Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider Appreciation 2018

[Vworp Vworp]

Just did a quick search and, as far as as I can tell, nobody had started a Ben thread as yet. Which I figured was a situation that needed rectifying. So... ta dah!!

Ben will always be 'my' Spidey. I was part of Marvel's target audience back then; someone who bought comics regularly, and who liked Spidey as a character, but who wasn't buying any of Spidey's books - daunted by the many, many years of continuity. I actually missed the clone saga as it took place. Back in those pre-internet days (well, pre-internet for me, anyway), I never had much clue what was happening in other books, outside of information in the bullpen news pages and just seeing covers of books on the shelves. So I'd been vaguely aware that there had been another Spider-Man in the Spidey books, but that was pretty much the sum total of information I had.

Then Sensational Spider-Man #0 was released (the one with the wibbly, wobbly cover) and so I picked it up. Imagine finding out about the entire clone saga just from Ben's expositional opening dialogue. My mind was officially blown. At a time when killing and replacing heroes was pretty common, this was something entirely new. Marvel had replaced Spider-Man... with himself!

And so that was it. All the Spidey books went on my pull-list, and in the meantime I worked backwards, collecting all the back issues from when it had all started, back in Web #117 (OK, technically it started with the original clone story, but you get the idea). And I stayed on board throughout all Ben's run... and beyond. It was hard going in those first few months after 'Revelations'. From my perspective, Peter was the replacement. And ironically or poetically, depending on your point of view, I stuck with Pete all the way until OMD - meaning, one attempt to create a single 'Peter' had brought me on board, and the second attempt had pushed me away.

But Ben remains my Spidey. He wasn't just Pete with different coloured hair, not to me at least. He was his own character and the fact that we're still talking him about him today (regardless of varying opinions on the clone saga itself) says a lot for his legacy.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Always liked Ben Reilly. Shame Reilly hasn't returned. Two of the best Spidey suits both as the original Scarlet Spider and as Spider-Man as well.

[Sardorim]

Well he will be in Spiderverse, at least I hope.

Hopefully it's The Clone Saga series version where he survived, Kaine went good and Peter retired to be a family man.

[Huntsman Spider]

Well he will be in Spiderverse, at least I hope.

Hopefully it's The Clone Saga series version where he survived, Kaine went good and Peter retired to be a family man.

That would be the best way to go about it, instead of bringing him from the past to the present knowing he's doomed to die once the event is over and he has to be sent back to his time of origin. Also, he's definitely going to be in Spider-Verse, as the big banner image by Gabrielle Dell'Otto with all the Spider-Men (and some Spider-Women and Spider-Girls) included Scarlet Spider Ben Reilly.

[Enigmatic Undead]

[S9y]

I wish Ben would return as a supporting character. I guess we'll only see him in Spider-verse

[Doctor Cosmic]

There's only one way to bring Ben Reilly back. It shouldn't be mystical, at least not in my opinion. I don't feel that belongs in Spidey's world, JMS and OMD be damned.

That said, how do you bring a guy back from turning to dust? You can't, not really, unless you use...

..time travel or multiverse. Those are the only ways at this point.

If Spider-Verse involves time travel, we might see this happen. I tend to think it's going to be alternate timelines only, sideways travel through the continuum rather than forward or backward.

So let's assume the Ben we see in Spider-Verse is from a universe exactly like the 616...in fact, he's from 615. After the events of "Revelations," baby May is lost, Peter returns to being Spidey. Ben, on the other hand, travels the globe for a while and returns to his original identity and appearance as The Scarlet Spider.

He ends up trapped in our universe at the end of Spider-Verse, and is essentially the very same guy he would have been in 616.

That's really the only way to do it without the use of some sort of mystical Dirt Devil,(heh!) resurrection, straightforward time-travel, or YAC. (Yet Another Clone)

[Huntsman Spider]

"Yet Another Clone" actually works if you have it that the Ben Reilly that died and turned to dust was a clone Jackal slipped in under Osborn's nose so he could take the real Ben for experiments to fine-tune the whole cloning process. After all, if Jackal never actually died in The Clone Saga to begin with, why can't we say the same about Ben?

[August_Gorman]

Maybe Ben had latent Spidercide-type powers without knowing it. The puddle of goo could have later reformed.

[billee0918]

Best thread title anywhere...ever! LMAO

[Huntsman Spider]

Maybe Ben had latent Spidercide-type powers without knowing it. The puddle of goo could have later reformed.

That would actually work. Wouldn't put it past Jackal to do some extemporaneous modifications on both Peter and Ben while he had them unconscious and dressed in the exact same Spider-Man costume that would only trigger at a set time or in response to a specific stimulus.

Also, Ben is coming back. "Scarlet Spiders" by Mike Costa is going to be teaming Kaine/Scarlet Spider from 616, Jessica Drew from Ultimate, and Ben Reilly from a universe where he stayed Spider-Man, Peter and Mary Jane got their happy ending, and Ben ultimately became a more respected, accomplished, and beloved Spider-Man than Peter ever was. All three of them are coming from different places at the point they come together in Scarlet Spiders; Ben has largely gotten over his issues about being or not being a clone and embraced the new life he's made for himself, Kaine is still a slowly healing, seething mass of self-loathing and guilt trying to act like a good man even when he feels he isn't one, and Jessica is dealing with her own losses and struggle for a sense of self. That's the personality contrast/conflict that'll be in play with the three of them interacting.

[Prime]

Judging from what I've read, the Ben from the Spider verse comes from a universe where he beat Norman, Peter retired with MJ and May and lived happily ever after and Ben continued being Spiderman. And apparently he also faced the events of Spider island and Big Time.

[Prime]

I wonder how Kaine will react?

[Kurolegacy]

Judging from what I've read, the Ben from the Spider verse comes from a universe where he beat Norman, Peter retired with MJ and May and lived happily ever after and Ben continued being Spiderman. And apparently he also faced the events of Spider island and Big Time.

If that's the case where he faced Spider Island, I wonder just what his relationship with his Kaine is like.

[John Ossie]

I didn't mind Ben Reilly, Clone Saga was the first big ''event'' type story I ever read.

Also I like the title of the thread being ''you'll never walk a'clone'' especially since I'm a Liverpool fan