Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider Appreciation 2021

[Celgress]

Re-reading ‘Life of Reilly’ and it’s still compelling reading 20 years later. That ‘Time Loop’ idea for resolving it was so crazy, and I love DeFalco’s pushback that the mastermind couldn’t be Mephisto “because he’s not a Spider-Man villain.” If only he knew at the time. Also, people may say what they want, but I think the writers produced some great Ben Reilly stories under tremendous pressure and editorial interference, especially during the last year once Ben was Spidey. I’m glad ‘Final Adventure’ and ‘Redemption’ weren’t cancelled (they almost were!).

http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/?m=1

Agreed, the "Life of Reilly" is one of my favorite Spidey storylines of all time (right up there with the likes of "KLH", "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", "If This Be My Destiny", Amazing Fantasy #15, and "Superior Spider-Man"). Too bad, it is not canon (well, most of it isn't).

[HypnoHustler]

Agreed, the "Life of Reilly" is one of my favorite Spidey storylines of all time (right up there with the likes of "KLH", "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", "If This Be My Destiny", Amazing Fantasy #15, and "Superior Spider-Man"). Too bad, it is not canon (well, most of it isn't).

What do you mean? ‘Life of Reilly’ isn’t a storyline. It’s the 35 part behind-the-scenes account of what was happening in the Marvel bullpen during the entire clone saga. Think you’re getting this mixed up with something else…

[Spiderfan001]

Agreed, the "Life of Reilly" is one of my favorite Spidey storylines of all time (right up there with the likes of "KLH", "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", "If This Be My Destiny", Amazing Fantasy #15, and "Superior Spider-Man"). Too bad, it is not canon (well, most of it isn't).

Genuine question
Are you a fan of the replacing trope?

[Celgress]

What do you mean? ‘Life of Reilly’ isn’t a storyline. It’s the 35 part behind-the-scenes account of what was happening in the Marvel bullpen during the entire clone saga. Think you’re getting this mixed up with something else…

No, I'm not. I'm referencing the storyline elements outlined on the blog and various interviews back in the day (sometimes with a pleasing amount of detail). I loved much of what they had planned that never came to fruition (well, except maybe the time loop ending lol).

[Captain Craig]

I'm calling it now, This won't end well for Ben.

And therein lies the problem most Ben fans already see coming. We've been dropping hints here and in the "Spider-man Beyond" thread.

Beyond Corp - Shady corp known to be involved in multi-universe shenanigan's
Ben as Spidey 2.0 - The first time around the writers thought the best answer was to kill Ben when the time to bring Peter back finally happened. So.......
Ben post Clone Conspiracy - most of us reject that the Ben we've had is the Ben we recall and wanted. Cantwell has done better reahab on him in Iron Man than PAD did in that SS series.


I'm prepared for the idea that we are getting a Ben from an alt-timeline that has/is collapsing where Ben was Spider-man cause 'x' happened to Peter. This Ben is very reminiscent of the Ben that 90s Clone Saga spiderfans fell in love with in the first place. However, not to throw out post-CC Ben there will be some wonky mind/body merge to give us the Ben editorial realizes we want(or their best guess to date).

This Beyond storyline ends with Peter back in the webs, in NY.
Ben, still alive and "reborn" takes to another city to be the protector there. I say Seattle or Chicago because going to a California city is predictable and Houston was done with Scarlet Spider(Kaine).

[Celgress]

Genuine question
Are you a fan of the replacing trope?

No, I'm not typically a fan of the trope. That said, I believe in very few absolutes when fiction is involved. IMO, "replacement" characters should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, not by way of a blanket mindset.

[Huntsman Spider]

And therein lies the problem most Ben fans already see coming. We've been dropping hints here and in the "Spider-man Beyond" thread.

Beyond Corp - Shady corp known to be involved in multi-universe shenanigan's
Ben as Spidey 2.0 - The first time around the writers thought the best answer was to kill Ben when the time to bring Peter back finally happened. So.......
Ben post Clone Conspiracy - most of us reject that the Ben we've had is the Ben we recall and wanted. Cantwell has done better reahab on him in Iron Man than PAD did in that SS series.


I'm prepared for the idea that we are getting a Ben from an alt-timeline that has/is collapsing where Ben was Spider-man cause 'x' happened to Peter. This Ben is very reminiscent of the Ben that 90s Clone Saga spiderfans fell in love with in the first place. However, not to throw out post-CC Ben there will be some wonky mind/body merge to give us the Ben editorial realizes we want(or their best guess to date).

This Beyond storyline ends with Peter back in the webs, in NY.
Ben, still alive and "reborn" takes to another city to be the protector there. I say Seattle or Chicago because going to a California city is predictable and Houston was done with Scarlet Spider(Kaine).

Good, solid points there, and also hoping things ultimately don't turn out as bad as we're fearing. Funny enough, Ben was active in Salt Lake City, Utah for a bit during The Lost Years, so Seattle, Washington might be good for him to set up shop there.

No, I'm not typically a fan of the trope. That said, I believe in very few absolutes when fiction is involved. IMO, "replacement" characters should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, not by way of a blanket mindset.

