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91-514: As Spider-Carnage: Benjamin " Ben " Reilly ( / ˈ r aɪ l i / ), also known as the Scarlet Spider , is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Grown in a lab by Miles Warren/Jackal , he is a clone of Peter Parker/Spider-Man tasked with fighting him but instead becoming an ally, later even regarded as a "brother". Created by writer Gerry Conway ,

182-483: A body bag in an ambulance. After escaping from the ambulance, he is confronted by Misty Beck, only for him to punch her through the stomach and exposes her true nature as an android. Ben quickly discovered that he had been driven sociopathic and he enjoyed it. He assaults Kaine and injures him, threatening him to leave Las Vegas if he survived. However, after he leaves, he breaks down in an alleyway, crying. During Spider-Geddon , Otto Octavius recruits Kaine to help fight

273-477: A brief confrontation with the original Jackal, Ben leaves to start a new life, still believing his work was for the good of humanity. Relocating to Las Vegas, the disfigured Ben is tracked down by former New U Technologies client Cassandra Mercury, owner of the Mercury Rising casino, who wants revenge for his failure to cure her daughter Abigail's terminal disease. Ben buys time by telling Cassandra he can develop

364-455: A building in Dallas, Texas. Ben arrives to stop him, Bushwacker takes note of the new costume and asks when heroes like Ben ever have time to sew, before training his weapon on his hostages. Ben shields them from a blast with his own body, his costume is made of impact-thickening foam polymers that absorb the energy burst. Bushwacker's arms morph into larger cannons but Ben plugs them with a fist, and

455-490: A burning building, she decides to start a new life on her own rather than remain with Reilly. Ben's life and work are targeted by the Hobgoblin on orders of Spider-Man's old enemy Mendel Stromm, now called Gaunt . After Peter and Mary Jane return to New York, Ben realizes Seward Trainer has been working with Gaunt for years. Peter and Ben cement their relationship, now regarding each other as brothers and enjoying that they share

546-463: A costume for the character which would stand out from conventional superhero costumes by emphasizing simple functionality rather than flash. The artists worked on costume ideas independently, and according to Mark Bagley , Tom Lyle 's " hoodie " design won unanimous approval among them. The original costume was later replaced by an updated Spider-Man costume designed by Bagley with minor alterations by Bob Budiansky . Between November and December 1995,

637-424: A cure in exchange for a lab and resources. He lives and works in the Mercury Rising casino, identifying himself as "Peter." During this time, Ben is haunted by hallucinations of his old self telling him to be more heroic and his Jackal self defending their actions. He steals a Spider-Man cosplayer's hooded costume, then later takes a copy of his original Scarlet Spider outfit from a Spider-Man fan. Operating at times as

728-537: A fatal wound intended for Peter. Dying, he asks Peter to resume the role of Spider-Man and hopes that his and Mary Jane's child will be told about their "Uncle Ben". Reilly dies and his body decomposes rapidly, confirming he was actually a clone. Peter reclaims the Spider-Man identity. Not long afterward, Peter is accidentally transported to Counter-Earth where he finds the believed-to-be-dead Avengers and Fantastic Four still alive, joining them on their return home. During

819-403: A feeding frenzy. Morbius attacks Ben, sinking his fangs into him. Ben's costume is damaged but proves capable of self-repair. Ben lures Morbius back to his apartment at Beyond headquarters, where the automated defence systems are able to fend him off, slicing off one of his arms. As Coleen and Misty take care of Morbius, Ben collapses from the bite he received earlier and is rushed into surgery by

910-530: A fourteen year old would wear at a birthday party. Ben is concerned he'll be mistaken for the real Spider-Man, Beyond corp tell him that, to them, he is the real deal. To assure Ben's unwavering loyalty, the Beyond corporation arrange for the prison release of Elizabeth Tyne, Ben's true love. While taking the new Spider-Man suit out for another of Beyond's 'test drives', Ben encounters Peter Parker, who pursues him, demanding to know who he is. Ben eventually gives Parker

1001-564: A hologram and threatens to open the facility's mysterious Door Z, but Ben decides to open it himself and use whatever is inside to keep Peter and the daughters of the dragon preoccupied while he deals with Maxine and Beyond himself. He abandons his allies to face what lies behind Door Z....Creature Z (a binary clone of Lizard and Morbius the Living Vampire). It all comes to a head as Ben begins to lose his artificially implanted memories of Peter Parker's life. The Beyond Corporation attempts to pit

