Emma Stone first played Gwen Stacy in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man, and reprised the role two years later in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Sony Pictures pulled the plug on the franchise after that sequel, scrapping plans for two more movies and Sinister Six. Spidey then swung into the MCU, with Tom Holland playing Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War.
Despite Gwen's death in the second movie, the plan had been for her to be resurrected in The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (along with Norman Osborn and her father, Captain George Stacy). Fortunately, that never happened.
During a recent interview breaking down Stone's iconic fashion looks over the years, the actor reflected on the time she spent as part of the Marvel Universe.
"I really loved doing 'Spider-Man,'" she started. "I loved everybody I worked with. I met Andrew [Garfield] there. I met Sally Field. Marc Webb was wonderful. It was a really special time in my life. That’s a recurring theme: The people more than the film itself is what sticks with me for so long. I only have fond memories of this experience."
However, there was one element of making The Amazing Spider-Man movies that Stone really didn't enjoy: the gruelling press tours that see actors travel from city to city around the globe, taking part in countless interviews and red carpets.
"I will say the press tours for these films...I don’t know how people do it," Stone admitted. "I remember it being nine countries in two weeks. You’re functioning in a state of jet lag previously unknown to you. I felt truly psychotic the entire time. I’m half dead."
There were rumours that Stone might return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but it never happened. It doesn't seem likely that she'll be part of Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, though Andrew Garfield is expected to return in one or both.
"It would have to be very weird," he said of a possible MCU return earlier this year. "I would like to do something very strange. Something very unique, and offbeat and surprising, kind of like the creative freedom they have with the animated 'Spider-Verse' movies."
He later added, "I would 100% come back if it was the right thing, if it’s additive to the culture, if there’s a great concept or something that hasn’t been done before that’s unique and odd and exciting and that you can sink your teeth into. I love that character, and it brings joy. If part of what I bring is joy, then I’m joyful in return."
You can hear more from Stone on her most iconic looks in the player below.