Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was all about proving anyone can be beneath the wall-crawler's mask, hence why Miles Morales was the movie's lead instead of yet another Peter Parker.
The animated franchise is all about representation, and a compelling fan theory (first shared on Toonado.com) argues that Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen Stacy may in fact be transgender. That's not the case in the comic books, of course, but don't forget that Miles' big screen origin story has little to nothing in common with the version seen on the page.
There are a number of clues which support this theory about Spider-Gwen. For starters, we spotted a "Protect Trans Kids" banner on her wall in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's trailers and that was present in the movie itself as well.
That alone isn't much, but some fans believe they've spotted Gwen's father, George Stacy, wearing a trans flag on his jacket (we've been unable to confirm that but it does appear to be present based on the screenshot below).
Then, there's the colour scheme of Gwen's reality. While her surroundings change based on her mood, it continuously comes back to the colours of the trans flag. That may be telling, but we should point out those are also the colours of Spider-Gwen's costume so it may well be a coincidence!
We can't, however, ignore the fact Gwen's entire story arc appears to be an allegory to "coming out." After revealing her secret identity to her father, the teenager runs away; upon returning, he's accepted Gwen for who she is. Again, this may be a reach, but it does make sense.
No one involved with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on a creative level has commented on this as of yet and this may just be a situation where, if you'd like Gwen to be trans, she can be (without it confirmed either way). If nothing else, the hero is clearly an ally.
Steinfeld is obviously female, so there could be some backlash to her playing a trans character, but if this is indeed the representation many believe it to be, that really shouldn't matter too much.
Let us know your thoughts (civilly, please) in the comments section below.