Spider-Gwen Gets The Venom Treatment In This Outstanding Halloween Cosplay!

In late 2014, superhero fans were astounded to meet the amazing Spider-Gwen! Named by Twitter, Spider-Gwen is a fan-favorite alternate-universe Spider-Man; in her reality, it was Gwen Stacy who was bitten by the radioactive spider, rather than Peter Parker.

The reason for Spider-Gwen's success is as much artistic as anything else; artist Robbi Rodriguez put together an outstanding design, one that left fans desperate to see more. Nowadays, Spider-Gwen's the star of her own title, and she's made her debut in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. Check out Spider-Gwen in action below:

There's real interest to see her appear in the MCU (Dove Cameron, who voices her in Ultimate Spider-Man, is a popular fancast), and it's pretty clear her story has only just begun.

What if Spider-Gwen Met Venom?

We all know the story of Venom. In the comics, Peter Parker was taken to an alien planet dubbed 'Battleworld', where he (along with assorted other Marvel superheroes) was forced to fight for the amusement of the Beyonder. At one point, Spider-Man's costume was destroyed, and he used alien technology to create a new black costume. Unknown to Peter, this costume was actually a living creature; a symbiote, which was increasing his aggression and gradually taking him over. With the help of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man cast off the symbiote, but unknown to him it bonded to bitter reporter Eddie Brock. The result was Venom, a classic Spider-Man supervillain.

But how would this story play out in Spider-Gwen's reality? Cosplayer Elise Laurenne decided to give us a taste. First she arranged for stunning artist Anthony Le Duc Mergeay to design the costume's appearance:

Let's compare this with Robbi Rodriguez's original, to see how he tweaked the design:

As you can see, it's a fascinating redesign. Where the traditional Spider-Gwen look is a blend of black and white, Anthony's simplified it, turning the base color completely white. Black has been used creatively to create devastating slashes, while a styilized venom spider-symbol dominates the chest. In keeping with the more out-of-control style of a symbiote-infected person, the costume is tighter and more sexualized, clearly clinging to the skin and accentuating Spider-Gwen's physique. Appropriately enough, the hair is black rather than the customary Gwen Stacy white.

Brandon Gilbert turned the costume into a pattern, and it was made by Zentai Zone.

Finally, Brandon and Elise worked on the lenses and claws (they're going to post details of that process on Elise's Facebook). To put it simply, the finished product is outstanding.

This is a phenomenal piece of cosplay, well-designed and perfectly timed for Halloween. I have to say that it's got me really wishing we'd soon see Spider-Gwen go, ah, 'Gwenom' in the comics too!

Image: Elise Laurenne.