapped photography a few weeks ago, show the actress wearing the iconic green and purple outfit that comic-book Gwen plummeted from the George Washington Bridge wearing.
So should we start saying “goodbye” to Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.
Not so fast. When MTV News’ Josh Horowitz spoke with Marc Webb at San Diego Comic-Con, the director brought up the series’ relationship to the pages of the beloved comic books. “There are parts of the canon we feel really obligated to,” he said. “There are parts that we deviate from. The Gwen Stacy saga is a very important and powerful one, but Emma is an incredibly beguiling actress, and I like having her around.”
But what does that mean for Gwen in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”? Webb was admittedly tricky with his answers, since he doesn’t want to spoil what would be a pivotal part of the sequel, but the first film lived and died (no pun intended) on the chemistry between the real-life couple, Andrew Garfield and Stone. The evidence for both sides seems compelling enough to make fans anxiously await the May 2014 release.
The future of Spider-Man on the big screen extends far beyond May’s sequel. Last month, Sony Pictures announced the release dates of “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 4” for June 2016 and May 2018. With those dates on the books, it’s not wild speculation to assume that plans for the story have been discussed, and Webb confirmed as much.
“From the beginning of this, I wanted to create a universe that would unfold over a longer period of time,” he said. “Honestly, I did think of it more as a trilogy initially, but there are so many interesting and provocative characters that we sort of found little place for that to develop that is proving to be pretty exciting and pretty fun. There has to be a sense of clarity with each of the films, so that usually involves focusing on certain characters.”
Before the interview ended, Josh couldn’t help but slip in a question about his own theory for potential future villains, the Sinister Six, a super villain team comprised of Doc Oc, Electro, Vulture, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, and Sandman. Webb played coy again, but hinted that “Amazing Spider-Man 2” could include clues. “If you pay attention to the movie that will come out a year from now on May 2, you may get some hints as to what’s to come in the future.”
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” opens on May 2, 2014.
