Ben Reilly: Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider Appreciation 2023

[Kurolegacy]

On a sidenote I always found it funny they gave Ben a redhead as a love interest. Just because he's a clone of Peter doesn't meant his girl had to be an MJ lookalike too. lol

Worth noting that Kaine also got a redhead love interest in his Scarlet Spider solo. Guess love for redheads is just genetic with the Parker Brothers.

[babyblob]

I just read The Spiderman issues of Dark Web. I am not sure what to think of Ben being the bad guy.
Which is confusing to me because I enjoyed him as the bad guy in Clone Conspiracy. So I really dont know why him being a villain there didnt bother me but it does here.

[Sr. Bungle]

I just read The Spiderman issues of Dark Web. I am not sure what to think of Ben being the bad guy.
Which is confusing to me because I enjoyed him as the bad guy in Clone Conspiracy. So I really dont know why him being a villain there didnt bother me but it does here.

Because in CC Slott tried to make it somehow plausible. Ben's motives i DW are filmsy at best.

[babyblob]

Because in CC Slott tried to make it somehow plausible. Ben's motives i DW are filmsy at best.

I think that is what it is. I liked the writing on CC. And on that run. But with this run I find the writing lackluster at the best of times. Though I did enjoy the Hobgoblin arc.

[Refrax5]

Because in CC Slott tried to make it somehow plausible. Ben's motives i DW are filmsy at best.

I find it much easier to believe that Ben would be driven insane by literal brain damage than Slott thinking torture would turn him into a smug corporate sociopath willing to kill everyone on the planet.

[Huntsman Spider]

So I finally read the final volume of Renew Your Vows, and there's a great nod to Ben there. It's a scene where MJ takes Annie to Ben's grave, explains the clone saga, even goes into losing baby May. It's a really touching, beautiful scene. In it, we only ever see Ben's headstone. Yet in that brief moment, in which he is a dead corpse that has been buried for years, Ben is treated with more reverence and respect than he has in the entire time he's been back from the dead in 616.

Just let that sink in for a second.

Stings, doesn't it?

Indeed, it does. Nice quote from Spider-Man 3, by the way.

I find it much easier to believe that Ben would be driven insane by literal brain damage than Slott thinking torture would turn him into a smug corporate sociopath willing to kill everyone on the planet.

To be somewhat fair to Slott and Clone Conspiracy, I thought the subtext was that Ben had been driven insane by Warren torturously killing and reanimating him 27 times, and the whole "smug corporate sociopath" act was a very thin mask of sanity over what turned out to be a very unhinged and damaged man desperate to make what had been done to him worth something more than just a sick bastard's experiment and willing to kill (and reanimate) everyone on the planet once he realized that not all that many people would be going along with his plot to "conquer death" of their own free will. Still terrible for him as a character and us as fans, even if I could see the rationale.

[Refrax5]

Indeed, it does. Nice quote from Spider-Man 3, by the way.



To be somewhat fair to Slott and Clone Conspiracy, I thought the subtext was that Ben had been driven insane by Warren torturously killing and reanimating him 27 times, and the whole "smug corporate sociopath" act was a very thin mask of sanity over what turned out to be a very unhinged and damaged man desperate to make what had been done to him worth something more than just a sick bastard's experiment and willing to kill (and reanimate) everyone on the planet once he realized that not all that many people would be going along with his plot to "conquer death" of their own free will. Still terrible for him as a character and us as fans, even if I could see the rationale.

He just seemed very functional and he'd been having this long plan and devising all this stuff. It just seemed like an actually insane person wouldn't be that cold and calculated. Him snapping to have people serve him, his whole demeanor just felt like some rich creep, not someone driven mad by trauma. At least Chasm Ben seems confused and unstable like he isn't in his right mind. Jackal Ben built a corporate empire and was just killing in cold blood. Because he was tortured? It was so dumb.

[Jman27]

He just seemed very functional and he'd been having this long plan and devising all this stuff. It just seemed like an actually insane person wouldn't be that cold and calculated. Him snapping to have people serve him, his whole demeanor just felt like some rich creep, not someone driven mad by trauma. At least Chasm Ben seems confused and unstable like he isn't in his right mind. Jackal Ben built a corporate empire and was just killing in cold blood. Because he was tortured? It was so dumb.

people respond to torture in different ways

[Sr. Bungle]

I find it much easier to believe that Ben would be driven insane by literal brain damage than Slott thinking torture would turn him into a smug corporate sociopath willing to kill everyone on the planet.

"tried to make" are key words n my phrase

[Sr. Bungle]

I hope they don't treat Ben just a 90s joke

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/22/meet-the...e-spider-verse

[Garlador]

I hope they don't treat Ben just a 90s joke

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/22/meet-the...e-spider-verse

Sounds like he’ll be fun! Which, admittedly, was the POINT of Ben. In the comics, Peter was tired and worn down and stopped being funny and wisecracking. Ben came in as a “Peter without the baggage” and his heroics were hyperactive and back to being snarky and quippy again. Marvel really forgot that aspect of him.

Still remember when Will-O-the-Wisp popped up for his help and Ben gets freaked out and starts swing, not knowing Peter was his friend. “Ah! Sorry. Too much caffeine. Makes me jumpy.”

[Huntsman Spider]

Sounds like he’ll be fun! Which, admittedly, was the POINT of Ben. In the comics, Peter was tired and worn down and stopped being funny and wisecracking. Ben came in as a “Peter without the baggage” and his heroics were hyperactive and back to being snarky and quippy again. Marvel really forgot that aspect of him.

Still remember when Will-O-the-Wisp popped up for his help and Ben gets freaked out and starts swing, not knowing Peter was his friend. “Ah! Sorry. Too much caffeine. Makes me jumpy.”

Not just tired and worn down, but also very angry, bitter, cynical, and even verging on a mental breakdown. Granted, he had good reason to be, given the whole "robot parents" situation and who turned out to be behind that, but he was definitely not all that fun or funny anymore.

[Sr. Bungle]

Not just tired and worn down, but also very angry, bitter, cynical, and even verging on a mental breakdown. Granted, he had good reason to be, given the whole "robot parents" situation and who turned out to be behind that, but he was definitely not all that fun or funny anymore.

He was THE SPIDER. ""good"" times.

[Huntsman Spider]

He was THE SPIDER. ""good"" times.

Nice use of sarcasm there.

[Vworp Vworp]

https://twitter.com/jp_jordan/status...73799530475522
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