9 Most Messed Up Things Spider-Man Has Ever Done
7. His Role In Gwen's Death - The Night Gwen Stacy Died
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.