Generally cosigned on your latter point; everything on a case-by-case basis, not just blanketly rejecting or accepting something. I mean, we all have the right to enjoy what we enjoy and dislike what we dislike, though that shouldn't stop us from demanding better or interrogating past (or even current) assumptions.

[Spiderfan001]

And therein lies the problem most Ben fans already see coming. We've been dropping hints here and in the "Spider-man Beyond" thread.

Beyond Corp - Shady corp known to be involved in multi-universe shenanigan's
Ben as Spidey 2.0 - The first time around the writers thought the best answer was to kill Ben when the time to bring Peter back finally happened. So.......
Ben post Clone Conspiracy - most of us reject that the Ben we've had is the Ben we recall and wanted. Cantwell has done better reahab on him in Iron Man than PAD did in that SS series.


I'm prepared for the idea that we are getting a Ben from an alt-timeline that has/is collapsing where Ben was Spider-man cause 'x' happened to Peter. This Ben is very reminiscent of the Ben that 90s Clone Saga spiderfans fell in love with in the first place. However, not to throw out post-CC Ben there will be some wonky mind/body merge to give us the Ben editorial realizes we want(or their best guess to date).

This Beyond storyline ends with Peter back in the webs, in NY.
Ben, still alive and "reborn" takes to another city to be the protector there. I say Seattle or Chicago because going to a California city is predictable and Houston was done with Scarlet Spider(Kaine).

I agree.This Ben looks different as well and pitch makes him sound diffferent.
Either Beyond messed with his brain or this isn't our Ben.

[Spiderfan001]

No, I'm not typically a fan of the trope. That said, I believe in very few absolutes when fiction is involved. IMO, "replacement" characters should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, not by way of a blanket mindset.

I agree we shouldn't judge every case on bases of trope, but Ben is one of the worst twists and thus was immediately retconned.

[Celgress]

I agree we shouldn't judge every case on bases of trope, but Ben is one of the worst twists and thus was immediately retconned.

You mean Ben being "the real one" back in the 1990s? If so, I agree. The saddest part is there was no need to go that route. Ben's back story (what happened to him during his five years of wandering) was compelling enough without anointed status, IMO. Marvel Editorial did it because they felt Peter had "changed too much as a character from his starting point" and wanted "classic Spidey" back (which is the same reason they did OMD a decade later,.. some people never learn)....

[Spiderfan001]

You mean Ben being "the real one" back in the 1990s? If so, I agree. The saddest part is there was no need to go that route. Ben's back story (what happened to him during his five years of wandering) was compelling enough without anointed status, IMO. Marvel Editorial did it because they felt Peter had "changed too much as a character from his starting point" and wanted "classic Spidey" back (which is the same reason they did OMD a decade later,.. some people never learn)....

Agreed.Ben as a character can work but they messed it up.

Also Marvel never learns.I'm so tired of them messing up Spidey, specially now with the Beyond news and then BMB rumors.
We need someone who respects Spidey like Zdarsky.

Most characters go through this phase except DD.

[Tien Long]

AS an aside, while I'm a fan of Ben, part of me has issues with him taking the mantle of Spider-Man. For some reason, I always remind myself that it's not Peter under the mask. It's what made reading Ben's time as Spider-Man slightly frustrating since I had to tell myself that Ben was there, not Peter. Ugh, my bias that Peter is the "real" Spider-Man is showing.

[Spiderfan001]

AS an aside, while I'm a fan of Ben, part of me has issues with him taking the mantle of Spider-Man. For some reason, I always remind myself that it's not Peter under the mask. It's what made reading Ben's time as Spider-Man slightly frustrating since I had to tell myself that Ben was there, not Peter. Ugh, my bias that Peter is the "real" Spider-Man is showing.

This.

I enjoy kaine because he is a different person with a different mantle.
Miles has the same problem (for me) but to a lesser extent.

I feel the deciding factor will be how much Peter is in the run.I would be fine with anything more than or equal too half(12 pages each for 24 page issue etc.)

[HypnoHustler]

This.

I enjoy kaine because he is a different person with a different mantle.
Miles has the same problem (for me) but to a lesser extent.

I feel the deciding factor will be how much Peter is in the run.I would be fine with anything more than or equal too half(12 pages each for 24 page issue etc.)

Ben is just as much of a “different person” as Kaine. They’re both clones of Peter. Ben’s personality differences are more subtle than Kaine’s, but they’re definitely there (example: Ben is more impulsive, used to rough living, more free spirited, less confident, exhibits more self doubt, less experienced fighter, a bit more open minded, more “hip”, etc. than Peter… I could go on).

[Captain Craig]

Good, solid points there, and also hoping things ultimately don't turn out as bad as we're fearing. Funny enough, Ben was active in Salt Lake City, Utah for a bit during The Lost Years, so Seattle, Washington might be good for him to set up shop there.

Lost Years fill-in-the-blank of Ben's time in Salt Lake City, Utah had escaped me as I was typing that out. Thanks for the memory jog.