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1092-412: A joyous Ben scoops up Kafka in his arms to thank her, but she tells him this is not appropriate. Later that evening Ben and Janine make preparations for a night on the town but Ben is called away to deal with a break-in at Beyond Branch C-47. Discovering Doctor Octopus , Ben battles the sinister six-armed scientist, managing to temporarily disable his tentacles with a spot of Beyond tech, but Doctor Octopus

1183-406: A later battle, Ben uses excessive force and regains scarring around an eye. Death explains he is still being tested and will manifest more scars again if he engages in corrupt behavior. Some time later, Ben injects Abigail with what seems to be a blood sample from the angel Gabriel, though Abigail succumbs to her fatal disease. The demon lord Mephisto then tricks Kaine into killing Reilly. However,

1274-586: A new and dangerous enemy they christen the Queen Goblin. Unable to remember Ben Parker's greatest lesson, Ben flees with Janine and leaves Mary Jane to the Goblin, but Janine and Ben talk things through, he lets her go to Peter's hospital bed and fetch him so he can rescue MJ. Peter eventually finds Ben, though Reilly struggles to recollect Peter The two team up and head to Beyond's villain depot, where they are joined by Colleen and Misty. Maxine Danger appears before Ben as

1365-514: A new version of the Carrion virus and replace people with genetically improved clones. Initially feeling lost, Peter works with the Jackal and his new henchman, an evil clone called Spidercide . Eventually, Peter joins Ben in stopping the Jackal who seemingly falls to his death. Ben concedes he has no desire to be Spider-Man again since he has evolved into a different person. After working with them to stop

1456-532: A new villain called Chasm. Due to his many resurrections in different clone bodies, the 2017–2018 comic series Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider states he has died and returned more than anyone else in the Marvel Universe , leading to him becoming favored by Lady Death . The character made his cinematic debut in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse voiced by Andy Samberg . Ben Reilly

1547-467: A six-issue miniseries titled Spider-Man: The Clone Saga that was a retelling of the story as it had originally been envisioned. In 2010, Marvel began collecting the story in trade paperback and hardcover forms ( ISBN   978-0785148050 ). The epic spans five books and covers Reilly's time on the road, through his encounters with Peter and Mary Jane Watson , up to his role as the Scarlet Spider, as

1638-485: A spiritual quest to redeem himself. This arc is completed in " Spider-Geddon " (2018), during which he sacrifices himself to protect others when his life force is absorbed by an enemy who inadvertently absorbs his many death traumas as well. Ben is then resurrected in a new clone body, his mind and soul healed and restored. During the events of the 2021–2022 storyline "Beyond", Ben temporarily became Spider-Man again, only for him to have his memories purged from him and becoming

1729-467: A therapy session. Ben makes an attempt to discuss his connection to Peter's Uncle Ben, but finds it hard even with his cloned memories to recollect something specific Ben had said to Peter long ago. Ben returns to his room, where his and Elizabeth/Janine's dinner plans are spoiled by yet another call to action. Ben is transported downtown where he stumbles upon Morbius, the Living Vampire in the midst of

1820-461: A utility belt and bulkier web-shooters. This Scarlet Spider costume was designed by artist Tom Lyle . When Peter Parker temporarily left the Spider-Man role, Ben became the new Spider-Man while wearing a new costume variation designed by artist Mark Bagley . However, Reilly dies at the hands of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin , sacrificing himself to save Parker who then resumes the Spider-Man role. In 2017's Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy story,

1911-780: A vigilante, he uses harsher methods than before, sometimes using a gun to deliver nonlethal injuries. Kaine Parker arrives in Las Vegas, desiring Ben's death for his actions as the Jackal. Reilly argues he is trying to cure Abigail Mercury's condition, but his untested serum backfires and kills the girl. Kaine attacks only to be seemingly killed by the embodiment of Death . Death explains no other person has been brought back to life as often as Ben and this has corrupted his soul; one more resurrection will likely shatter his soul and sanity. She offers to restore Abigail or Kaine to life, but Ben asks her to save both and take him instead. Impressed, Death heals Kaine and Abigail and removes Ben's scars. During

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2002-484: Is Elizabeth Tyne, a fugitive who killed her father after enduring incestuous rape. After Janine apparently commits suicide out of guilt for her crime, Reilly continues his travels. Five years after leaving New York City, Ben Reilly discovers May Parker suffered a stroke and may not recover. He returns to New York City, leading to a confrontation with the original Peter Parker who at this time is bitter, angry, and prone to violent rages following recent traumatic events. After

