Gwenpool: Beyond the Fourth Wall

Gwenpool:
Beyond the Fourth Wall
No. of issues5
Main characters
PublisherMarvel Comics
Creative team
WritersChristopher Hastings
ArtistsGurihiru
EditorsHeather Antos
Original publication
Published inUnbelievable Gwenpool
ISBN978-1-3029-1040-2
Chronology
Preceded byGwenpool: Totally In Continuity
Followed byGwenpool: Lost in the Plot

"Gwenpool: Beyond the Fourth Wall" is a five-issue existentialist comic book graphic novel written by Christopher Hastings and drawn by Gurihiru as the fourth volume of Unbelievable Gwenpool.[1] Published by Marvel Comics, the story revolves around Gwen Poole as she is apparently dragged back to the real world by her brother Teddy in a reversal of their isekai, left amnesiac of her time in the Marvel Universe, as she slowly awakens to comic book logic still seeming to apply to 'reality', attaining a new level of power well-beyond that of the gods of fiction.[2][3]

The volume introduces Dark Gwenpool as the future nemesis of Miles Morales who kills his father in the future, adapted to the video games Marvel Duel, Marvel: Future Fight, and Fortnite, and whose role would be adapted to the Spot in the film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; additionally, Poole's pink hair highlights and hospital gown from Beyond the Fourth Wall were adapted to the character and bedroom of Spider-Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman in Across the Spider-Verse after a reference mix-up. While Dark Gwenpool was originally known as "Future Evil Gwenpool" in Beyond the Fourth Wall, she was rebranded Dark Gwenpool in video games after being named as such in the fan-made comic Dark Gwenpool.

The series received a universally positive critical reception.[4][5]

Summary

Following the cliffhanger ending of Totally In Continuity, reuniting with her brother Teddy Poole, who she thought dead since being isekaied, Gwen is seemingly transported back to the real world with him via a portal, stripped of all memory of having left. As Gwen adjusts to 'reality' in 2016, working at a cinema, being spoiled as to the events of Captain America: Civil War, and dealing with the aftermath of past periods of depression and implied attempted suicide, Gwen begins to notice comic effects (word boxes, thought bubbles, and panel borders) around 'reality', and discovers that neither she or Teddy left the comic, but have rather been trapped in a pocket dimension by a future superhero team, led by Miles Morales, seeking to prevent Gwen from one day becoming the villain who kills Miles' father and sets off Civil War III, unwittingly causing her to develop the very nigh-omnipotent abilities her future self came to threaten them with ('knowledge' of residing in a fictional world in-fact allowing one access to real-warping god-level power well beyond simply knowing information about that fictional: "Gutter Space"). On 'returning' to Earth-616, Gwen and Miles face off, before the latter unwittingly brings the former's villain self into the story.

Reception

The volume received universally positive reviews.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

In other media

  • Dark Gwenpool from Beyond the Fourth Wall appears as the main antagonist of the 2020 video game Marvel Duel by NetEase Games. The game's story mode focuses on the protagonist (Gwen Poole) working with different superheroes to get their equipment back after it was stolen by Dark Gwenpool, her evil future self.[17] While Dark Gwenpool was originally known in Beyond the Fourth Wall as "Future Evil Gwenpool", she was rebranded Dark Gwenpool in Marvel Duel after being named as such in the ongoing fan-made sequel Dark Gwenpool by Marik Bentusi, which began publication earlier that year.[18]
  • Dark Gwenpool from Beyond the Fourth Wall made a cameo appearance in the alternate continuity of the 2022 comic book series Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men Double Trouble, attending a villain convention with Batroc the Leaper.[19]
  • The design of Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman's bedroom in the 2023 animated feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was credited as taking influence from the color palette of Gurihiru's work on Beyond the Fourth Wall by production designer Patrick O'Keefe in January 2024, specifically a page of Gwen Poole navigating the Gutter in her hospital gown, with Stacy receiving Poole's pink hair highlights, and Stacy's room being coloured after Poole's hospital gown,[20] reiterated by Gwen Poole co-creator Heather Antos in August 2025 as having been due to how "the wrong reference got sent to the animation team" (as had previously independently happened in the development of Marvel Rising).[21] Additionally, the film's antagonist the Spot replaces Dark Gwenpool in the role of the future nemesis of Miles Morales who kills his father in the future, who takes on a new all-black look on upgrading their portal-travelling to god-level and being underestimated by Miles.
  • Dark Gwenpool from Beyond the Fourth Wall was added as a playable character to the video game Marvel: Future Fight in 2024, as a skin for Gwen Poole.
  • Dark Gwenpool from Beyond the Fourth Wall was added as a playable character to the video game Fortnite in 2024, as a skin for Gwen Poole.

