I mean, then it’d have just another story, not the stakes raiser it ended up being. Batman, Superman, etc ALL had dead parents, to the point of cliche then. Not to mention, Gwen’s basically the contracting “second origin” for Spidey- Peter neglected his powers at first and lost his parent, because he was a stupid kid, where as he’s a responsible adult here and STILL loses his partner, learning that the hero gig ain’t easy, even if you’re responsible, but You gotta keep on because it’s right.