I'm mostly going by the way Wells writes Clone Saga references. Most fans of the Clone Saga like the way the marriage was written. And Wells has included a lot of nice touches--like the subtle nod to Ben Reilly having talked by phone with Aunt May while he was on the road.
I also think he wrote MJ well in the few scenes she was in for issue 75.
Naturally, it remains to be seen how that plays out. No one who'd read the first 25 issues of Spencer's run could have guessed what the next few years would be like (whether they liked it or not).
I don't know if it's really a 'filler' run. I expect some pretty big dominoes to fall into place for 900 at any rate.
One thing to keep in mind is that BEYOND is roughly the same length the original Clone Saga was intended to be. Ben Reilly was supposed to be revealed as the original Peter Parker and take up the mantle around ASM 400.
So, you know, you can set up something pretty big in that timeframe at 3x monthly!
"He's pure power and doesn't even know it. He's the best of us."-Matt Murdock
"I need a reason to take the mask off."-Peter Parker
"My heart half-breaks at how easy it is to lie to him. It breaks all the way when he believes me without question." Felicia Hardy
I still doubt that it's going to happen, but if the Aunt May phone call was indeed a setup for her to meet up with Ben for the first time, maybe Beyond's claim to long lasting continuity impact would be her re-learning Peter's identity.
...for like the third time. spoilers:end of spoilers
Just find a way to re-canonize ASM #400 at least as far as May always knowing and I'll be on my way, never again for human eyes to set sight on me or for human minds by me to bothered be.
Discovering/CONFESSING! the nature of evil... one retcon at a time.
Thing is JMS's reveal was spot on as well.Just make ant of those 2 canon and we can work w/ it.Kinda tired of the always knowing thing, MJ and May is a bit much.Not to mention more people reading right now would have read JMS's reveal than 400.
Anyway they do it, hopefully it's as impactful.
I don't see how they could retcon Aunt May always knowing back into continuity after JMS' run had her discovering his secret identity. Maybe if they just went with she had known for a long time, but couldn't admit it to herself?
Anyway, I'm totally agreed about ASM 400. Glenn Greenberg said he liked to think of ASM 200 as the moment where Aunt May realized Peter was Spider-Man and I think that fits perfectly.
"He's pure power and doesn't even know it. He's the best of us."-Matt Murdock
"I need a reason to take the mask off."-Peter Parker
"My heart half-breaks at how easy it is to lie to him. It breaks all the way when he believes me without question." Felicia Hardy