Benjamin "Ben" Reilly (also the
Scarlet
Spider, the second
Spider-Man and
Spider-Carnage) is a
fictional character in the
Marvel Comics Universe. He is a
clone of Peter Parker (
Spider-Man), and is prominent in the
Clone Saga. He first appeared in
The Amazing Spider-Man #149
(October 1975).
Publication history
Reilly was first featured as Spider-Man in
Amazing Spider-Man
#149. The issue was later revisited in
What If vol. 1 # 30.
The character returns to the comics during the
Clone Saga, which ran from October 1994 to
December 1996 through all five of the then running Spider-Man
titles,
Amazing
Spider-Man,
Web of
Spider-Man,
Spider-Man,
Spider-Man Unlimited,
and
Spectacular
Spider-Man. Between November 1995 and December 1995,
Scarlet Spider replaced Spider-Man in the four featured
Spider-titles, becoming
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 would later be revisited in
What
If vol. 2 # 86.
Reilly was passed the mantle of Spider-Man and was featured through
the Spider-Man titles
Amazing Spider-Man,
Spectacular
Spider-Man,
Spider-Man,
Spider-Man Unlimited
and
Sensational
Spider-Man which replaced
Web of Spider-Man as an
on-going monthly title. Reilly remained as the featured Spider-Man
between January 1996 until December 1996. During this period, the
character also was featured in
Marvel vs.
DC.
Though the character has not been utilized in mainstream continuity
since Peter Parker has resumed as Spider-Man, the character is
often alluded to and provided the foundation to the backstory in
Spider-Girl mythology. In January 2009,
Ben Reilly returned to comics as Spider-Man in the third part of
Marvel's
X-Men/
Spider-Man mini-series. Written by
Christos Gage, the series explores various
times in the histories of both the
X-Men and
Spider-Man, sticking thoroughly to the source material of the
timeframes the stories take place in. Issue number three marked the
first new starring adventure of Ben Reilly in more than twelve
years.
Ben Reilly has been seen on the cover of the upcoming Marvel
Spotlight issue set to be released in August. Little is known about
the issue, but it said that "the REAL Clone Saga is laid bare,"
leaving many fans of the clone saga wondering if the Scarlet Spider
will be returning.In a recent interview about
Spider-Man Annual
#36, writer Marc Guggenheim was quoted as saying, “How about
reintroducing a character whose last name is ‘Reilly’? How about
the introduction of a new villain who will play a pivotal role in
the upcoming series arc, ‘Who Was Ben Reilly?’” Guggenheim opened
by saying that they would be introducing several "very important
characters" who will play a significant role in Amazing Spider-Man
#600. The "Who Is Ben Reilly" arc in Amazing Spider-Man focuses on
a short unexplored time in Reilly's life on the road, introducing a
character that interacted with him and bringing back Kaine.
On September 30, 2009 issue #1 of Spider-Man: The Clone Saga will
be released. On the cover is the Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man
presumably fighting. The product description on marvel.com reads:
"The Story: You’ve been asking for it… and now it’s here: THE CLONE
SAGA!!! Marvel’s most controversial event of all time returns with
a vengeance, presenting the Clone Saga as it was originally
intended to be told! From the minds behind the crossover that
changed comics forever and the artist that introduced Spider-Man to
President Obama, it’s six issues of twists and turns that will
shock fans old and new alike! Be here as Peter Parker’s worst
nightmare begins again…now with an ending you have to see to
believe!"
Fictional character biography
Creation
Ben Reilly is the
Jackal's
second wholly successful clone—the first is the clone of
Gwen Stacy, and the first Spider-Man clone,
Kaine, is flawed. Through arcane science, the
clone was imprinted with Peter Parker's memories and actually
believed himself the original.
After Parker was captured by the Jackal, both
Parker and Reilly found themselves in Spider-Man costumes at
Shea
Stadium
, and fought briefly before teaming up in an attempt
to save the Gwen clone and Ned
Leeds. In the process, the clone appeared to be killed,
and Spider-Man, fearful of the consequences of "Peter Parker's"
body turning up while he was still alive, dropped the "body" in a
smokestack after confirming that he was the original (Based on the
fact that he instinctively thought of
Mary Jane Watson when facing death while
the clone should still have loved
Gwen
Stacy). The clone survived and escaped from the smokestack.
