In the past decade, Gwen Stacy has transformed from a long-passed love interest into one of Marvel's most iconic faces. The supporting character from Spider-Man gained a cult following thanks to her revival as an alternate-universe Spider-Woman, now titled Ghost-Spider, a portrayal initially relegated to a one-issue event tie-in that evolved into a solo series and then a starring role in the film Into the Spider-VerseIn the wake of her surge in popularity, Marvel Comics is releasing a miniseries starring the original Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man's youth. Thanks to artist Jeehyung Lee, Gwen Stacy #2 is receiving a variant cover featuring Gwen Stacy in her Ghost Spider costume. Effectively, the Gwen variations have come full-circle: if the Stacy pictured in the cover is the star of the book, that means Gwen is cosplaying herself!

Gwen Stacy has been a part of many of Marvel's variant covers, both recently and in past years surrounding her Ghost-Spider incarnation. A wave of variants in 2015 turned Gwen Stacy into various heroes from Marvel's canon, like The Hulk and Wolverine. The lineup included a version of Gwen dressed in a Deadpool-like costume, a take that became a separate character named Gwenpool. Another wave in February 2020 paired the original Stacy with Marvel heroes, depicting her as a bystander joyfully observing the formation of the Marvel universe as we know it.

Related: Gwen Stacy's New Origin is Making Her Spider-Man's Equal

Artist Jeehyung Lee draws covers for both Marvel and DC and worked as the art director for the Marvel Future Fight mobile game. The illustrator produced a cover with Gwen's classic sweater-clad look for Gwen Stacy #1, then followed with a piece for the second issue which they posted on Twitter.

The artist's distinctive rendering of Gwen's hair and face peeks out from the Ghost-Spider costume, emphasizing her identity as framed by the superheroic outfit. The artist also posted a masked variant on Instagram:

The surface interpretation of this gorgeous cover is that it features the Ghost-Spider version of the character. But we've seen variant covers that combine Gwen with the character that stars in the attached series, and this isn't a cover for Ghost-Spider, this is the series Gwen Stacy that stars the non-powered version from the "main" timeline. As strange as it sounds, that would mean this is Gwen Stacy dressing up as Gwen Stacy.

In other words, this isn't merely Spider-Gwen. This is Gwen-Gwen, a Gwen with the powers and appearance of the Gwen we know combined with the Gwen we also know. It also opens up a world of possibilities in fusing heroes with themselves. What does the Hulk turn into when he gets angry? What would happen if Captain America was given a Super-Supersoldier Serum? Could a radioactive spider get powers from being bitten by a second, even more radioactive spider? As long as variant covers remain popular and marketable, fans will have the opportunity to find out.

Gwen Stacy #2 will be available from your local comics shop on March 11th, 2020.

More: Spider-Man Family's Korean-American SILK Gets New Comic

Source: Jeehyung Lee via Twitter and Instagram