Ben Reilly: Spider-Man/Scarlet Spider Appreciation 2023

[Huntsman Spider]

Here's to all that came before and none of what came since*

I don't hold out any hope for Ben as far as the current Spidey editorial team go. Frankly, I think they made their feelings clear when they gave Not-Ben his new name....

Can't
Have
Another
Spider-
Man

*OK, except for DeMatteis' Ben mini-series, of course.

Good backronym there.

She'll warm up to her "Uncle Ben" in the SCARLET SPIDER-WOMAN maxi-series in my head canon.

Ben in his Las Vegas series kind of felt to me like "Diet Deadpool" with the scars and irreverent comedy bits. Prime Ben to me is when as Scarlet Spider he was kind of the Racer X to Pete's Speed Racer in the 90s.

Speed Racer reference. Nice.

[PanicPixieDreamGirl]

Here's to all that came before and none of what came since*

I don't hold out any hope for Ben as far as the current Spidey editorial team go. Frankly, I think they made their feelings clear when they gave Not-Ben his new name....

Can't
Have
Another
Spider-
Man

*OK, except for DeMatteis' Ben mini-series, of course.

Oh, clever! Ha!

[KyleWayne]

I love Ben! I’m still not over Spider-Man #75!

I’ve heard that they’ve made Ben a villain, but at least it’s just a clone of Ben and not the real deal. The real Ben is still dead.

[Kurolegacy]

Not sure how I feel about this pairing...

Also Julia's poor daughter .

Well Julia has admitted that Peter’s personality is the only thing that’s stopped her from dating him so there’s definitely an attraction there. Maybe Ben could pull it off.

[Sam-Abraham]

I love Ben! I’m still not over Spider-Man #75!

I’ve heard that they’ve made Ben a villain, but at least it’s just a clone of Ben and not the real deal. The real Ben is still dead.

I hope Ben will come back to his senses... But as a diehard Ben fan, I can't associate current Ben with the one that was Peter's brother throughout the clone saga.

[Matt Rat]

at least it’s just a clone of Ben and not the real deal. The real Ben is still dead.

I wish more fans and Marvel itself had your common sense. The more some desperate people try to sell me on "it's the same soul replicated 27 times but still the same person, see, Death herself said so!" the less I buy it. It's just a means of overcomplicating the very simple reality it's just another clone.

[Kurolegacy]

I wish more fans and Marvel itself had your common sense. The more some desperate people try to sell me on "it's the same soul replicated 27 times but still the same person, see, Death herself said so!" the less I buy it. It's just a means of overcomplicating the very simple reality it's just another clone.

I mean, if you want to see it that way you’re perfectly free to do so but that’s just the way it is. When both Death and Doctor Strange can confirm that it’s the same soul, that’s just the way it is. It just comes down to comic book weirdness. Numerous heroes have died and had their original body recreated in some way. Hell Cap is currently on his third or fourth right now but it’s still the same person.

[KyleWayne]

I hope Ben will come back to his senses... But as a diehard Ben fan, I can't associate current Ben with the one that was Peter's brother throughout the clone saga.

I agree with you. Well, I don’t actually follow the current Spidey books but I did read Ben’s flashback miniseries and that was great. Hopefully they’ll do more of them for those of us who don’t like this Chasm thing.

[Mercwmouth12]

So I know some people want to say that Chasm is actually Spidercide, but there's a problem with that.
If they makes Chasm to be Spidercide this whole time that would really screw Janine's character so much and also this leaves a bad representation for women with this event as "she changed who she was so she could please a man"

[KyleWayne]

I mean, if you want to see it that way you’re perfectly free to do so but that’s just the way it is. When both Death and Doctor Strange can confirm that it’s the same soul, that’s just the way it is. It just comes down to comic book weirdness. Numerous heroes have died and had their original body recreated in some way. Hell Cap is currently on his third or fourth right now but it’s still the same person.

Any writer could retcon that by saying Death was lying and Dr. Strange was mistaken. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying it would be easy to rewrite that part.

[Matt Rat]

I mean, if you want to see it that way you’re perfectly free to do so but that’s just the way it is. When both Death and Doctor Strange can confirm that it’s the same soul, that’s just the way it is.

Strange once said chaos magic didn't exist and then owned up to lying.

You have the explanation...until it suddenly isn't one because the story has to go a different way.

[Kurolegacy]

Any writer could retcon that by saying Death was lying and Dr. Strange was mistaken. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying it would be easy to rewrite that part.

Strange once said chaos magic didn't exist and then owned up to lying.

You have the explanation...until it suddenly isn't one because the story has to go a different way.

See the main problem there is that’s dependent entirely on a pretty big if and all that really leads to is that Ben is dead and that the reader was led around for years with what was essentially a replacement which would only serve to compound the issue. But either way, the current canon is that that is the same Ben Reilly even if the writers are terrible at utilizing him in the Spider books.

[KyleWayne]

I’d rather have the real Ben be dead than a villain.

[Kurolegacy]

I’d rather have the real Ben be dead than a villain.

I’d rather him not be a villain either but I’d also rather not feel like my time and money was wasted by deception on a false pretense of who it is that I was following.

[KyleWayne]

I’d rather him not be a villain either but I’d also rather not feel like my time and money was wasted by deception on a false pretense of who it is that I was following.

That’s an interesting POV but ok. Retcons are part and parcel of superhero comics.