‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ Designer on Creating the Film’s Spider-Gwen

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse had the challenge of bringing several beloved characters to the big screen, and now we have a bit of insight behind one fan-favorite.

In the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie book, the creative team behind the hit animated movie spoke about designing Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). According to character designer Shiyoon Kim, the goal was to make Gwen stand out from the visual archetypes associated with female characters in animation.

“She is pretty awesome, and we had a great sculpt done based on the sketches by Andrea Blasich and vis dev artist Omar Smith created the final design.” Kim explained. “The final rendition looked really appealing and very different from your typical animated female characters. She is not just a pretty blonde girl with your typical thin princess body. We wanted her to look like a ballet dancer — tall, muscular, and powerful.”

Based off of the response to Spider-Verse, and particularly to Gwen’s debut, that amount of detail appears to have paid off.

“I remember seeing her for the first time and feeling like this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” Steinfeld said in a recent interview. “And it was one of those things where you hear about the directors were so excited about how she was coming together, and the color scheme of her outfits, her look as a whole… I was hearing all about it. It was one of those things where I was like, ok, now they’re going to show me a sketch and I’m going to have to act like it’s great… And sure enough when they showed it to me… like I said, this is the coolest thing ever and too bad this isn’t live-action, because I wish I actually look like that.”

And depending on how things shake out, there’s a chance that fans could soon see Steinfeld’s Spider-Gwen in several movies. As Sony revealed before Spider-Verse was released, the studio is developing a proper sequel, which would focus on Miles and Gwen’s relationship, as well as a female-centric spinoff around Gwen, Spider-Woman, and Silk.

“Oh my goodness. To be a part of this and play this strong female superhero, in this film particularly, is quite a privilege,” Steinfeld explained. “The thought of a spinoff is incredible. If that were to ever happen, I would be honored to be a part of it. I would love that opportunity. Anything to do something like this again with these people would be an honor.”

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is in theaters now.