Marvel Announces Ongoing Gwenpool Series, The Unbelievable Gwenpool

Hey, gang, remember that Gwenpool one-shot that came out not too long ago? Apparently the hype leading up to it and the response after its release was enough to convince Marvel to give it a shot at an ongoing series! Titled The Unbelievable Gwenpool, the series will dive into her origins and her backstory, fleshing her out more than just her previous appearances in Howard the Duck and her holiday one-shot.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Christopher Hastings, who is in charge of writing The Unbelievable Gwenpool, acknowledges the character’s cosplay roots and hopes that fans are on board with the concept of the character as more than just “cosplay fodder.” Hastings said:

I think it’s just so much fun, and we are telling an interesting story here. We’re not just making up a reason to buy comics based on a popular cosplay character. There’s so much to explore with this new character and all of her weird little quirks and things like that and I really had to make some very hard decisions in what we could tell in those very short little 10-page comics.

I think giving Gwenpool a shot at an ongoing series is a great move, especially given fan reaction to her cameo and one-off. Hastings was kind enough to also share a few details of Gwenpool’s backstory. He said:

Her whole deal is, she’s from the world that she claims to be — some sort of “real world” — and knows of the Marvel universe as a fictional one. So the series is a lot about her believing she’s in a fictional world with no consequences. She’s seen everyone come back to life at some point, and it sort of seems like she’s living in a video game. And then the book is going to be the universe fighting back at that. Like, “you can’t really get away with everything” is kind of the struggle there. It’s also sort of, she just assumes, “I’m obviously a main character so I need to be a superhero” even though she has no powers.

I really like all of these comics right now about these teen heroes sort of figuring out what they’re doing in this world. But they come at it from a much more altruistic viewpoint, and I think it’s really fun to have somebody take on the mercenary angle and sort of like, contrast her against someone like Kamala Khan, as we did in the holiday special.

From the sound of it Gwenpool is going to function as an interesting fan insert, kind of a proxy for what you or I would do if we found ourselves in the Marvel universe. The subtext about “you can’t get away with everything” is poignant given the fact that she’s (apparently) a teen hero. Who hasn’t thought themselves invincible when they were young? Consequences were something we didn’t think about, right? At least… not a whole lot. Anyway.

What’s especially worth pointing out is the “I’m obviously a main character so I need to be a superhero” bit. Like, yes. That can be such an empowering statement, and to have it come from a female teen superhero from the “real world” is just the best statement you can make, I feel.

I’m very excited to see how The Unbelievable Gwenpool works out. Given this interview and what we know already, the hope is high that this is going to be one hell of a book.

(via Newsarama)

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