2093-410: Is able to get the better of Doctor Octopus this time. Soundly beaten, Doctor Octopus offers Ben information on why Beyond selected him. Ben discovers to his horror Beyond considers him emotionally compromised and easy to manipulate. Taking the drive with him and hiding it within his mask, Ben returns home to Janine. Secluded in the bathroom, he shatters a mirror in frustration. Ben talks with Kafka. Over

2184-480: Is able to resist Ben's Limbo and even inspire one of the demons to become a twisted version of Spider-Man dubbed "Rek-Rap". When Madelyne is convinced by the X-Men to put a stop to this, Ben steals Madelyne's staff, becoming the new king of Limbo. Peter and Rek-Rap then join forces with the mutants in defeating Ben's forces. Ben eventually falls, with Madelyne reclaiming her staff and becoming the ruler of Limbo once again. Ben

2275-612: Is able to trap Peter and most of his allies, including J. Jonah Jameson and other Daily Bugle staff, in a Limbo replica of New York. His goal is to torment Peter until his template gives up and eats a piece of fruit that will absorb his soul, allowing Ben to claim the memories that he feels Peter "stole" from him (his memory now warped so that he believes Peter smashed the memory transfer helmet out of deliberate malice rather than resisting because he didn't know what it would do to him), but Peter continually refuses to go through with this. Despite facing demonic versions of his usual enemies, Peter

2366-537: Is an alias used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics , most notably Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker , both of whom are genetic replicates of the superhero Spider-Man . Both the Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker incarnations of Scarlet Spider appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . Benjamin "Ben" Reilly, a clone of the original Spider-Man created by

2457-481: Is attacked by Kraven, Ben sees shapeless faces as part of his hallucinations, very much as Peter Parker has in recent times. He is taken by Kraven to an off shore ocean platform where the Hunter has captured other Beyond staff. Ben eventually recovers and beats Kraven, who escapes. Ben returns home to Elizabeth, while Maxine prepares to make a move against Miles Morales, who has turned down several legal requests to cease using

2548-435: Is dismissed, but successful clones of both Parker and Stacy with stable cell structures are later created. After multiple attacks on Spider-Man, the Jackal forces the hero and his clone to fight, each believing the other is the clone. The two team up to save Parker's colleague Ned Leeds and Gwen's clone. In the process, Warren and Spider-Man's clone appear to be killed in an explosion. Spider-Man's clone survives and realizes he

2639-416: Is herself now super-powered with the costumed alias "Hallows' Eve", but turns to Dr. Ashley Kafka again for help with his damaged memories. As Kafka intends and tries to harm instead of help Ben, both Peter and Janine save him from Kafka, and Ben seems to come out of it deciding to end any further issues and involvement with Peter and to make a future with Janine. Scarlet Spider The Scarlet Spider

2730-451: Is not simply 'asking'. When the U-Foes attack Empire State University, both Peter and Ben team up to stop them. The confrontation leads to one of the U-Foes unleashing a radio-volatile gas explosion. Ben's new Spider-Man suit is able to protect him, but this leaves Peter exposed and he is poisoned. Mary Jane and Peter's Aunt May are summoned by Ben to the hospital, with Ben posing as Peter over

2821-461: Is not the real Peter Parker. Rather than attempt to replace Parker, he leaves New York to embark on a nomadic life, dubbing himself "Ben Reilly" as a nod to his original self's uncle Ben Parker and May Parker 's maiden surname. During his travels, Ben Reilly befriends geneticist Seward Trainer , becoming the man's lab assistant and honing his scientific prowess to university graduate level under his mentorship. Ben trusts Trainer with his secrets and

Ben Reilly - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-445: Is still able to outwit and injure Ben through other means and successfully makes off with a computer drive containing classified information that Maxine Danger requests that Ben retrieve at all costs. Maxine also informs Ben he is becoming more of a liability and there were other options before him that Beyond were considering for the role of Spider-Man When Doctor Octopus attacks Maxine at Beyond headquarters, Ben comes to her rescue and

3003-537: Is then seen having been sent to prison in Limbo as part of a new treaty with New York, Madelyne and Peter expressing hope that Ben will be able to return to himself. The Orchis organization attempts to break Ben out from Limbo imprisonment to recruit him into their anti-mutant cause. Ben absolutely refuses to be any part of such and chooses to remain imprisoned. Afterwards, Pryor regards Ben's sentence fulfilled and permits him to escape on his own. Ben reunites with Janine, who

