The following contains spoilers for Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #4, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
While the variant of Gwen Stacy best known as Spider-Gwen has grown exceptionally accustomed to run-ins with versions of herself from across the Multiverse, the past few months have given her a whole new kind of doppelgänger problem to deal with. Unfortunately, she might not get the chance, as her new nemesis is already set on dealing with it for her. Not only is Gwen Stacy about to die all over again, each and every Gwen alive is about to suffer the exact same fate thanks to the most dangerous weapon the Marvel Universe has ever known.
After being caught in the clutches of the few clones who are still working against her, the titular hero of Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #4 (by Emily Kim, Kei Zama, Oren Junior, Tríona Farrell, and VC's Ariana Maher) finally gets the chance to come face-to-face with the woman behind her current circumstances. As it unfolds, nothing about the encounter is what Gwen had hoped for, as her new nemesis, Lyla Bennett, is solely concerned with taking revenge for the hero's inability to save her husband months prior. For Lyla, this doesn't just mean killing the version of Gwen she holds responsible for her beloved's demise, but every single version of her across the Multiverse.
Spider-Gwen's New Nemesis is More Dangerous Than Anyone Imagined
By using Gwen to hone in on her own variants, Lyla has developed a weapon capable of killing every iteration of her in a single strike. The methodology in particular may come as a shock, but the idea behind it is hardly anything Gwen couldn't have expected from someone as vengeful as Lyla. Then again, it isn't so much the person behind it as it is the technology in question that is truly terrifying, especially if it ever falls into the hands of someone more capably than its creator.
Now that the precedent for this kind of reach has been set, there is no telling what other villains could be looking to emulate what Lyla has accomplished. Considering how many interdimensional and time-hopping villains the Marvel Universe has to offer, it seems as though it will only be a matter of time before one of them is following in Lyla's footsteps to eradicate their own worst enemy. The thought that Doctor Doom or any other mainstream menace might harness such power alone poses a plethora of problems, yet no matter how horrifying their potential for death and destruction may be, it is ultimately the consequences of following through with such an attack that are the most unnerving.
How Spider-Gwen's Biggest Threat Could Reshape the Multiverse
Committing murder might not be quite the same as removing their existence from their respective timeline altogether as readers have seen happen to Jessica Drew and Peter Parker in recent years, but on a Multiversal level it may as well be. On top of all the relatively parallel (albeit divergent) timelines in the Multiverse, there are those that have vast gulfs between their respective presents.
At that rate, killing every version of a single person across the Multiverse would eventually mean killing some number of them who are well behind their counterparts, leaving a ripple effect that could shake up more than just their home universes. This isn't even to mention the idea that any world losing one of their greatest heroes is going to be irreparably changed in terms of its trajectory, no matter how temporary death tends to be in the realm of comics. Thankfully for Gwen, she at least has some of her Sinister Six counterparts looking out for her, and with any luck they'll be able to both take Lyla down and ensure her inventions are never used again.