Naming himself "Ben Reilly" after his uncle and aunt,
Ben Parker and
May Reilly
respectively, and taking some old clothes Parker had intended to
donate to charity, he left New York deeply depressed.
Five years on the road
Stricken with
influenza, Ben met
Seward Trainer, a scientist secretly
blackmailed by agents of the
Green
Goblin into keeping track of him. Trainer helped Reilly in two
ways. First, Trainer helped the sick and depressed clone to get
back on his feet. Second, when Reilly returned to his life of
wandering, Trainer supplied references to allow Reilly to obtain
jobs; the references were never effective enough for a long-term
life, but they allowed Reilly to make some kind of life for himself
during his travels. Reilly came to see Trainer as a father figure,
and he trusted Trainer completely. During this time, Reilly was
hunted by a failed clone of Peter Parker named
Kaine (after the biblical
Cain).
Kaine believed Reilly to be the real Peter Parker and hated his
"brother" for being real (while admiring the "clone" Parker living
Parker's life).
Three
years after his creation, Reilly got a job in Salt Lake City
as a research and teaching assistant, thanks
largely to Trainer's references. There, he met a woman who
called herself Janine Godbe, a waitress in a diner that Ben was
eating in. Janine initially resisted involvement with Reilly, and
then revealed she was really a
child
abuse victim named Elizabeth Tyne who had killed her abusive
father, changed her name (she regarded 'Elizabeth' as being a
victim, and wanted to escape that) and ran away to escape her
crime. Expecting to be rejected, Tyne was shocked when Reilly
instead trusted her enough to reveal his spider-powers and the fact
that he was a clone to her. Equally prepared for rejection, Reilly
was relieved when she accepted him for who he was, even teasingly
calling him 'Spider-Man'.
While in Salt Lake City, Ben Reilly (and later Kaine) became
involved in fighting against the Tannen criminal gang, wearing a
makeshift costume of green, mummy-like bandages. When Janine's
identity was revealed, the two were forced to flee. After Kaine,
who possessed the same fingerprints as Reilly and Parker, killed
corrupt policewoman Louise Kennedy (a woman he had come to love
before the truth about her was revealed to Kaine), the police
believed Reilly was the culprit and Detective Raven pursued them
both, despite Reilly having saved him and his son from mobsters.
Reilly and Tyne were on the run together for a year until Kaine
forced her to leave Reilly, dropping a dead clone of her off a
bridge to make Reilly think she had died. Meanwhile, Kaine
continued killing, attempting to frame Reilly for the
murders.
At some point, Reilly got a job as a lab assistant to a scientist
named Damon Ryder. The two became close friends during their work
searching for proof of dinosaurs being human ancestors, with Ben
meeting Ryder's wife and children. However, he soon discovered that
Ryder had experimented on himself with velociraptor genes in an
attempt to further their research. When he confronted him, Ryder
grew angry and the two argued. As Ryder began to mutate, Reilly met
him at his home, not knowing that Kaine was tracking him and was
waiting outside. Kaine jumped in and attacked. During the ensuing
fight, Damon's house was set ablaze. Having gone mad, Damon
murdered his own family, though he did not realize it and blamed
Ben. Furious with what he has done, Reilly beat him unconscious,
with Kaine commenting that the events that unfolded would no doubt
cause problems in the future.
As well as fighting Kaine, Reilly would sporadically and rarely
engage in heroics; although he disliked playing the hero as it
reminded him of the life he'd never lived as Peter Parker, he found
himself unable to ignore his spider-sense when it went off with
sufficient force. It would be revealed later that he had fought the
mystical villain D'Spayre and a psychopathic showman named
Wild-Whip during his time on the road.
Return to New York
Two years later, Reilly discovered that
May
Parker was dying from a stroke, so he returned to New York.
There, Reilly encountered Peter Parker, who has become bitter and
angry following several consecutive tragedies. While they initially
came to blows, they quickly began working together. Soon after,
Reilly donned a makeshift costume, and was dubbed the "Scarlet
Spider" by the press - a name that took him some time to hear
without wincing. As the Scarlet Spider, Reilly decided to take down
Venom. Although a clone of
Spider-Man, Ben was able to use his spider-sense to anticipate the
attacks of Venom, as Reilly was never bonded to the symbiote. Venom
did sense that Ben was not the Spider-Man responsible for their
creation, but vowed to kill Reilly anyway. Reilly ended up
separating Eddie Brock and the symbiote, by physically tearing the
symbiote away from its host.