3094-545: The Onslaught -crossover, the Avengers , Fantastic Four , and others seemingly die. This leads Ben and Peter to later discuss the possibility of both operating as Spider-Men since New York is without many of its defenders now. Soon afterward, Trainer learns that Gaunt's secret boss is the long-thought-to-be-dead Norman Osborn . He attempts to warn Ben but is killed. After having both Ben and Peter captured, Osborn reveals himself to be

3185-484: The Carnage symbiote as Spider-Carnage which John Jameson helped in removing. He starts a relationship with Jessica Carradine, a student at Centennial University with a personal vendetta against Spider-Man, convinced the hero is a murderer. Ben later discovers her late father was the burglar who killed Ben Parker and went into foster care after the man's arrest. Jessica then reveals her father told her he had been framed by

3276-557: The Inheritors , vampiric beings who feed on the life force of animal totems, particularly Spider heroes across reality. Overhearing that the Inheritors plan to use New U Technologies to rebuild their cloning machine to ensure they can't die, Ben, still suffering from his evil soul, volunteers his services, wishing to prevent his technology from causing more harm. Octavius begrudgingly agrees only to apparently betray Ben later, by offering him to

3367-449: The Jackal , is the first major version of the Scarlet Spider. To continue his superhero activities, Peter Parker was forced to use the Scarlet Spider identity due to all of his Spider-Man costumes being ruined, while Ben Reilly pretended to be the former in prison. Joseph "Joe" Wade is the only character to operate as a villain under the Scarlet Spider alias. An undercover FBI agent, he

3458-399: The " Scarlet Spider " by Daily Bugle reporter Ken Ellis (a name Ben dislikes at first). Ben and Peter later reunite and discover the Jackal is alive. After Seward Trainer finds indicators that Peter is actually the clone and Ben the original, Peter and Ben use his equipment and come to the same results. This leads into Maximum Clonage where the Jackal hopes to eliminate the human race with

3549-514: The 2006 " Civil War " storyline, Peter Parker's identity is public and is wanted by authorities for being an unregistered superhero. Forced to go undercover, Peter briefly uses the pseudonym Ben Reilly and a holographic-disguise device given by the Beast . The Avengers Initiative program later assigns three clones of the hero MVP to aid in the capture of the Sinister Syndicate . These clones adopt

3640-405: The 2015 All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, in the form of the mysterious man in a brilliant red suit with a mask of Anubis , the jackal-headed Egyptian god of death. It is eventually revealed that Miles Warren survived Maximum Clonage and collected Ben's remains after the hero died at the hands of Norman Osborn. Warren clones Ben again, transferring all his memories including his death. When

3731-523: The Barbarian. Ben Reilly returned to New York City and started working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he was first inspired to create the Scarlet Spider identity. He was recruited by Tony Stark/Iron Man alongside a quickly assembled team of heroes that included Misty Knight, Gargoyle, Frog-Man, Halcyon, and Hellcat. They were brought on board to help Iron Man save a captured James Rhodes from

Ben Reilly - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-412: The Beyond personnel. Maxine Danger is at first hesitant to give Ben any anti-toxins in the event he develops a mutation from the bite that could enhance his powers, which would benefit Beyond greatly, but eventually is convinced to approve treatment. Afterwards, Ben and Elizabeth spend an evening together. As they share a kiss in the park, they are observed by the latest version of Kraven The Hunter . Ben

3913-507: The Carrion virus, Scarlet Spider joins the New Warriors for a brief time and develops an attraction to teammate Firestar . After a few more adventures, Peter is nearly killed in action and decides to retire as Spider-Man to be a better husband and father. He and Mary Jane leave New York City. During gang warfare between the second Doctor Octopus and Alistair Smythe , a holographic duplicate of

4004-511: The DC and Marvel realities to engage in a series of duels. Reilly is chosen to fight Superboy , the binary clone of Superman and Lex Luthor , and wins. Soon afterward, he and Superboy are temporarily merged into Spider-Boy , a hero of the Amalgam-Comics -universe created by a fusion of DC- and Marvel-realities. At the end of the crossover, the universes are restored and Ben is returned home. During

4095-574: The FBI put him in custody so Joe can undergo medical treatment to remove the technology. The Scarlet Spiders, secretly all clones of Michael Van Patrick, work with the Initiative and wear advanced versions of the Iron Spider armour. Kaine Parker, a clone of the original Spider-Man also created by the Jackal, is the fifth major version of the Scarlet Spider. In the alternate future MC2 , Felicity Hardy ,