References

  1. ^ Cooke, Sarah (May 9, 2017). "Unbelievable Gwenpool: Home Sweet Home". Marvel.com.
  2. ^ Johnston, Rich (February 21, 2017). "FULL Marvel Comics Solicitations For May 2017 With Commentary – Will You Pay $55 For Secret Empire In May?". Bleeding Cool.
  3. ^ Weiss, Josh (June 19, 2017). "Unbelievable Gwenpool: Secret Identity Slip-Up". Marvel.com.
  4. ^ Plowright, Frank (December 20, 2017). "Review: The Unbelievable Gwenpool: Beyond the Fourth Wall". Slings & Arrows.
  5. ^ Brooke, David (December 20, 2017). "3 Reasons Why: You gotta trip out with 'The Unbelievable Gwenpool Vol. 4: Beyond the Fourth Wall'". AIPT Comics.
  6. ^ Krishef, Zachary (June 1, 2017). "The Unbelievable Gwenpool #16 Review: Gwen Poole, Now With Shades Of Jon Scalzi's Redshirts!". Critical Writ.
  7. ^ Murray, Branden (June 5, 2017). "The Unbelievable Gwenpool #16 Review – Marvel Monday". Weird Science.
  8. ^ Ehlers, Patrick (June 16, 2017). "Fan, Creator and Hero are United by Expertise in The Unbelievable Gwenpool #17". Weird Science.
  9. ^ Marnell, Blair (July 27, 2017). "Comic Book Reviews for July 26, 2017". IGN.
  10. ^ Tatiana (July 30, 2017). "Review: Gwenpool #18 – "Teddy Poole"". Multiverse of Color.
  11. ^ Irwin, Spencer (July 31, 2017). "Gwen Becomes a God in The Unbelievable Gwenpool #18". Retcon Punch.
  12. ^ Sava, Oliver; Hennum, Shea (July 7, 2017). "The Unbelievable Gwenpool's trippy meta storytelling elevates the superhero genre". The A.V. Club.
  13. ^ Tatiana (August 17, 2017). "REVIEW: Gwenpool #19 – "It's A New You"". Multiverse of Color.
  14. ^ Irwin, Spencer (August 18, 2017). "Gwen Tries Her Hand at Creating Stories in The Unbelievable Gwenpool #18". Retcon Punch.
  15. ^ Marnell, Blair (August 17, 2017). "Comic Book Reviews for August 16, 2017". IGN.
  16. ^ Kosturski, Kate (September 15, 2017). "The Unbelievable Gwenpool #20". Multiversity Comics.
  17. ^ Marvel Duel (December 10, 2020). MARVEL Duel Cinematic Trailer (Full Version). Marvel Duel. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ Bentusi, Marik (February 8, 2020). "Dark Gwenpool Collection". Newgrounds.
  19. ^ Ayala, Vita; Tamaki, Mariko; Gurihiru (December 28, 2022). Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men Double Trouble #2. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ O'Keefe, Patrick [@okeefe_artist] (January 23, 2024). "After approving the design, Artist Peter Chan took a painting pass to explore the colour and mood of Gwen's Bedroom. We wanted to pay homage to the source material and as such our first explorations followed palettes directly from the comics themselves" (Tweet) – via Twitter. Design 2
  21. ^ Gillman, John; Antos, Heather [@Heather Antos] (August 4, 2025). "Gillman: "@HeatherAntos Was it you who gave Gwen Poole her iconic pink hair highlights, or was it Tamra Bonvillain? I asked @DaniloBeyruth about it, with how it has since expanded to other characters, and he said it was either @TBonvillain or you." Heather Antos: "It actually came from Chris Hastings, as inspired by his wife's hair at the time! I just replicated the look to help promote the comic!" Gillman: "Okay! What did you the three of you think of how that hair began spreading to other characters then, actually?" Antos: "I can't speak for anyone else [or] what anyone else thinks but I can confirm it only went to gwen stacy [in Across the Spider-Verse] because the wrong reference got sent to the animation team at Sony."". (Tweet) – via Twitter. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
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