As amazing as the film was, Spider-Man: No Way Home was heartbreaking for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Despite his best efforts to remedy a bad situation, this young hero ultimately found himself in a world that no longer remembered him as Spider-Man. From his companions in the Avengers to his best friend Ned, Dr. Strange’s spell wiped Peter from everyone’s minds. Even his girlfriend, Michelle Jones, wasn’t spared. As a result, Peter was left utterly alone.

And yet, Peter isn’t the type of person to pity himself. The ending of No Way Home showed him scraping together a life for himself in a little apartment, out of which he dove head-first into his new life as the city’s foremost wall-crawling hero. As much as No Way Home is the end of a franchise, the movie is also all about new beginnings, which means Peter has opportunities to form new meaningful relationships. With this in mind and several new Spider-Man movies slated for production, we think it’s time to discuss Peter’s potential with a new partner. Here’s our take on why Gwen Stacy should be the next love interest for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.

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Gwen Stacy is Widely Considered Peter’s Greatest Love

     Via: Columbia Pictures

While some fans may believe that Mary Jane Watson was always Peter’s soulmate, Gwen Stacy was originally marked for this role. Introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #31, Gwen met Peter while they were students at Empire State University, though she struggled to kindle a relationship with him due to Aunt May’s hospitalization. As time passed, she openly dated other people in an attempt to make Peter jealous (Norman Osborn and Flash Thompson, to name a few). The pair finally became a couple when Peter broke up with then-girlfriend Mary Jane over her self-absorbed attitude.

Peter and Gwen went through their ups and downs, mostly due to her father’s death during one of Spider-Man’s showdowns with Doctor Octopus. They eventually reconciled, but the comics were soon to take a sharp turn: though Stan Lee intended for Gwen Stacy to be Peter’s primary love interest, Mary Jane had become unexpectedly popular. As a result, readers rallied for her to take Gwen’s place, and the writers followed suit.

Gwen’s death was directly impacted by fans’ adamant demands to see more of Mary Jane Watson. In The Amazing Spider-Man #121, Gwen was captured by the Green Goblin to bait Spider-Man for combat, and she was quickly thrown off the George Washington Bridge. Peter slung a strand of web that caught her by the legs, but the force left her with fatal whiplash. Her death marked a major turning point for both Peter and Mary Jane, who bonded and matured in their grief for her.

Although Zendaya’s MJ is the best leading lady of the entire Spider-Man franchise, it’s only fitting that Gwen Stacy finally gets some well-deserved time in the MCU. Especially considering the driving force behind her creation: Stan Lee claimed that her character was inspired by his own wife, Joan Boocock Lee. She was sometimes referred to as “Stan’s personal superhero” and was considered a muse among the Marvel creators. She even lent her voice talent to the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon as Madame Web and The Fantastic Four animated series as Mrs. Lavinia Forbes.

Peter Can Move on with a Clean Slate

     Via: Marvel Studios

The events of No Way Home were devastating for Peter, but the aftermath gave him a clean slate. With Aunt May gone and none of his friends, allies, or enemies remembering him, he has the freedom to live a new life without fear of bringing his loved ones into the crossfire. Not only that, he’s a lot smarter and knows better how to keep his personal life separate from his career as Spider-Man. When he is finally ready to connect with another person, his circumstances may give him a huge advantage in keeping everyone safe.

In a way, Peter building a relationship with Gwen Stacy in the MCU could give a bit more closure to Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man — losing Gwen (Emma Stone) in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a loss he never truly recovered from, though he was able to redeem himself by saving Tom Holland’s MJ from a similar fate. Garfield’s Peter remarked that Gwen’s passing left him bitter and lonely, and he wouldn’t want either of his Spider-brothers to end up the same way. He’d likely be grateful that his beloved got a second chance somewhere in another universe, even if it wasn’t with him. Heartbreaking? Absolutely, but it’s a common and painful reality for the supers of the Marvel universe.

Her Presence is Established in the Spider-Verse

Marvel Comics have long dabbled in the realm of the multiverse and alternate realities, and Gwen Stacy is no exception to these concepts. Fans may recognize one of her alternate selves in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the colorful animated feature that brought several Spider-Heroes to one place before No Way Home did. One of these heroes was Gwen Stacy, who had effectively swapped roles with Peter Parker in her universe. Where she comes from, she was the one bitten by a radioactive spider. Her best friend, Peter, became her universe’s Lizard, and she was forced to kill him in combat. This traumatic experience left her emotionally scarred and prompted her to distance herself from other people altogether.

Sound familiar? Into the Spider-Verse has already shown us a Gwen Stacy who’s faced hardships similar to her fellow Spider-Heroes. This particular version is capable, strong, and has a lot to offer — and that’s just one version. She has limitless potential to play some combination of a tragic heroine, civilian ally ,or love interest (depending on how Marvel interprets her story), and her background gives her a solid foundation to bond with Tom Holland’s Peter. The two have dealt with loss and guilt over causing their loved one’s pain, and they would be ideal companions to help one another overcome their fears.