4186-468: The Inheritors in exchange for leaving other Spiders alone. The Inheritor called Jennix takes Ben's life force, but also absorbs the experience of Ben's 27 deaths which drives the Inheritor insane, just as planned. Following his sacrifice and Jennix absorbing his death traumas, Octavius resurrects Ben a 28th time with his mindset and stability restored. Returning to Las Vegas, Ben Reilly continues to operate as

4277-534: The Marvel Point One one-shot that Kaine will be the new Scarlet Spider in his own ongoing series, which was confirmed by editor Steve Wacker in the "Letters to the Editor" page of #673. Later, Ben Reilly in his Scarlet Spider uniform appears to be fighting Kaine on the cover of Scarlet Spider #21. At the climax of the issue it is revealed that this is Kraven the Hunter impersonating Reilly. Ben Reilly returns in

4368-524: The Scarlet Spider and tries to restore his tarnished reputation by capturing thieves in the city of sin. Conan the Barbarian was also in the city on his quest for the powerful Serpent Crown when he was mistaken by Scarlet Spider for a criminal. He was caught off guard by Conan's ally Nyla Skin, which allowed Conan to easily take him out by throwing him into an electrical sign and knocking him out. While Reilly learned he had been making his rep among Las Vegas' criminal community, he didn't hold out long against Conan

4459-420: The Scarlet Spider replaced Spider-Man in all five of the comics' titles, which were renamed The Amazing Scarlet Spider , Web of Scarlet Spider , Scarlet Spider , Scarlet-Spider Unlimited , and The Spectacular Scarlet Spider . Reilly was also featured prominently in the supplemental material provided for the storyline, including Spider-Man: The Lost Years and Spider-Man: Clone Journals . The storyline

4550-466: The Scarlet Spider ruins Reilly's costumed reputation with a vicious rampage. Reilly decides to drop the Scarlet Spider identity. Ben Reilly adopts the Spider-Man identity with a new costume. Only a few heroes and villains realize this equivalent of Spider-Man is a different person than before. In his civilian life, Ben dyes his hair blonde and starts working at a café called the Daily Grind. He bonded with

4641-507: The Spider-Man trademark now that it is licensed by the Beyond corporation Ben checks in on Peter, only to find Felicia Hardy holding vigil by his bedside. Felicia makes it clear to Ben she does not approve of him using her ex-lover's costumed identity. Before they can argue further, they are summoned to the sanctum of the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange , where they are tasked by Classic Doctor Strange with several feats that

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4732-409: The actual physical matter of their headquarters to hide the evidence of their misdeeds. Despite suffering serious injuries, Peter survives, but Ben seems to be lost in the wreckage of the former Beyond Corporation headquarters. However, months later, Ben resurfaces - and he's undergone some changes due to his exposure to the "quantum-shifting polymers." The issues with Ben's memory have become worse, with

4823-452: The architect behind Parker's last few years of trauma, all part of a plan to drive the hero insane, including having Trainer create false lab results so he would mistakenly believe he was the clone and Reilly the original. Since Peter has withstood his many trials, Osborn has lost patience and decided to act directly. While Mary Jane is poisoned and loses her child in stillbirth, the original Goblin fights Parker. The battle ends when Reilly takes

4914-589: The blasts backfire on Bushwacker, severely crippling his arms and causing damage to the building. Ben is horrified and calls in the Beyond corporation, who assure him they will take care of the clean up operation, providing counselling for the hostages as well as a contractor to repair the building. Ben is impressed with the Beyond Corporation's services as well as the effectiveness of the new Spider-Man suit and agrees to join them. Beyond corp tell him to get rid of his Scarlet Spider outfit, comparing it to something

5005-422: The blood had indeed saved Abigail, but not in the form everyone thought. Abigail ascended to an angelic level of existence and decides to resurrect Ben since Mephisto overstepped his bounds by arranging the man to die earlier than he should. Ben refuses, remembering Death's warning that his soul will be shattered and he might become evil. Abigail assures him he's still a hero at heart and soon afterwards Ben awakes in

5096-414: The bodies of the reanimates, meaning the new airborne Carrion virus will now activate in most if not all of them. Reilly decides to let this plague spread across Earth so he can replace everyone with genetically improved reanimates, but his plan is stopped. With his own clone body breaking down, Reilly saves himself using New U Pills and Webware Technology, but now bears scars all over his face and body. After

