9 Most Messed Up Things Spider-Man Has Ever Done

7. His Role In Gwen's Death - The Night Gwen Stacy Died

Marvel Zombie Spider-Man MJ
Marvel Comics

The death of Gwen Stacy is one of the most important events in the history of comics.

Not only was Gwen's demise the first time a character of such importance was killed off, but many comic book fans see The Night Gwen Stacy died as being the moment that the Silver Age fully transitioned into the Bronze Age of Comics.

For ol' Web-head, not only did this tale see the love of his life die, the story went one further and had Spider-Man technically be the person responsible for the blow that ultimately killed Gwen.

Of course, Spidey was given a near-unwinnable deck of cards to play with when the Green Goblin threw Gwen from the George Washington Bridge. The Wall-crawler's only chance of saving Gwen was to try and catch her with his webbing, but the impact of Spider-Man's webbing hitting the falling Stacy was met by the eerie snap of Gwen's neck.

Did Peter intend to kill Gwen? Obviously not. The thing is, superheroes are always expected to save the day and overcome the most insane of odds - particularly back during 1973 when this story was first published.

Having Spider-Man not only being unable to save his girlfriend, but for him to be the ultimate cause of her death was certainly one of the most messed up things that a creative team has done to Parker.

Even more messed up is that the decision to kill Gwen was made after Gerry Conway and John Romita Sr. thought Peter and Gwen were too perfect a couple - and Conway and Romita Sr. didn't want to weigh Spider-Man down with the inevitable marriage to Gwen.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.