The many production troubles of 2007's Spider-Man 3 survive today as the stuff of legend. Executive meddling functionally gutted the thriving Tobey Maguire-starring franchise and ruined fans' hopes for a fourth installment. While there are many elements of the film that don't work, one that's seldom discussed is the inclusion of the character Gwen Stacy, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Examining that aspect of the film leads to some startling revelations.
The Comics
Gwen Stacy was a key character from the comic book source material, attaining a legendary status in the Spider-Man mythos. Gwen was introduced shortly after Peter Parker began attending college and eventually became the love of his life and an integral member of his supporting cast. Perhaps more famous than anything in the character's life, however, was her death at the hands of the Green Goblin.
The Death of Gwen Stacy became a seminal Spidey story, which makes the form the character takes in Spider-Man 3 all the more puzzling. Far from one half of a head-over-heels romance tragically struck down before it fully flowered, this version of Gwen primarily serves only to test Peter's relationship with MJ. At no point is there even a real dilemma, as Peter only flirts with Gwen to make MJ jealous.
Spider-Man 3
Gwen's awkward position in the film's love triangle is far from the weirdest change to her character. In the movie, Gwen is introduced as a model who is the daughter of police Captain George Stacy and the grossed-out object of affection of Eddie Brock. When her life is endangered in a moment eerily reminiscent of her comic-book death, Spider-Man saves her in the nick of time. She's quickly enchanted with him. At the same time, she outshines Peter as the star pupil of their college class.
Very little of this draws from the comics, and almost none of it has much bearing on the story. Gwen's relationship with her father means bupkis to the plot of the film given that Captain Stacy's only function is to deliver the revelation of Uncle Ben's true killer to Peter. Gwen's relationship with Peter and Spider-Man are barely developed and stretch plausibility. Meanwhile, her relationship with Eddie makes his hatred of Peter and Spider-Man almost redundant as he would have harbored the same feelings even without his Gwen-centric jealousy.
Stacy Ever Since
Spider-Man 3 was already overstuffed with villains and plot points, so it's possible Gwen Stacy was yet another ingredient thrown into the pot by one of the excessive number of cooks in the kitchen. Looking back on the film, that's a shame because Gwen has only gotten more popular since.
Far from merely being famous as Spidey's Dead Girlfriend, Gwen came into her own as a character when the comics introduced Spider-Gwen (since rebranded as Ghost Spider). Spider-Gwen hails from an alternate reality where Gwen Stacy developed spider powers instead of Peter Parker, and she quickly proved to be such a feminist fan favorite that she's stuck around on the walls ever since.
Most recently, Spider-Gwen rocked out in Into the Spider-verse, reinvigorating the character on the big screen for the first time since Emma Stone rehashed her death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While the Amazing franchise was truer to the comics and Into the Spider-verse had the best version of the character, there's no doubt that Spider-Man 3's Gwen Stacy was the absolute weirdest.