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Each newSpider-Manmovie introduces more amazing characters from the Marvel comics, and the trend continues in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. Picking up 16 months after Miles Morales stopped Kingpin from destroying his universe with the Alchemax collider, Morales once again finds himself at the center of another multiversal crisis.
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While standouts like Peter B. Parker and Gwen Stacy return, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse gives us our first MCU look at Jessica Drew. Otherwise known as Spider-Woman, Drew is one of Miguel O’Hara’s trusted agents in the Spider-Society. We examine the history of Spider-Woman and how she plays a pivotal role in the movie.
The Origins Of Jessica Drew
Jessica Drew was born in England but her family moved to Wundagore, Transia shortly after her birth because her father, Jonathan Drew, was a renowned genetic researcher. His partner, Herbert Wyndham, wouldlater become the High Evolutionaryand the two of them were working onbreakthroughs in genetics, evolution, and cell regenerationby focusing on the properties of arachnids.
The Drew Estate contained a massive supply ofuranium, which they extracted and used to finance their research. Unfortunately, after three years of research, his daughter becamedeathly ill by the uranium exposure. Findings in their research of cell regeneration in arachnids allowed her father tocreate a serumfrom a variety of spiders that would hopefully cure his daughter.
After injecting Jessica with the serum, her fathersealed her in a machinecreated by Wyndham that was meant to accelerate the healing process. However, the opposite occurred, and Jessica stayed in a comatose state while she healed butaged extremely slowly. Unknown to her and her father, the serum he gave her would not only cure her illness but alsogive her superpowers.
Hail Hydra
When Jessica finally woke up, she was not welcomed with open arms. She was rejected by theNew Men of Wundagorebecause they sensed her new hidden powers. Jessica traveled to a nearby village, where she started a relationship with a young man and started working in a bar. But her romance was short-lived, as she accidentallykilled him with a bioelectric blast.
Jessica ran from the village after she was accused of being a witch and metOtto Vermis. He offered Jessica a place to stay and rest, along with anything else she desired, in exchange for her helpingHydra. Vermis was a high-ranking leader in Hydra and helpedtrain her to use her abilitiesto become one of the organization’s top assassins. Throughout this entire ordeal, Jessica sufferedsignificant mental damagethat resulted in memory loss.
Forgetting everything about herself, including her name, Jessica wasconditionedinto thinking Hydra fought against corporations; she established herself as one of their top trainees. However, Jessica rebelled against Hydra in her first mission andrefused to kill SHIELD Director Nick Fury.
Memories Restored
After she left Hydra, Jessica roamed through Europe until she metModred the Mysticin London. Modredrestored Jessica’s memories,and she remembered everything that transpired, from her uranium poisoning to accidentally killing her boyfriend.
Briefly, Jessica lived in London until she was recognized bySHIELD agent Jerry Hunt. Jessica dyed her hair black and went into hiding for weeks. Despite claiming she didn’t want to be a hero, Jessica would patrol through the city. One night, shesaved Hunt’s lifefrom a pair of thieves, and he stopped searching for her.
Jessica met a mysterious sorcerer namedMagnus, who taught her many important lessons and that herfather was murdered. The two of them traveled toLos Angelesin search of her father’s killer. During her search, Jessica reconnected with Agent Hunt, and they developed a romantic relationship.
Private Investigator
However, Jessica’s time in Los Angeles eventually came to an end. After finding her father’s murderer, she left Hunt and Magnus and tried searching forher place in the world. Jessica befriended an up-and-coming actress namedLindsay McCabe,and she became her roommate in San Francisco.
Calling herself Spider-Woman, Jessica operated as a bounty hunter before moving with Lindsay. She decided to retire from bounties and became aprivate investigator. Along with her new romance, Jessica was finding success in all facets of her lifeuntil her boyfriend found out she was Spider-Woman.
Lost Her Powers
After another failed romance, Jessica was contacted by Magnus to undergo one final attack against the evil sorceressMorgan Le Fey. The attack, however, involved time traveling. They managed to defeat the sorceress, but Jessica’s soul wassplit from her body. Tigra and the Shroud sought the help ofDoctor Strange, whose magic was able to save Jessica, but she was nowpowerless.
Without her powers, Jessicaretired as Spider-Woman. She was still a private investigator but one without the abilities of a spider. One mission took her to the nation ofMadripoor, where she stayed for two years. When she returned to America, she metJulia Carpenter, the new Spider-Woman, and she was able torestore her powers.
But Jessica’s powers were once again taken, this time byCharlotte Witter. Luckily, the thief was defeated by a teenager namedMattie Franklin,and Jessica started toslowly regain her powers.