For a brief time, the Scarlet Spider was a member of the
New Warriors, though none of the members of the
team really fully accepted this. When Peter Parker was arrested for
Kaine's murders, Ben switched places with him so Peter could remain
free and uncover the truth, allowing him to use the Scarlet Spider
costume for a brief time. Ben was finally forced to drop the
Scarlet Spider identity when, after getting involved in a
technological gang war between
the second
Doctor Octopus and
Alistair
Smythe, a holographic evil version of the Scarlet Spider was
created and ruined his reputation in a vicious rampage.
Spider-Man
He later became the replacement Spider-Man for a time at the
original's request, when Parker retired to raise his unborn child.
This was at a time when both men had been misled by Seward Trainer
(who was still working under orders from Norman Osborn, the Green
Goblin) into believing that Ben was the original and Peter was the
clone. Osborn hoped that this revelation that his life was a lie
would make his nemesis give up. Reilly started working at a
restaurant called the Daily Grind and spent a year in the role,
battling villains new and old. The change in costume initially
prompted the Daily Bugle to claim there was a new Spider-Man, but
Ben, with the help of Mary Jane, threw them off the scent and the
story was dropped. Only
Venom and
Silver Sable— and through Sable's
deductions,
Sandman and the
Human Torch— ever seemed to realize that
they were dealing with a different Spider-Man to the one with which
he was familiar, although Ben also told
Daredevil and the Torch the truth.
A recently-published storyline revealed that the X-Men were also
aware of the 'substitution' when Ben proved ignorant of the X-Men's
discovery that a past attack on the X-Men by
Kraven the Hunter had been done at the
bidding of
Mister Sinister.
Spider-Carnage
During the
Web of Carnage arc, Ben Reilly was
bonded with the symbiote
Carnage.
While incarcerated at
Ravencroft, the
symbiote left Cletus Kassidy and bonded with
John Jameson. While trying to stop a
rampaging Jameson, the symbiote changes host to bond with Reilly to
form
Spider-Carnage. Throughout this period, Ben
struggled for control of himself, trying to prevent it from taking
over.
Ben Reilly decides the only person able to help him rid himself of
the Carnage symbiote is Peter Parker. After arriving at Ben
Reilly's apartment, Peter, unaware that Ben is bonded with Carnage,
turns the conversation toward resolving the mystery of the skeleton
found in the smoke stack, which testing showed also was a clone of
Peter Parker. Ben's internal thought struggle to kill Peter Parker
then becomes more and more intense until Ben tells Peter to
leave.
After Peter's departure, Ben continues to struggle with thoughts of
killing Peter Parker. The symbiote convinces Ben that he has to
protect Seward Trainer from Parker, who was on his way to visit
Seward in the hospital to find out what he knew about the cloned
skeleton. As Ben continues to struggle with thoughts of killing
Peter Parker, he finds himself on the roof of the hospital fighting
for control of himself. The symbiote nearly dominates Ben Reilly as
hospital security guards attempt in vain to engage him. The rooftop
fight causes Peter Parker to investigate and he is surprised to
find a "Spider-Carnage". Spider-Carnage immediately attacks Parker
and nearly knocks him off the roof of the hospital. Peter reaches
out to Ben Reilly and pleads with him to fight the symbiote that is
nearly in complete control of him. Ben barely regains control of
himself and warns Peter to stay away from Seward or he would not be
responsible for his actions against Peter.
Reilly was eventually able to free himself of the symbiote, after a
long inner battle with the creature, overcoming it with the
strength of his character. Shortly after separating from Ben, the
symbiote rejoined with Kassidy. Seward Trainer disappeared while
Ben fought his battle with the Carnage symbiote. Ben had his bank
account frozen and his possessions stolen before, finally, the
Grind was burned down and Ben was framed for
arson.
Blood Brothers
It is revealed that the
Hobgoblin
was behind many of these events, on the orders of the mysterious
Gaunt and the company Multivex. It
was later revealed that the true mastermind behind all this was the
original
Green Goblin: Norman
Osborn.
