New Gwen Stacy merch from Marvel has arrived, revealing which superhero moniker the character will adopt when she debuts in a Marvel Studios project. Gwen has carried a long list of names in comics, film, and television, from Spider-Woman to Spider-Gwen to Ghost-Spider, and each version of the character tends to pick its own. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is the latest project to bring her in, with the Disney+ series adding Gwen to its Season 2 cast.
Official merch for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 2 confirms that this Gwen Stacy goes by Ghost-Spider. The superhero name appears on a shirt, showing three poses of the character in her superhero suit under a banner reading "Ghost-Spider." Fans saw one of those three images before, when showrunner Jeff Trammell first revealed Gwen's costume design. The other two poses are new, and the merch marks the first time the show has locked in her hero name.
The choice of superhero moniker is a big deal because it differentiates this version of Gwen from the one most casual viewers know. In Sony's Spider-Verse movies, Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen goes by Spider-Woman, and Spider-Gwen is a nickname most of her fans know her by. Marvel Studios' animated series is taking the Ghost-Spider route instead, the same official name the character goes by in the current Marvel Comics.
Gwen joining Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was confirmed by Trammell after Season 1 wrapped, and the confirmation of her superhero name makes it obvious she's going to be a full superhero rather than just another Midtown High student. The first season hinted at her arrival as a potential Spider hero. After the radioactive spider bit Peter Parker, it crawled onto another student's backpack and sent God knows where, a strong hint that Gwen is next in line for a spider-bite of her own.
Season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man returns to Disney+ this fall. Recent promo art also gave fans a proper look at the show's version of Doctor Octopus with Otto Octavius in his full villainous form heading into Season 2. In the promotional material, he fully wears his famous mechanical arms. Season 1 introduced him as the Oscorp scientist arming Peter's villains, but in Season 2, he'll be an even bigger torn in his flesh. Luckily, Ghost-Spider is available to lend a helping hand this time.
Why Gwen Stacy Goes By Ghost-Spider Instead of Spider-Woman
Gwen's run of names reflects what she has been through, and the Ghost-Spider title carries a specific meaning in the comics that the animated series may end up using in its own way.
In Marvel Comics, Gwen Stacy comes from Earth-65, an alternate reality where the radioactive spider bit her instead of Peter Parker. She first operates in that world as Spider-Woman, but after her secret identity is exposed and her superhero career stalls, she begins crossing over to the main Marvel Universe, Earth-616, the home reality of the Peter Parker most readers grew up with.
The Ghost-Spider name comes from that crossover. On Earth-616, Gwen learns the fate of that world's Gwen Stacy, who died during a fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. She makes the grim observation that death seems to follow anyone named Gwen Stacy, and she starts to see herself as a kind of living ghost, a Gwen taking the place of one who is gone. She adopts Ghost-Spider as her hero name from there, and Marvel later made it her official title to keep her separate from the other Spider-Women in its lineup.
The animated Gwen almost certainly will not share this exact backstory, though. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man set up Gwen as a student in Peter's own universe, not a dimensional traveler, so the living ghost replacing a dead Gwen angle doesn’t fit well here. This leaves the door open for the show to explain the name in a different way.
It could tie into how her suit looks on screen, a pale, near-white silhouette that comes across as ghostly. It could also come from how the public or the press first describes her once she appears. Either way, the superhero name reveal signals that the show wants its Gwen to be recognized as her own take on the character, distinct from the Spider-Verse version.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