5187-519: The character also featured in two intercompany crossovers DC vs. Marvel with DC Comics and Backlash/Spider-Man with Image Comics . Though the character has not been used in mainstream continuity since his death in Spider-Man #75, the character is often alluded to and provided the foundation to the backstory in the Spider-Girl mythology. In January 2009, Reilly returned to comics as Spider-Man in

5278-406: The character beyond this initial story in which he dies, Reilly returned to the comics during the "Clone Saga", which ran from October 1994 to December 1996 through all five of the concurrent Spider-Man titles — The Amazing Spider-Man , Web of Spider-Man , Spider-Man , Spider-Man Unlimited , and The Spectacular Spider-Man . Editor Danny Fingeroth directed the Spider-Man artists to design

5369-509: The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October 1975) and is seemingly killed in the same issue. The character returned and featured prominently in the 1994–96 " Clone Saga " storyline, adopting the "Scarlet Spider" alias with a costume similar to Spider-Man's consisting of a red spandex bodysuit and mask complemented by a blue sleeveless hoodie sweatshirt adorned with a large spider symbol on both sides, along with

5460-508: The character is revealed to be alive, his mind forcibly transferred to new clone bodies by the Jackal repeatedly before his resurrection was successful. Driven mad by the experience of being reborn and dying repeatedly, he became the new Jackal and started his own criminal enterprise. After being defeated by Spider-Man and others, Reilly reclaims his Scarlet Spider identity in the series Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider . Reimagined as an antihero , he first hopes to escape his past then embarks on

5551-488: The clone to ingest a pill on a daily basis to maintain their cellular composition, lest their flesh, muscles, organs, and bones deteriorate until only the nervous system, eyes, and brain remain. He eventually planned to save the human race from death and disease by killing everyone and transferring their memories to the super clones who could then continually have their memories transferred to new bodies if they ever suffered fatal injury, viewing these creations as continuations of

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5642-520: The course of their conversation, Ben reveals he no longer believes he is a clone. This is in part to Beyond, per Maxine's instructions, significantly altering his memories so he is more easily controllable. Realizing Ben is on to them, Beyond betrays both him and Kafka. Ben's mind is further tampered with, and he loses all sense of Uncle Ben's teachings about great responsibility, which later puts Janine and Mary Jane in great danger when they are confronted by Doctor Kafka, who has been transformed by Beyond into

5733-411: The daughter of Felicia Hardy and purportedly Flash Thompson , adopts the Scarlet Spider identity both to irritate her mother, and because she suspects Peter Parker may be her real father. She attempts to convince her possible half-sister Spider-Girl to take her on as a sidekick, but the latter refuses. Undeterred, she continues to fight crime until several near-death experiences cause her to give up

5824-509: The good doctor cannot deal with on account of their Doctor Strange having been very recently murdered. Over the course of this arduous evening fulfilling Strange's requests, Ben and Felicia come to an understanding, and Felicia begrudgingly accepts that, for now, Ben has earned the title of Spider-Man, but she is determined to get Peter out of bed and back on his feet. Ben attends therapy with Ashley Kafka, and talks about recent dreams he has had concerning Peter's Uncle Ben. The therapy pays off and

5915-510: The identities of the Scarlet Spiders, each wearing a copy of the high-tech Iron Spider suit. Later on, the villain Mister Hyde gives Spider-Man's powers to a person who wears Ben's Scarlet Spider suit. Ben's old associate turned enemy Damon Ryder, using the alias "Raptor", attacks Parker who is mistaken for Reilly and goaded by Kaine. Spider-Man defeats him. Ben Reilly appears as part of

6006-458: The increasingly unstable Ben against Peter, telling him they've built a device that can repair and restore the pieces of his memories and personality that Ben believes are fading away. But sensing a trap, Peter refuses to submit to the device, leading Ben to try and force him to use it. In the ensuing conflict, Ben is swept up under strange chemicals called "quantum-shifting polymers in a psycho-reactive medium" which are unleashed to rewrite and remake

6097-528: The legacy of his crime lord-father Vincente. Temporarily hiding from the mob, Jimmy-6 becomes Ben's roommate for a time. During the 1996 DC vs. Marvel inter-company crossover, Ben Reilly winds up in the parallel reality of DC Comics . Not sure how to return home, he temporarily gets a photographer-job at the Daily Planet under the name Peter Parker and meets top reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent . Eventually, two cosmic entities force fighters from both

6188-441: The literal holes in his visual memories where the faces of his loved ones used to be creeping into his actual perceptions, leaving Ben unable to even perceive his own face in the mirror. Perhaps even worse, he's now bathed in some kind of green and black energy that seems related to the shifting properties of the chemicals. Donning a twisted green and purple version of his Spider-Man suit, Ben declares his old self "dead," implying that

