Bring back Ben Reilly

[rckstr1253]

I am stoked to see superior continue while Peter also exists, but its more than time for Marvel to bring back BEN REILLY. I want to see "my" spider-man come back to the comic world so I have something to purchase, now that the scarlet spider series has been cancelled.

[deadboy80]

My hope is that he has a leading role to play in Spider Verse. Then this spawns an ongoing, or regular appearance by him in Amazing. So Marvel, bring back Ben!!!!!

[Metamorphosis]

Trying to be objective here: what is there to do with Ben Reilly at this point? Why bring him back?

[August_Gorman]

Trying to be objective here: what is there to do with Ben Reilly at this point? Why bring him back?

There's not much of a point. I love Ben Reilly, but he is essentially Peter Parker. His methods, dialogue, and sense of humour are all more or less the same as Peter's.
What makes sense (to me) about Kaine as the Scarlet Spider is that even when he's trying to be a good guy, he's distinct from Peter. Same thing with Flash, Miguel, and Miles.

While it does look like Ben (or some version of Ben) will be showing up in Spiderverse, I can't see him sticking around much longer than the event.

[rckstr1253]

To me, Ben was different than Peter. Ben seemed less whiney, and I thought his ability to invent or expand upon Peter's webbing idea was proof of him thinking differently than Peter.

[August_Gorman]

To me, Ben was different than Peter. Ben seemed less whiney, and I thought his ability to invent or expand upon Peter's webbing idea was proof of him thinking differently than Peter.

I'd like to agree with you. If you're talking early/mid-1990's Peter, then I do agree with you. Peter was whiney and somewhat dark at the time. But if you look at him now, under Dan Slott's direction, he's almost exactly the same as Ben. He's light-hearted and single. And he was continually inventive at Horizon Labs, in terms of his crime fighting gear. The only real difference was that Ben worked at a coffee shop.

Ben was my favourite when I was a kid too, but it's just not practical to (re)introduce a character so much like Peter, in an already over-saturated Spider-Person market.

In the last few years we've seen an ongoing Venom (with the character also being a regular on two different team books), an ongoing Scarlet Spider (with the character bridging into a team book as soon as his series came to a close), and the Miles Morals character in the Ultimate Universe. Pretty soon we're getting Spider-Man 2099 as well.

Bringing back Ben now would be redundant, and would likely not sell very well. For the sake of the character, I'd say wait a few more years, for a time when there aren't so many Spider-Men running around. If Peter is ever out of the picture again, then maybe consider bringing Ben back as the lead Spidey for a year or so.

[Sardorim]

Well we have a living Ben Reily from Spider-Man: The Clone Saga. So he may appear in Spiderverse.

[Shadow]

Kaine's better so I don't care if Ben stays away

[arosenbarger]

Could Ben Reily ever return and NOT be hated by fans? I guess, actually. I mean, lets be honest - we're geeks that post about SM and the crowd the read the Clone Saga probably moved on and away from comics. To introduce Ben would probably be to a new audience but...echoing what was said before - what would be the point? Would Peter be Dr. Pepper and Ben be Mr. Pibb? In my opinion it would take a decent writer to make us care about Ben, he would need a cool back story (Spider-verse? maybe), but how would you keep going with it getting stall? No idea. Personally always a root beer guy....

[Probalus]

Could Ben Reily ever return and NOT be hated by fans? I guess, actually. I mean, lets be honest - we're geeks that post about SM and the crowd the read the Clone Saga probably moved on and away from comics. To introduce Ben would probably be to a new audience but...echoing what was said before - what would be the point? Would Peter be Dr. Pepper and Ben be Mr. Pibb? In my opinion it would take a decent writer to make us care about Ben, he would need a cool back story (Spider-verse? maybe), but how would you keep going with it getting stall? No idea. Personally always a root beer guy....

The success of the Scarlet Spider series shows that there is still a huge audience that is familiar with the clone saga and is nostalgic about it.

I agree Ben Reilly wouldn't fit in today's Spidey world though. OMD did what the Clone Saga couldn't do, so today's Peter is Ben without the heavy baggage. But definitely wouldn't mind seeing the cutoff sweatshirt again and looking forward to Spider Verse

[Pav]

Trying to be objective here: what is there to do with Ben Reilly at this point? Why bring him back?

There's not much of a point. I love Ben Reilly, but he is essentially Peter.

Ben was my favourite when I was a kid too, but it's just not practical to (re)introduce a character so much like Peter ... Bringing back Ben now would be redundant

I think you fellas need to put on your creativity hats and think about this a little harder. On the one hand, sure, Ben is certainly a similar character to Peter (for obvious reasons), but that's one of the things that makes his position unique: he's a Spider-Man that a writer can experiment with; there's so much less pressure to keep Ben in "classic mode" if you know what I mean. Furthermore, because a writer can take chances with Ben's character, it stands to reason that Ben will become a more unique character due to his own exploits. At this point, a writer will be able to compare Peter and Ben and make some interesting observations and interactions, because despite any changes in Ben's outlook or events in his life, he will always have his Peter Parkeriness.

