Fixing Ben Reilly

[boots]

This is a pretty good idea. It was a good fit to have Ben dealing with devils, angels and other supernatural stuff within his recent series. I could see him become like a Union Jack character.

it also gives him his own niche, in the world of spiders while tapping into those themes of identity and purpose and what makes one human

[David Walton]

You know, I love mystical themes, but my favorite Ben Reilly story is probably THE LOST YEARS, which is more of a crime drama.

So I'd argue Ben's adventures would do well to tend in that direction, especially as Spider-Man's adventures are less representative of street level themes these days.

The problem you run into with mystical characters is they tend to answer questions definitively that Ben shouldn't have an answer for. Ben should wonder about things like whether he has a soul, but once an angel or demon or avatar of Death shows up and tells him he's worth their attention, it undermines the specific type of soul-searching I'd associate Ben with. Though those stories can be done very well (as they were in BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER).

[Huntsman Spider]

You know, I love mystical themes, but my favorite Ben Reilly story is probably THE LOST YEARS, which is more of a crime drama.

So I'd argue Ben's adventures would do well to tend in that direction, especially as Spider-Man's adventures are less representative of street level themes these days.

The problem you run into with mystical characters is they tend to answer questions definitively that Ben shouldn't have an answer for. Ben should wonder about things like whether he has a soul, but once an angel or demon or avatar of Death shows up and tells him he's worth their attention, it undermines the specific type of soul-searching I'd associate Ben with. Though those stories can be done very well (as they were in BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER).

Could be like with Laura Kinney and Blackheart, or the actual demon that possessed Wolverine's body while his soul was trapped in hell in "Wolverine Goes to Hell" by Jason Aaron, where the demons could be screwing with Ben for all he knows. As for intertwining supernatural drama with crime drama, could take a page out of Angel by Joss Whedon, spinning off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where the protagonist was a two-century-old vampire struggling to atone for his sins after being cursed with a human soul, thus basically restoring his conscience and filling him with tremendous guilt and self-loathing, and in the process of his ongoing quest for redemption confronting evils both supernatural and all too human.

[boots]

You know, I love mystical themes, but my favorite Ben Reilly story is probably THE LOST YEARS, which is more of a crime drama.

So I'd argue Ben's adventures would do well to tend in that direction, especially as Spider-Man's adventures are less representative of street level themes these days.

The problem you run into with mystical characters is they tend to answer questions definitively that Ben shouldn't have an answer for. Ben should wonder about things like whether he has a soul, but once an angel or demon or avatar of Death shows up and tells him he's worth their attention, it undermines the specific type of soul-searching I'd associate Ben with. Though those stories can be done very well (as they were in BEN REILLY: SCARLET SPIDER).

i hear ya, which is why i thought a combo along the lines of preacher would work. on the road to connect with his classic interpretation, but with fantastical stuff to take him somewhere new

if we were sitting in a writer's meeting; the way you could counter the concerns about definitive answers is that the marvel universe doesn't run on any definitive system. is it chtulo occultism? is it norse? is it eternity and living tribunal? beyonders? the abrahamic religions?

OR.

have ben be an anomaly. none of those beings can figure him either. he's a universal mystery; a rogue piece of the marvel universe (which he kinda is anyway)

[boots]

Could be like with Laura Kinney and Blackheart, or the actual demon that possessed Wolverine's body while his soul was trapped in hell in "Wolverine Goes to Hell" by Jason Aaron, where the demons could be screwing with Ben for all he knows. As for intertwining supernatural drama with crime drama, could take a page out of Angel by Joss Whedon, spinning off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where the protagonist was a two-century-old vampire struggling to atone for his sins after being cursed with a human soul, thus basically restoring his conscience and filling him with tremendous guilt and self-loathing, and in the process of his ongoing quest for redemption confronting evils both supernatural and all too human.

yeah, whedon is a good example of grounded, but fantastical