6279-527: The lone spider hero in New York. On July 25, 2010, at San Diego Comic-Con , fans expressed their desire to see a return of Ben Reilly. To this, assistant editor Tom Brennan replied, "It's being worked on". During the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, a teaser image was posted on Marvel.com of Reilly's shirt in flames, entitled "The return of The Scarlet Spider?" It is revealed in The Amazing Spider-Man #673 and

6370-421: The machine while Joe is still inside. This turned Joe into a mechanized version of the Scarlet Spider with superhuman strength and speed, claws on his fingertips, the ability to fire webbing from his wrists, crawl up walls, and fire laser "stingers" from his eyes. After the imposter goes on a rampage, the second Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) joins forces with the New Warriors to stop the cybernetic Scarlet Spider before

6461-447: The man becomes a father figure. During his travels, Reilly is hunted by Kaine , the scarred and resentful failed clone of Peter Parker. Later, Reilly works with scientist Damon Ryder, who mutates himself into a man/dinosaur hybrid. An attack by Kaine causes a fire that kills Ryder's family, though the scientist blames Reilly for this tragedy. At one point, Reilly finds love with college student Janine Godbe who then reveals her true identity

6552-450: The meantime suits up and confronts the U-Foes as Spider-Man Having triumphed over the U-Foes, Ben resumes training at Beyond with Colleen Wing and Misty Knight and meets with the head of superhero development at the company Maxine Danger , Maxine, annoyed that Ben had turned off his comms twice over the course of a few days, asks Ben if she can still rely upon his skills and service. Ben assures her he can and then visits Doctor Kafka for

6643-442: The memories and larger personality that once resided in his physical form have been erased, which seems to be confirmed by his inability to even perceive his own face, along with his previously established amnesia. Instead, all that's left within him is a chasm, giving his new villainous persona that name. As Chasm, Ben soon finds allies that assist him in his campaign against Peter such as Madelyne Pryor . Allied with Madelyne, Ben

6734-467: The new Jackal he improves the cloning process, now seeing his new clone creations as "reanimates," continuations of the original person rather than simply copies. His reanimates seem improved in many ways but carry a latent form of a new Carrion virus in their cells. Publicly, Reilly uses the company New U Technologies to offer cutting edge healing and organ replacement for people, even those with terminal conditions. Peter Parker, head of Parker Industries at

6825-420: The new body has problems with cellular degradation, Warren kills Ben and tries again. He does this many times, with Ben's memory transfer ensuring he recalls each death leading up to his stable 27th body. Traumatized by the memory of 26 deaths, Ben breaks free, defeats Warren, and decides to use his technology and operation to prevent anyone else from suffering the tragedy of death. He adopts a mask of Anubis and as

6916-414: The original person rather than copies and calling them "reanimates." After a final confrontation with Peter forces him to abandon his plans and resources, Ben relocates to Las Vegas. He initially tries to escape his past and punishment for his actions while being haunted by hallucinations, adopting the Scarlet Spider identity again. His experiences eventually help restore some of his sanity and set him back on

7007-468: The past. ... I came up with the title, "If I Kill Me, Will I Die?" It was basically a parody of an old overdramatic Stan Lee title, but I also thought it was a good title in general. So that's really what the impetus was - to raise the stakes, give us a good finish to the Gwen Stacy saga, and to allow me to have a little fun with the storytelling conventions of the time. Though Conway had no intention of using

7098-507: The path to be a hero, and his appearance in the 2018 Spider-Geddon storyline finishes the redemption arc. Professor Miles Warren, unhealthily obsessed with his late student Gwen Stacy who died at the Green Goblin's hands, attempts various experiments, learning Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Blaming the web-slinger for marking Gwen as a target, the Jackal attempts to clone the hero. Parker's first clone suffers from clone degeneration and

7189-555: The phone. Aunt May is less convinced than MJ that Ben is Peter, but goes anyway. Ben arrives, much to MJ's annoyance, and tells Peter he's not good with asking for things, so says his 'therapist' Ashley Kafka 's clone, but now he feels compelled to try. Peter gives Ben his blessing to be Spider-Man. When Ben departs, Peter tells MJ he wanted to wait until he was out of earshot and sight before confessing that he can't feel anything in his body. He goes into convulsions and doctors scramble to stabilize him, but they appear to be losing him. Ben in

