A mod concept revealed what Gwen Stacy’s Ghost Spider would be like if she were included in Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man games. While she was already introduced as one of Peter Parker’s most important love interests in the comics before her tragic death at the hands of Green Goblin, Gwen has become a major character in comics and other media recently due to the arrival of her multiversal variant, who was bitten by the fated radioactive spider instead of Peter and goes by the alias Ghost Spider (who has also been referred to as Spider-Gwen).
While Gwen never appeared in the Marvel’s Spider-Man games, either in her superhuman or civilian identity, a mod test by TangoTeds shows what she could look like as she interacts with Otto Octavius, taking the place of Peter Parker as his lab assistant. While she was unmasked throughout this sequence, further footage shared by ChaChing showed off her full costume as she suits up after talking to Mary Jane and swings through the city.
Both clips use the Spider-Gwen Voice Overhaul mod by SpartanK96, which replaces Peter’s dialogue with an AI version of Gwen Stacy’s voice, although TangoTeds does make a point of stating that they are “not advocating for AI replacing VAs“, and that their footage is just a “mod test“.
In March 2024, trailers for an official Insomniac multiplayer game called Spider-Man: The Great Web were leaked, alongside concept art and a pitch presentation slideshow that gave players a greater idea of what the game would have entailed, including the arrival of Gwen Stacy in Insomniac’s Marvel Universe. The roster of playable heroes shown in Spider-Man: The Great Web‘s trailers consisted of a symbiote-enhanced Peter Parker and Miles Morales’ Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy (a.k.a. Ghost Spider), Ben Reilly (a.k.a. Scarlet Spider), and the Spider-Man from 2099, Miguel O’Hara.
Most of these character models and animations were recycled from previous games, with the exception of Ghost Spider, who was a new design and moved differently from the others. Cindy Moon’s Silk and other Spider-Women were shown in concept art as well, but while Silk was teased in the end-credits scene for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and will likely be a playable hero in an upcoming title, it’s now less likely that the other heroes will appear in Peter and Miles’ story, as Insomniac’s already set up a major, emotional showdown with Green Goblin and Doc Ock, rather than a multiversal epic – despite one cameo from a character who was cut from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Considering Ghost Spider’s popularity, this is a shame, even if it is understandable in the context of the story. Fortunately, even though some elements don’t align perfectly – mainly with characters still referring to Peter by name with SpartanK96’s voice replacement only being for Peter, not the NPCs – mods like TangoTeds’ have done an impressive job of bringing the character to life in Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Sources: TangoTeds/YouTube, ChaChing/YouTube, SpartanK96/Nexus Mods