Skrull Invasion
Although Jessica’s powers had returned, they were not asstableas they once were. She agreed torejoin Hydrato try and find an answer to her shifting powers. Her mission was toinfiltrate SHIELDand spy on Director Nick Fury.
Unbeknownst to Jessica, Fury found out she was a double agent and fed her false information. But unknown to Fury was the ongoingalien invasion by the Skrulls. Skrulls canshapeshift, so they take down their enemies with the highest form of subterfuge.
Jessica was imprisoned on a Skrull spacecraft for nearlytwo yearsbefore being rescued by Iron Man. During that time, Jessica was beingimpersonated on Earth by the Skrull Queen Veranke. No one knew Jessica was a Skrull until it was almost too late, and now, the sight of Jessica returning to Earth led to people thinking of the Skrull queen. Jessica felt alienated, and she quickly fell into a depressed state.
Joining The Avengers And SWORD
The ramifications of the failed Skrull invasion weighed heavy on Jessica, but she eventually found a new home with theNew Avengers. At first, many of her new teammates weren’t very accepting of Jessica joining, mainlyLuke CageandRonin, but she proved her value by helping find Luke’s missing daughter.
Jessica was forced back into hiding afterNorman Osbornclaimed the presidency and installed his own villainousDark Avengersteam. The New Avengers formulated a plan tooverthrow Osborn,but Jessica failed in her mission to deceive him. Her failure led to her leaving the New Avengers and joiningSWORD.
For a while, Jessica tackled missions that involved fighting Hydra, cleaning up the remnants of the Skrull invasion, and dealing with the Thunderbolts. Eventually, the age of Osborn ended, andSteve Rogersassumed the role of president. Rogers started rebuilding the real Avengers andoffered Jessica a full-time role on the team.
Fighting The Inheritors
Jessica was one of the Spider-People recruited from Earth-616 tojoin the fight against the Inheritors. These beings would travel to different universes to consume the life energy of Spider-People. When Jessica joined the Spider-Army, the Superior Spider-Man established himself as the unquestioned leader.
Not only were the Inheritors seeking Spider-People to eat, they specifically wantedSilk. Consuming Silk would essentiallystop new Spider-People from being created throughout the multiverse. Protecting Silk was a top priority, but naturally, she left the group to fight alone.
Spider-Woman was tasked with following Silk with Spider-Man Noir, but they were attacked by two Inheritors namedBrix and Bora. They were able to escape, but Noir was injured in the fight. After locating Silk, Jessica traveled toEarth-001to find information on the Inheritors. While she was searching for information, she encountered a variant of herself fromLoomworld,who was Morlun’s lover.
Jessica knocked her out and switched places with her, and was able to find the key to defeating the Inheritors.Without Jessica’s involvement, the Spider-Army wouldn’t have stood a chance against the Inheritors.
New Universe
As the Incursions were rapidly destroying the multiverse in theSecret Warsstory, only the prime Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe remained. With the two universes crumbling, Jessica piloted a starship with Natasha Romanoff and a few others torestart humanity. However, they were shot down by theChildren of Tomorrowfrom the Ultimate universe, andJessica was killed.
In the Ultimate Universe, Jessica Drew was aclone of Peter Parkerthat was created by Doctor Otto Octavius.
Luckily, Jessica’s death, as well as many others, wasreversedwhen a new Marvel universe was created. In this new universe, Jessica isstill working as a private investigatorbut is now pregnant as well. During a fight against the Skrulls, Jessica gave birth to a baby boy namedGerry. For a while, Jessica contemplated retiring but ultimately decided to continue being a hero for her son’s sake.
This section contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
Across The Spider-Verse
InSpider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, Jessica Drew’s portrayal leans more toward her iteration after Secret Wars, mainly becauseshe’s pregnant. The movie didn’t dive into her backstory like Gwen Stacy and we’re unsure of her home universe, but we do know Miguel O’Hara trusts her.
Despite being pregnant, she’s an amazing fighter whoshoots organic webbing from her fingertips. Either due to her pregnancy or the strength in her webs, Jessicarides a motorcycleinstead of swinging like most Spider-People.
After helping Spider-Man 2099 and Gwen Stacy subdue the Renaissance Vulture on Earth-65B, Jessica convinced Miguel tolet Gwen join the Spider-Society. Unfortunately, it was Jessica’s vouch for Gwen that led to Miles Morales being involved, which further complicated the situation with The Spot. The film ends with Jessica possibly rethinking her devotion to Miguel and considering if she should help Miles.