Janine Godbe and Kaine returned to Ben's life but it was not
destined to be a happy reunion; Kaine had deliberately brought her
back in order to traumatize Ben by taking her away again, tipping
off the police to her crimes and whereabouts and forcing the two
lovers to go on the run (Ben appeared to be ready to abandon New
York, saying that his life as Peter Parker was over and the people
he loved back then were irrelevant). Although Kaine was convinced
by his 'brother' to give himself up to the police after saving Ben
and Janine from a burning diner (despite the fact that Kaine caused
the fire himself), Janine also decided to stop running. Following
Kaine's example, she was prepared to accept Ben's previous advice
that she should entrust herself to the law and hope that the truth
about her father's murder would be enough to keep her alive.
Revelations and death
Ultimately, Reilly died saving the original Spider-Man from the
original Green Goblin, revealed to have survived his last fight
with Spider-Man, intercepting the Goblin Glider as it flew towards
Peter. The glider struck his spine and sent Ben falling to the
ground, crashing into a taxi below him, leaving him in poor
condition. As he lay dying, Ben told Peter that, clone or not,
Peter was now Spider-Man and would have to carry on for Ben, and
for Peter to tell his unborn child of her "Uncle Ben". After dying,
Reilly's body decomposed rapidly, Spider-Man barely managing to get
Ben's body out of public sight before it collapsed, revealing
Trainer's deceptions and proving once and for all that Ben had
actually been the clone. This sacrifice, coupled with the
concurrent "stillbirth" of his child, led Parker to reclaim the
Spider-Man identity, his last words to Ben's remains being "Rest
easy... brother".
Post-Mortem
Marvel Knights Spider-Man
During the "Venomous" arc, Peter thinks of those close to him that
he's lost, including "poor old Ben Reilly".
Civil War
During the
Civil War,
Peter Parker used the
pseudonym Ben Reilly as well as a holographic disguise device given
to him by
Beast.
The Initiative
While on a mission to depower Spider-Man, the Initiative employed
three "
Spider-Men" in the
Iron Spider costume to aid in the capture of the
Sinister Syndicate. They were
called Scarlet Spiders by
War Machine.
Two are killed, with the final continuing to use the identity in
current Avengers Initiative comics.
One of the people
Mister Hyde
gave Spider-Man's powers to appears in a costume that Ben wore as
the Scarlet Spider in a jail cell, where the real Spider-Man had
put him.
"Who Was Ben Reilly?"
Years after Reilly's death, a super-powered Damon Ryder (going by
the name "Raptor") appears during Aunt May's engagement party in
Boston. Having stalked the Reillys for some time to find Ben, he
instead sees Peter and attacks him. Peter is able to sneak off and
change into his costume. The two battle and Raptor claims to be
after Ben Reilly, who murdered his family. The news shocks Peter
and Raptor escapes. Later investigating by Peter reveals that
Ryder's entire family was killed in a fire started by an arsonist,
and that he gave a police sketch of the arsonist that looks exactly
like Peter and Ben.
Ryder then appears in New York City and confronts Peter, still
believing him to be Ben Reilly and repeatedly calling him "Ben".
The two fight in the middle of the office of Frontline after Raptor
threatens to target Peter's family. Ryder gains the upperhand
before Peter's coworkers get in the way, then leaves after handing
over the article on the arsonist, with
Ben
Urich noting that it appears to be Peter in the sketch. Ryder
ditches his jacket not knowing a spider-tracer was on it, and heads
to Peter's apartment to seemingly attack his roommate. After a
scuffle with Kaine, Peter returns to his apartment and finds his
roommate unharmed, though she gave him the address of Aunt May's
home. Peter heads there, only to find Raptor holding
Harry Osborn and his cousins hostage at
gunpoint. As Raptor announces his plans to burn his friends and
family to death right in front of him after he admits his "true
identity" as Ben Reilly, Kaine arrives, revealing that he has been
working with Raptor. Kaine exposes both Peter's identity and his
status as a "clone" of Reilly to Raptor, encouraging him to kill
him, since if Reilly is a murderer, then Peter could be driven to
kill as well. Refusing to accept this, Peter beats Raptor
unconscious, while affirming his and Reilly's innocence and the
fact that they would never murder anyone. He is forced to flee when
the police arrive, so Kaine and Raptor escape.
