# George Stacy

George Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily in association with Spider-Man. He is Gwen Stacy's father and the police captain from the New York City Police Department. Stacy is a strong supporter of Spider-Man, often defending the superhero when others accuse Spider-Man of criminal acts, and thus serves as a foil personality to another Spider-Man related character, J. Jonah Jameson. Stacy's death in The Amazing Spider-Man #90 (November 1970) has been described as a turning point in the Spider-Man saga, signaling to readers that permanent changes could happen in the story, and that the supporting cast was not safe. Stacy was resurrected in a cloned body by Ben Reilly in Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy (2016–2017), with the embodiment of Death herself confirming in Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider (2017–2018) that all clones Ben created of deceased people had their souls intact on being brought back, before Stacy was killed again by the Carrion Virus.
The character has been adapted from the comics into several forms of media, including animated series and feature films. In live-action, the character was played by James Cromwell in the film Spider-Man 3 (2007), by Denis Leary in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man film duology (2012–2014), and by Shea Whigham in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (TBA).

## Publication history

George Stacy first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #56 (January 1968), created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Romita Sr.

## Fictional character history

Little did Peter Parker know, after falling in love with Empire State University classmate Gwen Stacy that her father was Captain George Stacy, one of the most respected former police members in the NYPD. He is also the husband of Helen Stacy and the brother of Arthur Stacy. But even in retirement, Captain Stacy kept up with the happenings at the department - and had taken a keen interest in Spider-Man. It was not long before John Jameson called Stacy out of retirement to assist in the return of a device called the Nullifier - which could render any electrical or mechanical apparatus inoperative - that Doctor Octopus had tricked an amnesiac Spider-Man into stealing.
After safely securing the weapon, Stacy interviewed Peter, believed to have been held captive with Doc Ock and Spider-Man. After the interview, Stacy revealed to Peter that he had spent time studying the career of Spider-Man, and that he was glad to have met Peter, known for photographing the wall-crawler on numerous occasions.
Identifying himself as a strong supporter of Spider-Man, Captain Stacy wished to see the wall-crawler redeemed in the public eye. He also took an instant liking to Peter, and openly encouraged the growing bond between the youngster and his daughter Gwen. Shortly thereafter at a dance club which employed Mary Jane Watson, Captain Stacy was put under a hypnotic trance through a rigged camera operated by Mary Jane who took photos of him unaware that these actions were aiding Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin). Stacy was compelled into a backroom where he underwent additional brainwashing by the camera's inventor, Dr. Winkler.
Despite Spider-Man's efforts, George returned programmed to follow the Kingpin's directions. As such, Captain Stacy later stole police records for the Kingpin while Spider-Man's automatic camera captured the theft. Peter gave the photos to J. Jonah Jameson, hopeful that this apparent betrayal of the Stacy family would actually help expedite a discovery of the captain's innocence. While George and Gwen attempted to flee, they were kidnapped by the Kingpin's men and held captive at one of Norman Osborn's labs where Dr. Winkler worked. The Kingpin intended to eliminate the Stacys once they were used to lure Spider-Man into his crushing hands. While Spider-Man battled the Kingpin, Osborn arrived and tackled the Kingpin's henchmen holding the Stacys at gunpoint. Though the Kingpin fled, and Winkler was apparently killed, the Stacys were rescued. Osborn's testimony to the police exonerated Captain Stacy.
Captain Stacy started to suspect Peter and Spider-Man were the same person. After a feverish Peter admitted to being Spider-Man before his friends including Captain Stacy, Parker asked the Prowler to imitate Spider-Man so Peter and Spider-Man could be seen together, however, Captain Stacy could not be fooled. Later, Stacy sacrifices himself to save civilians during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus.
George Stacy has largely remained dead since. He was resurrected in a clone body in "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy", but later died from the Carrion virus.

## Other versions
### 1602

An alternate universe variant of Captain Stacy appears in Spider-Man: 1602. This version is a passenger of the Mayflower and a former member of the Navy.

### House of M

An alternate universe variant of George Stacy appears in "Spider-Man: House of M". This version is a former police chief and a personal friend of Peter Parker, though the latter is soured after George discovers Peter's diary and ramblings that allude to his death on Earth-616.

### Marvel Adventures

An alternate universe variant of George Stacy appears in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #54. This version is younger and has light brown hair. Upon discovering Spider-Man's secret identity, he calls on him for support on some of his cases.

### Ultimate Marvel

A character based on George Stacy named John Stacy appears in Ultimate Spider-Man. This version is much younger than George, has brown hair, is more athletic, is estranged from his daughter Gwen Stacy, and has a troubled marriage. Additionally, he is not a fan of Spider-Man, but admires his vigilante work. John later sacrifices himself to save a child from a bank robber posing as Spider-Man.

### Spider-Gwen

An alternate universe variant of George Stacy from Earth-65 appears in Spider-Verse and Spider-Gwen.

### Spider-Geddon

Two alternate universe variants of George Stacy appear in Spider-Geddon:
* On Earth-91918, George is a bartender and associate of Spider-Ben.
* On an unidentified Earth, Detective George Stacy acquired Spider-Man's powers, dons a homemade black suit with white stripes, and operates as "The Spider" to secretly aid his fellow police officers in capturing criminals.

## In other media
### Television

* A character loosely based on George Stacy named Ned Stacy appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Len Carlson. This version is Mary Jane Watson's uncle.
* George Stacy, with elements of his Ultimate Marvel counterpart, appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Clancy Brown.
** In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, George is revealed to have been killed sometime after the events of the series.
* George Stacy appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Return to the Spider-Verse", voiced by Robert Clotworthy.
* George Stacy appears in the Marvel Rising franchise, voiced by Steven Weber.
* George Stacy appears in Spidey and His Amazing Friends, voiced by Scott Porter.

### Film

* George Stacy appears in Spider-Man 3, portrayed by James Cromwell.
* George Stacy appears in The Amazing Spider-Man, portrayed by Denis Leary. This version is younger and does not approve of Spider-Man, considering him to be a menace. He is later killed by the Lizard while helping Spider-Man thwart the former.
** Hallucinations of George appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, portrayed again by Leary.
** In July 2015, Leary said that he was attached to reprise his role in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, where George would have been resurrected.
* The Earth-65 incarnation of George Stacy makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
** The Earth-65 incarnation of George Stacy appears in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced by Shea Whigham. Additionally, a Spider-Man: India-inspired alternate universe variant named Inspector Singh makes a non-speaking cameo appearance.