It doesn't have to be all about who is single and who isn't. Is that all you read comics for? I think not.

-Pav, who think there's plenty of room for Peter, Ben, and Kaine in the 616...

PS: To be fair, Kaine has currently been made to fit Ben's role as the "Spider to compare Peter to," but again, a writer interested in Ben should be able to figure out a role for him. I know what I'd do with him, and it's something that can't be done with Peter.

[John Ossie]

I am stoked to see superior continue while Peter also exists, but its more than time for Marvel to bring back BEN REILLY. I want to see "my" spider-man come back to the comic world so I have something to purchase, now that the scarlet spider series has been cancelled.

What about New Warriors that features Scarlet Spider.

[Metamorphosis]

I think you fellas need to put on your creativity hats and think about this a little harder. On the one hand, sure, Ben is certainly a similar character to Peter (for obvious reasons), but that's one of the things that makes his position unique: he's a Spider-Man that a writer can experiment with; there's so much less pressure to keep Ben in "classic mode" if you know what I mean. Furthermore, because a writer can take chances with Ben's character, it stands to reason that Ben will become a more unique character due to his own exploits. At this point, a writer will be able to compare Peter and Ben and make some interesting observations and interactions, because despite any changes in Ben's outlook or events in his life, he will always have his Peter Parkeriness.

It doesn't have to be all about who is single and who isn't. Is that all you read comics for? I think not.

-Pav, who think there's plenty of room for Peter, Ben, and Kaine in the 616...

PS: To be fair, Kaine has currently been made to fit Ben's role as the "Spider to compare Peter to," but again, a writer interested in Ben should be able to figure out a role for him. I know what I'd do with him, and it's something that can't be done with Peter.

You said it, they already have the "Spider-man that is similar but not" in Kaine. Did that, series got cancelled.

It would probably piss some people off, but I would have Ben come back as a villain.

[dddaaavvv]

I think you fellas need to put on your creativity hats and think about this a little harder. On the one hand, sure, Ben is certainly a similar character to Peter (for obvious reasons), but that's one of the things that makes his position unique: he's a Spider-Man that a writer can experiment with; there's so much less pressure to keep Ben in "classic mode" if you know what I mean. Furthermore, because a writer can take chances with Ben's character, it stands to reason that Ben will become a more unique character due to his own exploits. At this point, a writer will be able to compare Peter and Ben and make some interesting observations and interactions, because despite any changes in Ben's outlook or events in his life, he will always have his Peter Parkeriness.

It doesn't have to be all about who is single and who isn't. Is that all you read comics for? I think not.

-Pav, who think there's plenty of room for Peter, Ben, and Kaine in the 616...

PS: To be fair, Kaine has currently been made to fit Ben's role as the "Spider to compare Peter to," but again, a writer interested in Ben should be able to figure out a role for him. I know what I'd do with him, and it's something that can't be done with Peter.

A similar scenario could be done with Ben by having him relocate to another city say Chicago L.A. or San Francisco, maybe Seattle. Some place with tall buildings or maybe he could find a secondary mode of transport other than webs. Maybe the occasional crossover event and team up with Spidey or a big event where all three "brothers" reunite for a battle royal against some ultrapowerful villain.

[Huntsman Spider]

Also, let's not forget that Ben was on the road for five years trying to figure himself out and his place in the world and whether or not he even had a right to exist. He's likely to have seen and done a lot in those five years that would give him a different perspective and attitude on the world from Peter. Being "distinctive" doesn't necessarily have to mean making him an anti-hero like Kaine (and Miguel, to a certain extent), and there's still plenty from his backstory to draw upon, like whatever happened to that gang he was fighting in The Lost Years or what became of his lover Elizabeth Tyne/Janine Godbe? Then there's him reacting to everything that's happened since his death, like Mary Jane and Peter losing their baby and Norman Osborn being responsible for it, to say nothing of Peter and MJ not being together anymore or what else Osborn has been up to since then, Jackal turning out to have still been alive all along and still plotting to make Spider-Man clones, all the major shifts and reorganizations in the superhero community, Spider-Man becoming an Avenger, Kaine being the new Scarlet Spider, and Venom actually being a hero. You could also fill in the details of what else he did in those five years on the road that wasn't covered in The Lost Years and how that could impact his life in the present as Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, or "that other Spider-Man," like Damon Ryder/Raptor (if Kaine hadn't killed him already). Yeah, there's still a lot you can do with Ben Reilly; it just takes getting over the idea that he's "too similar to Peter" to be interesting.