A poster above Gwen Stacy’s bedroom door in Across the Spider-Verse says Protect Trans Kids. You can also find the trans pride flag stitched across the shoulder of her father’s police uniform. Even the world Gwen inhabits is a forever evolving mixture ꧙of pink, white, and blue - frequently changing in response to dramatic narrative crescendos and tension palpable within each line of dialogue and the gorgeously animated frames were fortunate enough to wi💃tness. Across The Spider-Verse is a trans story.
Since the film’s release, fans have been examining the inner workings of Gwen’s story and whether the trans allegory at the centre is little more than an artistic coincidence. The longer I spend dwelling on it, the more I see it as a deliberate ♕political stance on how hard it is to be a transgender person right now - especially those growing up in America. Gender-affirming care and trans athletes are hot button issues ahead of the 2024 election.
Into the Spider-Verse was always a socially conscious film with a Black-Latino protagonist showing viewers how it feels to be a person of colour who is suddenly told he isn’t enough, and forced to prove himself in ways that feel unfair when compared to his peers. Miles Morales has a lot to learn, but he’s also expected to li𒁏ve his life and save the world in ways that fit within a mould that he - and many others in the film - believe is in dire need of change. The film moves so fast in its animation that it can be difficult to pick out the finer details, but look closer, and you’ll note constant appearances of Pride flags and Black Lives Matter stickers, 😼which leave behind no doubt about where Spider-Verse stands and who it wants to fight for. It isn’t needlessly ‘woke’ or shoving ideals down our throat, the film is merely on the right side of history and knows it.
The sequel’s defining message is learning to accept those in your life and how they want to behave, present themselves, or move out of the shadows in which they were born. Morales spends much of the film acting out in defiance, whether it be to his parents or the thousands of fellow superheroes who believe that losing someone precious to them is necessary when becoming a hero capable of saving th𒁏e world.
Any suggest♚ion that things can be different is viewed as an outrage, a fear that everything we know and love will be obliterated if we dare try to prevent the one loss that started it all. It’s easier to live with this grief than bravely face it al꧋l over again, even if it means changing multiple worlds for the better. So it’s fitting that the ones to instigate this revolution are those who never abided by this status quo to begin with. In the case of our main character, he wasn’t given the choice.
From Gwen’s perspective, she’s already experienced this loss. Or so she thinks, after Peter Parker turns into The Lizard, forcing her to confrontꦦ and inevitably kill him in self defence. Gwen is trying to be a hero, but inadvertently turns herself into the villain in the eyes of a father who believes she was responsible for the death of the person she loved most. It’sไ a never-ending showdown of secret identities compounded by the value of family and how a deep dark secret dares to rip everything apart. Gwen’s struggle to tell her father that she’s Spider-Woman and the need to hide behind a mask is a clear-cut metaphor for coming out as trans. This is the case for most superheroes, but Across the Spider-Verse hones in on specific artistic choices and narrative decisions that make it abundantly obvious.
Captain Stacy even makes reference to toys Gwen used to play with, which she points out herself when she spots the very same action figures in Miles’ bedroom. Her father clings on to a past that his daughter is trying desperately to leave behind, but never out of ignorance, and you can tell he cares so much and wants to be supportive of the perso💦n his daughter is becoming. I can’t think of any person - let alone a cop - who would have a trans flag on his uniform without the association of a close family member, or a teenager like Gwen displaying similar decorations in her own space. You can view it as a socially progressive move on behalf of the filmmakers, or you could see it as a reflection of Gwen’s transness.
The beauty of Across the Spider-Verse is how we’re encouraged to accept both. The third film isn’t going to drop the bombshell that Gwen Stacy is trans, nor do I think it should. We are instead encouraged to fill in the gaps ourselveꦏs. To draw resonance from a character who, through almost every facet of her being, reflects the struggles of trans people.
When Gwen finally reveals to her father that she’s Spider-Woman it isn’t met with fear or reluctance, but worry as the duo embrace and come to 🍌terms with what this really means. Captain Stacy is afraid that his daughter now has to go out and face the world with this new identity, bitterly aware that being a superhero brings societal prejudice, challenges, and unfair expectati🌌ons that nobody should be forced to overcome - but trans people are.
On the flipside, the first time Gwen tries to reveal who she is, her father holds them at gunpoint. This can so easily be read as the unfortunately all too common angry reaction of being 'lied' to a parent can feel when trying to accept their offspring for who they are, followed by the sadness and acceptance seen later in the movie. Gwen running away from home in the face of animosity also fits a trans journey perfectly.
Gwen Stacy doesn’t have to be trans in order to poignantly stand for all the struggles we’re burdened with. Across the Spider-Verse frames her as a young girl struggli🍨ng with identity in a world wrought with doubt and bigotry, while the risks of telling her father who she really is are potentially earth-shattering. That’s exactly what so many of us go thr🔴ough as trans people, having to systemically question every piece of our lives as we conjure up the bravery to start over again, knowing that we could be left by all those we hold dear in the process.
It doesn’t have to be definitive in its execution to matter. In fact, I’d say Spider-Verse🏅’s willingness to bend the definition of what it means to tell a trans story makes it so much more powerful.