7280-467: The reborn android from the future known as Korvac as he attempted to attain cosmic godhood once again by stealing power from Galactus' worldship. At some as-yet unspecified point, Ben returns to Earth and is recruited by the Beyond Corporation , taking on the mantle of Spider-Man for a second time. He takes a newly modified costume designed by Beyond into the field when Bushwacker seizes control of

7371-470: The same childhood memories. Ben introduces Peter to the Daily Grind staff as his "cousin". Reilly's former lover Janine Godbe is revealed to be alive, forced to fake her death years ago by Kaine as a means of hurting Ben. After multiple confrontations, Kaine accepts he has been avoiding responsibility for his actions and turns himself over to the authorities. Inspired, Janine does the same. Ben befriends Giachomo " Jimmy-6 " Fortunato, who does not wish to follow

7462-439: The slip using one of his costume's devices to trap him. Ben eventually arranges a meeting with Peter where he confesses to being the Spider-Man he encountered earlier. He informs Peter of his recent recruitment by Beyond and that they have acquired, through the remains of Parker Industries, the rights and license to the Spider-Man name. Peter tells Ben he can't just ask for a piece of his life in this manner, but Ben makes it clear he

7553-425: The storyline Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy , where it was revealed that he was repeatedly killed and resurrected by the Jackal as the villain tried to perfect a new cloning process. Broken by the memory and experience of over two dozen deaths, Ben took control of the Jackal's scheme, even adopting the villain's name for himself, and created a new cloning process that included a better memory transfer but required

7644-408: The third part of Marvel's X-Men / Spider-Man miniseries. Written by Christos Gage , the series explores episodes in the histories of both the X-Men and Spider-Man, sticking thoroughly to the source material of the time frames that the stories take place in. Issue #3 marked the first new adventure featuring Reilly in more than 12 years. Starting in 2009 , and continuing into 2010 , Marvel published

7735-407: The time, becomes suspicious and investigates. Reilly later reveals himself and shows he has resurrected people whose deaths have caused Spider-Man guilt, all of whom now live in a neighborhood-like facility called "Haven." Reilly asks Peter to join him and but the latter concludes the new Jackal is using power without considering the responsibility of his actions. A signal is activated that destabilizes

7826-403: The two handle a hostage situation at the mental hospital Ravencroft Institute, Peter attempts to reclaim his humanity and Ben decides to remain in the city for a while. When Venom ( Eddie Brock ) goes on a rampage, Reilly decides to stop Venom, donning a red bodysuit along with a blue spider hoodie he buys at a museum. Armed with improved web-shooters he developed, he defeats Venom and is dubbed

7917-429: The web-slinger for Ben Parker's murder. She blames the wall-crawling vigilante not only for taking away her parent, but for his death during another encounter with Spider-Man, unwilling to believe it was simply a heart-attack brought on by stress. After Jessica discovers Ben is Spider-Man, she confronts the truth of her father. Ultimately accepting that Spider-Man is a hero when she sees him risk his life to save people from

8008-402: Was assigned to investigate the second Doctor Octopus . Doctor Octopus discovers Joe and traps his body in a virtual reality chamber before using his thoughts to power a hard-light holographic duplicate of the Scarlet Spider to tarnish his name. Despite this, Joe is unable to stop himself from committing acts of violence. The true Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly) attacks Doctor Octopus' lair, damaging

8099-428: Was first featured as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 as a nameless clone of Peter Parker who seemingly dies alongside his creator the Jackal, who had also created a clone of Parker's lost love Gwen Stacy . The events of the issue were later revisited in several comics such as What If #30. Asked why he created the character, writer Gerry Conway explained: One of the things I was trying to do at that time

8190-480: Was later revisited in What If (vol. 2) #86. Reilly was passed the mantle of Spider-Man and was featured throughout the Spider-Man titles The Amazing Spider-Man , The Spectacular Spider-Man , Spider-Man , Spider-Man Unlimited , and The Sensational Spider-Man , which replaced Web of Spider-Man as an ongoing monthly title. Reilly remained as the featured Spider-Man between January and December 1996. During this period,

8281-495: Was take ideas to their logical, yet absurd conclusion, reductio ad absurdum . The idea was that if we have Gwen Stacy brought back as a clone, how can I up the stakes when I get rid of her? When I write her out of the book, what can I do to make that really effective and to punctuate it, to bring it to the next level? And I thought, if we can clone Gwen, we can certainly clone Peter. I was also at that time enamored with titles that played off of old, melodramatic Stan Lee titles of

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