Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Stefano Nesi
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Cover Artists: Chad Hardin & Edgar Delgado
Graphic Designer: Kat Walkington
Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Jordan D White & CB Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 3, 2025
Gwendolyn Poole was a Marvel superfan who relocated to Earth-616. But after decluttering her homeworld of alien space-dragons, Dark Gwenpool killed her. As possession is nine-tenths of survival, Gwenpool starts possessing our heroes to pursue the mystery behind Gwen Stacy’s apparent rebirth.
The Great Architect claimed Dark Gwenpool was the better, stronger, and faster Gwen Stacy. But when Dark Gwenpool exhumed Gwen Stacy’s coffin, she found a skeleton inside. If Dark Gwenpool isn’t Gwen Stacy, then who is she?
Gwenpool thinks she has the answer. All this grievous Gwenness centers around Peter's love for Gwen Stacy. Will Dark Gwenpool help Dead Gwenpool carry out her plan? Or will the Great Architect hit Gwenpool with a proton blaster and imprison her in a ghost trap? Let's grab a bowl of split pea soup, leap into Gwenpool #5, and see!
Story
Dark Gwenpool is coming home, and she's got souvenirs from her trip to the big city. She claims she's killed Spider-Man, Kate Bishop, and Jeff the Land Shark. But the Great Architect isn't putting his presents on display. Nor does he give her a new set of clothes and order his servants to prepare a feast. Instead, he claims that Dark Gwenpool is a party-pooper. So Gwenpool does another possession-intercession to see if she can't turn the Great Architect's frown upside-down.
In Gwenpool #5, Gwendolyn Poole seeks to understand what drives the Great Architect. What she discovers is a man in pain. After years of struggle, he got a shot at greatness. But instead of working with others and encouraging them to give their best, he sought to control and manipulate them. When they decide not to be his tools and start playing by their own rules, the “Great” Architect claims they’ve ruined his grand plan.
Gwenpool thought this was all about Peter Parker. Instead, she realizes that it's about each of them. Dark Gwenpool can remain what the Great Architect created her to be. Or she can become something more. Even the Ghostess With The Mostest discovers that she’s got options in Gwenpool #5. Her future isn’t limited to fading away or eking out the centuries in an Ecto-Containment System.
Art
Stefano Nesi shows that Dark Gwenpool is only one of the Great Architect's experiments in Weapon X Facility: Beta. As Dark Gwenpool plunks a bow and a mask on a table, workers hurry down corridors, gather to confer, and study a viewscreen. Chemists study boiling yellow liquid in test tubes and round-bottom flasks. Green smoke frames a pink, vaporous apparition. Yet Dark Gwenpool collapses when the Great Architect presses a control on his glove.
While Stefano Nesi compares the Great Architect’s emotional pain with Dark Gwenpool’s physical suffering, Matt Milla fills Gwenpool #5 with vibrant colors. Purple shadows echo Dark Gwenpool’s suit, while Jeff’s gray-white tooth foretells X-31’s blades. While the gray-white emphasizes death, it also points toward Gwenpool’s future. The Great Architect's red gloves and boots link him with Dark Gwenpool's ravaged features. But amid Gwenpool’s search for the Great Architect’s purpose, the red X on his shoulders and face echo an unpopular answer in this found-family feud.
Ariana Maher casts uppercase black letters into white and pink balloons and portrays Gwenpool’s off-camera dialogue in pink narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for inflection, enlarge for volume, and shrink for lowered voices. Sound effects multiply as Dark Gwenpool follows her programming, the Great Architect dispassionately inflicts pain, and Kate Bishop trades RVs for arrows. Thanks to Marvel for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
As Gwenpool drives this action-packed finale, Cavan Scott addresses how we define ourselves. People often assess their worth in terms of their bodies. Or they treasure memories instead of making new ones. Gwenpool #5 is a rallying cry to forget what we've been, shrug off who others want us to be, and pursue the endless possibilities each day brings.
Rating 9.2/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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