Powers and Equipment
As Peter Parker's clone, Ben Reilly possesses powers identical to
that of Spider-Man. His powers include superhuman strength, speed
and agility, a precognitive "spider-sense" warning him of danger,
and the spider-like ability to cling to almost any surface,
referred to as "wallcrawling". Reilly's reflexes operate up to 40
times faster than those of a normal person, while his strength
allows him to lift 140 times his own weight, although he has been
proven to lift much more. And because Reilly was out of commission
as Spider-Man while on the road for five years, his fighting style
is "less polished" than that of Parker's. However, as per the
"Spider-Man Encyclopedia", Reilly actually seems to enjoy fighting
more than Parker.
In the
five years that Ben Reilly wandered America
he had time
to improve over Peter Parker's original web-shooters. Worn
on the outside of his costume, Reilly's web-shooters have no
trigger on the inside palm, instead utilizing a twist of the wrist
to fire webbing. In addition, two new weapons were designed to aid
crime fighting. Impact webbing was fired out as miniature
web-pellets that exploded on contact, encasing a target within a
web cocoon and rendering them virtually immobile. Stingers were
small diamond-shaped darts coated with a paralytic chemical agent
for incapacitating opponents. Like Spider-Man, Ben also wore a belt
that contained spare web cartridges should he need
replacements.
Other versions
MC-2
- In the alternate future known as MC2, Ben
Reilly's 'niece', May Parker aka Spider-Girl, wears Ben's version of the
Spider-Man costume and webshooters, having been raised on tales of
her heroic 'Uncle Ben'. Like her father, May has an Uncle Ben. However, unlike her dad, May never knew
her uncle: Ben Reilly, Spider-Man's clone. His last words before
his death are about her: "Take care of my 'niece,' Peter... tell
her about... her Uncle Ben" (Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol.
1 #75). Her first costume and web-shooters are in fact his, kept in
storage since his death. When May asks her father about him,
however, Peter leaves out the fact that Ben was really a clone,
instead referring to him as a cousin.
If May has any children in the future, they too would have an Uncle
Ben - May's baby brother. As
Peter and MJ named May after Peter's Aunt
May, May asks which Uncle Ben the newborn is named after: her
Uncle Ben, or Peter's Uncle Ben. Peter asks if it really matters,
and May simply responds, "I guess not".
- Ben Reilly had a son by Janine Godbe (Elizabeth Tyne), named
Reilly Tyne, who became the superhero known as Darkdevil after Kaine tried to save his 'nephew'
from cellular degeneration. Later in the series, Kaine
reformed.
- Felicity Hardy, the daughter of
Felicia Hardy (Black Cat),
assumes the Scarlet Spider identity in an attempt to become
partners with Spider-Girl. May's father Peter
Parker is angry at what he sees as an inappropriate use of the
identity.
Ultimate Ben Reilly
In the
Ultimate Universe, Ben
Reilly appeared in
Ultimate
Spider-Man as an African-American lab assistant at Empire
State University, working with
Curt Connors. As such, he is
not a clone or connected to Peter Parker in this continuity. He was
involved in the creation of
Ultimate Carnage by
combining DNA from Curt Connors with that of
Spider-Man, blended with ingredients from "The
Suit" (better known as
Venom), making
Ultimate Carnage something of a clone of Spider-Man. Incidentally,
he refers to Carnage (before its escape) as "Little Ben". At the
end of the arc, he stole a second Spider-Man blood sample from the
lab.
It was revealed that after Ben took the blood sample, he managed to
create the five Spider-Man clones while under the employ of the
CIA. However, Carnage attacked the lab and the
four clones escaped. One of the clones is an amalgam of Ben Reilly
and Kaine of the 616 Universe. He has Kaine's insane personality
and facial scars, and wears a tattered makeshift version of Ben
Reilly's costume. The character of
Ultimate
Spider-Woman more or less plays the same role that Scarlet
Spider from the original Clone Saga did.
What If?
Volume 1
What If? v.1 #30 "What If
Spider-Man's Clone Had Lived", depicts a world where, after the
Jackal's bomb explodes at Shea Stadium, both Spider-Men are knocked
unconscious and the clone awakens before the original.
