Next year’s “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” is set to feature multiple incarnations of Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld).
This year’s highly acclaimed sequel to the 2018 film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” features around 280 variants of Spider-Man, which includes the Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman character, who is effectively the film’s biggest female character.
On an episode of the Crew Call podcast with Anthony D’Alessandro, writers/producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller confirmed we will see more variants of her in the third film with Miller adding “it is sort of plot-integral, I would say”.
The discussion comes as it has been announced the film will not be released in the United Arab Emirates after failing to pass the country’s censorship requirements according to Variety.
Reportedly, one scene features a poster in the frame’s background that depicts the transgender flag and reads ‘Protect Trans Lives’. Sources indicate that is said to be one of the concerns that prevented a release from being approved.
The film has also drawn attention for how some viewers interpret Gwen Stacy’s arc as a trans-coded character. Scenes set in the character’s dimension also prominently feature the colors of the transgender flag (blue/pink/white). However, Stacy is not explicitly identified as transgender in the film.
The United Arab Emirates ban comes only a week ahead of the Sony Pictures film’s intended release date in the region of June 22nd. The film’s 2018 predecessor was released in the country.
