Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider Series from Peter David and Mark Bagley

[DV1Band]

I mean, I don't think that his time as Scarlet Spider is over or long over at all. He died and hasn't been seen since, and his shelf life back then was actually comparatively young. From at least a marketing perspective Marvel probably feels like they can best capitalize on Ben as Scarlet Spider, as opposed to pulling another Miles Morales and having a third Spider-Man roaming around.

They could have feasibly given him a new name but to be honest that would have felt disingenuous.

I disagree. Put yourself in Ben's shoes: You died. You came back, did some terrible things, and are trying to make up for it. For the first time, you see things from Kaine's point of view. Kaine has been carrying on the legacy, and using the name proudly to do good things. Last time you and Kaine talked, he was doing terrible things.
Why strip him of the thing that's causing him to do the most good?

Also, Pav, if you're reading this, let's pitch Marvel on a Kaine series.

[Harpsikord]

I disagree. Put yourself in Ben's shoes: You died. You came back, did some terrible things, and are trying to make up for it. For the first time, you see things from Kaine's point of view. Kaine has been carrying on the legacy, and using the name proudly to do good things. Last time you and Kaine talked, he was doing terrible things.
Why strip him of the thing that's causing him to do the most good?

The thing is that we aren't exactly aware of how The Clone Conspiracy is going to specifically end. We have some insight to how Ben is going to feel coming out of this, in actuality, and he's going to come out of it as a broken man: PAD seems to implying that Ben is going to have multiple personalities, one of which is his old Scarlet Spider self and the other being his Jackal self. There's probably one half of him that feels the way that you've described, but the other half would prefer to go back to being Scarlet Spider and doing good that way, and the thing is, that's the dominant side of personality.

[Agent of Wolfram & Hart]

Love the idea of a new book starring Ben, especially if he can be more like himself in the 90s and not too much of what we've seen so far in Clone Conspiracy, love the fact Kaine makes it through the current story alive, but not sold on the new costume, especially the mask, what's wrong with the original Scarlet Spider costume for Ben?

[Rob London]

That caught my attention as well. I'd love to see what they end up doing. Chicago and Philadelphia are two obvious choices to me (Philly could almost work thematically as it's often viewed as a "lesser New York."). Kaine had a book in Houston, right? Honestly, this city thing is the most interesting one to me. That and the creative team.

Okay, so it's a city that hasn't had an entire series set in it from the beginning - that rules out New York (duh), LA, Chicago (although who knows whether David, or anyone for that matter, remembers the '90s Cage series), Houston, Miami, San Francisco.

Possibilities - Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Atlanta, Boston, Phoenix.

[boots]

i'm interested in this creative team and happy to ride the nostalgia wave. not sure how i feel about the costume, but i'll wait to see it in action.

[neonrideraryeh]

So presumably Ben is gonna stop being a villain like he is in Clone Conspiracy at the moment? Though I'm not sure how they'll redeem him, since he's been killing people and bringing them back to life (including villains) to be dependent on his drugs, which is a lot to get past (although this is Marvel and people still consider Captain '1984' Carol to be a hero), but alignment switches are common in Marvel. I'd much rather more Kaine stuff since he was more interesting, while I think Ben wasn't much different to Peter, but recent developments may change Ben's personality status. We'll see how it turns out, Peter David is pretty good. At least Kaine is in it, which does make it tempting to get maybe. Costume is kinda strange, it's like the hood is merged into the spandex or something?

[protege]

The thing is that we aren't exactly aware of how The Clone Conspiracy is going to specifically end. We have some insight to how Ben is going to feel coming out of this, in actuality, and he's going to come out of it as a broken man: PAD seems to implying that Ben is going to have multiple personalities, one of which is his old Scarlet Spider self and the other being his Jackal self. There's probably one half of him that feels the way that you've described, but the other half would prefer to go back to being Scarlet Spider and doing good that way, and the thing is, that's the dominant side of personality.

Ugh. That sounds like the broken record that moon knight has become.

[DV1Band]

Ugh. That sounds like the broken record that moon knight has become.

I think it's more of a metaphor. It sounds like he's trying to find a middle ground between what he did in both forms.

[boots]

just read the interview; seems pav and i were off, pad clearly calls ben "unhinged" a couple of times. this gives me faith though:

"Someone like Peter is truly fixed in his personality and life’s ambitions. Ben is trying to understand the world around him and his relationship to it"

pretty good summary of one of the fundamental differences between the two characters. great that pad understands that.

smiled a bit at how enthused bagley was with designing the costume- did he come up with the original spidercide outfit in the 90s?

[DV1Band]

I really hope that this ends with Ben realizing that he's not ready to hop back into action yet, and to pass the torch to Kaine permanently.

[Proteus]

I really hope that this ends with Ben realizing that he's not ready to hop back into action yet, and to pass the torch to Kaine permanently.

They kept Ben dead for 20 years. I doubt they will write him out again. Ben fans have waited a long time for this.

[MarioHerald]

I don't mind Ben taking on the Scarlet Spider name again.

Kaine has never been fond of it (initially telling everyone to not call him that) and I'm sure he would happy if Ben uses it, even more if he thinks his brother "needs it" to move on.

Actually, he has was rather disinterested in using code names during his solo (and sometimes plainly careless with them) and by the end of it and New Warriors (2014), Hummingbird Aracely had to keep reminding him to use them and not their real names.

(She was more than happy to immediately disclose her own identity to her new teammates — the same ones she met a few hours earlier — but kept Kaine's secret identity a secret throughout the whole story. Probably because she reads his thoughts and knows about Peter's issues with it. Or because as a psychic, she knows what she can and cannot divulge.

Only Water Snake (Faira Sar Namora) learned Kaine's real name - and that came from Kaine directly telling her).

[Frontier]

I mean, I don't think that his time as Scarlet Spider is over or long over at all. He died and hasn't been seen since, and his shelf life back then was actually comparatively young. From at least a marketing perspective Marvel probably feels like they can best capitalize on Ben as Scarlet Spider, as opposed to pulling another Miles Morales and having a third Spider-Man roaming around.

They could have feasibly given him a new name but to be honest that would have felt disingenuous.

Well, he would be the fourth what with Miguel also being a Spider-Man in 616 (sometimes) .

Franky, with all of Marvel's doubling-up, I wouldn't be surprised if we have two active Scarlet Spiders eventually.

[DV1Band]

They kept Ben dead for 20 years. I doubt they will write him out again. Ben fans have waited a long time for this.

I didn't say to write him out. I just think that they shouldn't have him become Scarlet Spider again. I think that he should be a supporting character for Kaine or Peter for a while, and then get back on his feet.

[DV1Band]

I don't mind Ben taking on the Scarlet Spider name again.

Kaine has never been fond of it (initially telling everyone to not call him that) and I'm sure he would happy if Ben uses it, even more if he thinks his brother "needs it" to move on.

Actually, he has was rather disinterested in using code names during his solo (and sometimes plainly careless with them) and by the end of it and New Warriors (2014), Hummingbird Aracely had to keep reminding him to use them and not their real names.

(She was more than happy to immediately disclose her own identity to her new teammates — the same ones she met a few hours earlier — but kept Kaine's secret identity a secret throughout the whole story. Probably because she reads his thoughts and knows about Peter's issues with it. Or because as a psychic, she knows what she can and cannot divulge.

Only Water Snake (Faira Sar Namora) learned Kaine's real name - and that came from Kaine directly telling her).

I'd be ok with that.