Ben Reilly: Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider Appreciation 2022

[Matt Rat]

Another mini-series confirmed at the end of today's issue

spoilers:

"The Lost Hunt"

end of spoilers

[Sr. Bungle]

Another mini-series confirmed at the end of today's issue

spoilers:

"The Lost Hunt"

end of spoilers

Sadly, not Ben Reilly related I guess

[Matt Rat]

Sadly, not Ben Reilly related I guess

How do you know? I think the title is a big hint it's set during his days in exile.

[Sr. Bungle]

How do you know? I think the title is a big hint it's set during his days in exile.

I don't know, hence the "I guess". Good catch with the title. Now I'm hopeful

[Blanks]

With just a lil, lil creative writing, they can EASILY fix the MISTAKE with Ben during the whole Beyond/Chasm charade and turn Chasm into Spiderside. Easily. My mind has been running with possible scenarios since I’ve read the issue twice since getting it an hour ago. They have an out. An easy out, where they can retcon the whole Beyond mess in what they did to Ben.

Easily.

[Refrax5]

With just a lil, lil creative writing, they can EASILY fix the MISTAKE with Ben during the whole Beyond/Chasm charade and timurn Chasm into Spiderside. Easily. My mind has been running with possible scenarios since I’ve read the issue twice since getting it an hour ago. They have an out. An easy out, where they can retcon the whole Beyond mess in what they did to Ben.

Easily.

The problem is you have to retcon out years worth of stories, good and bad, with the character. It also means Janine was sleeping with somebody impersonating Ben, which is extra messed up considering her past.

It's a lot easier to just, y'know, fix Ben's mind? It's a lot simpler and requires no convoluted retcons.

[Matt Rat]

The problem is you have to retcon out years worth of stories, good and bad, with the character.

Nothing of value would be lost. There's more bad with post-Conspiracy Ben than good, that's arguable.

And given how boring Janine proved to be as Ben's girlfriend in Beyond, I think she could do with some shake up on this level.

[Mercwmouth12]

Nothing of value would be lost. There's more bad with post-Conspiracy Ben than good, that's arguable.

And given how boring Janine proved to be as Ben's girlfriend in Beyond, I think she could do with some shake up on this level.

Was she boring? She accepted her role in the beginning, escaped by taking Marcus hostage with the only evidence to take down Beyond, we had a red head team up. Somehow made it from NJ to NY in record time and stood by Ben after he came back from being goop

[Sr. Bungle]

Janine was one of the few highlights of the Beyond mess

[Matt Rat]

we had a red head team up. Somehow made it from NJ to NY in record time and stood by Ben after he came back from being goop

And I didn't care a jot. Janine didn't have one spark of interest or charisma in her.

Sure you can be a rock, but you don't need to be as bland as one. Janine has oodles of potential and none of it was exploited or realized.

Janine was one of the few highlights of the Beyond mess

How? I'm genuinely curious how anyone can take her appearances in that era and come away entertained.

[Blanks]

The problem is you have to retcon out years worth of stories, good and bad, with the character. It also means Janine was sleeping with somebody impersonating Ben, which is extra messed up considering her past.

It's a lot easier to just, y'know, fix Ben's mind? It's a lot simpler and requires no convoluted retcons.

It doesn’t have to go that far back. Beyond could have acquired Spidercide from Dr.K, and when they did the whole memory erase procedure with Ben that final time, when it crashed, they placed Ben into a stasis pod or something. Some decent quick retconning, they could have implanted Ben’s current memories into Spidercide (whom they took from the lab we saw him in at the end of Ben Reilly issue 5 today) and the Ben was saw the last half could have been his “brother” who became Chasm.

Or heck, maybe the “Ben” that Janine recovered, was Spidercide all along. The real Ben laid out in some hospital in a coma.

I’m just grasping for straws. I haven’t been this disappointed or hurt by a characters DEvolution… since ever.

[Refrax5]

It doesn’t have to go that far back. Beyond could have acquired Spidercidd from Dr.K, and when they did the whole memory erase with Ben that final time, it crashed and placed Ben into a state. Sone decent quick retconning, they could have implanted Ben’s current memories into Spidercide and the Ben was saw the last half could have been his “brother”.

Or heck, maybe the “Ben” that Janine recovered, was Soidercide all along. The real Ben laid out in some hospital in a coma.

I’m just grasping for straws. I haven’t been this disappointed or hurt by a characters DEvolution… ever.

I'm disappointed, too, but it's a pretty easy fix. I just don't want the headaches of doing to Ben what was done to Peter with "The guy you've been reading about is actually a double of the guy you thought you were reading about!" Just have his memories restored and move on.

[Spidey-Ben]

What if the “switch” was already made during the two Spiders last encounter of the book? But it’s good to see potential back doors created by JMD, if marvel decides there’s room in the spiderverse for Ben again.

[Blanks]

What if the “switch” was already made during the two Spiders last encounter of the book? But it’s good to see potential back doors created by JMD, if marvel decides there’s room in the spiderverse for Ben again.

Here is hoping. I swore after this mini, I would never buy another Spider-Man book again until they restore Ben. I’m gonna stick to that.

[Refrax5]

What if the “switch” was already made during the two Spiders last encounter of the book? But it’s good to see potential back doors created by JMD, if marvel decides there’s room in the spiderverse for Ben again.

It's just so much easier to fix Ben than have to do another confusing revision where one clone replaced another, especially since Ben was missing memories that whole time. There's no point to it when there's an easier solution.