The clone, believing that he is the genuine Peter Parker, puts his
counterpart in stasis in one of the Jackal's clone-growing devices
and attempts to continue with life as normal. However, as the
clone's memories only extend to the point, several months prior,
where the cell samples he had been grown from were taken, he is
confused and lost in the world of the real Peter Parker. This
memory gap, combined with the discovery of the Jackal's notes on
his cloning process, leads the clone to realize what he truly is,
and he frees the real Parker just in time for the two of them to
confront a threat from the
Kingpin
(with the original acting as Spider-Man and the clone as Peter
Parker).
Afterwards, the clone prepares to leave to seek his own fortune,
but ultimately accepts an offer from the original to co-operate in
"shifts", switching off between being Parker and Spider-Man. In
this story, the clone never establishes a separate name for
himself, and is referred to as "Spider-Clone", "brother" or "bro"
by the original Parker.
Volume 2
What If? v. 2 #86 ("What
If Scarlet Spider Killed Spider-Man") gives an alternate ending of
the
Clone Saga. During the time
Spider-Man is under The
Jackal's
control, The Scarlet Spider and
Spider-Man fight until there is an explosion.
Ben's body is later found washed ashore and Peter is believed to be
dead. Ben awakes in the hospital to find Peter's friends and family
around his bed believing him to be Peter.
A little more than a year later Ben and
Mary Jane discover that their baby, May, is
dying of blood poisoning. One night Ben wakes up to find that May
has been kidnapped. Ben goes searching for her and runs into the
Green Goblin. The Goblin reveals that
he is behind the "clone saga" and needs May's blood for a
serum.
The two
battle atop the same bridge
where Gwen Stacy was
killed. During the struggle, they both fall into the river
below. Ben resurfaces with possession of the Goblin's mask and the
serum. He returns home to find that Mary Jane has discovered that
he is really Ben Reilly. The two part with Mary Jane telling Ben to
find his own identity, something he's never had the chance to do
before.
There is a possibility, that the Spider-Girl that appeared in
Paradise X, as a member of Heralds, was
in fact the adult May from this world.
Marvel Zombies
Someone in the Scarlet Spider uniform is in a large group shot in
the one-shot:
"Marvel Zombies:
Dead Days".
Spider-Man: Clone Saga
September 2009 saw the launch of a six issue mini-series based on
the original clone saga of the 1990's, titled Spider-Man: The Clone
Saga. The writers explain in the first issue that the purpose of
the mini-series was to tell the story as it was initially
conceived. As such, it is a condensed version of the Clone Saga
with the excess plot points involving Traveler, Scrier, and others
cut out, while still being set over a several month period.
The first issue introduced readers to both Ben Reilly and
Kaine, as well as addressed Mary-Jane's pregnancy and
Aunt May's hospitalization. Ben and Peter bond after Kaine attacks
them, and Ben decides to stay in New York pretending to be Peter's
blond haired cousin so he can build a life of his own. He also
adopts the identity of the Scarlet Spider and begins working at the
Daily Grind.
He and Peter later work with Kaine to reach the lair of the shadowy
figure responsible for infecting Mary Jane and Aunt May with a
deadly genetic virus. The mysterious villain is revealed to be a
still-living Jackal, who captures all three and reveals that he
plans to make an army of Spider-Clones to take over the world.
Since Ben was the only clone to ever turn out stable, Jackal takes
a sample of his blood to perfect his cloning technique of Peter,
while noting mixing the two would be catastrophic. When Jackal
reveals yet another stage of his plan - to clone Gwen Stacy and
another unknown figure - Kaine goes beserk and breaks all three
free. During the subsequent fight, the clones desolve and Jackal
plants the first seed of doubt over who is the original Peter
Parker. After Kaine kills Jackal, Ben and Peter escape with the
cure, saving Aunt May and Mary Jane. At this point, Peter decides
to retire and hands the Spider-Man identity over to Ben.
In other media
Television
- Scarlet Spider made his first animated appearance on the
Fantastic
Four TV episode "Nightmare In Green," in which Dr. Doom fools Hulk
into believing that the Fantastic
Four are his enemies. While Hulk's friend Rick Jones is hanging out with Human Torch, the shadowed figure of the Scarlet
Spider can be seen hanging underneath a building ledge.
- Scarlet Spider's second TV appearance was made in the
X-Men animated series. In episode 46 "One Man's Worth,
Part 1", aired in the 95-96 season, he's briefly featured in one of
the scenes depicting a large battle.
- Ben Reilly's alternate universe counterpart also appeared in
the final season of Spider-Man: The Animated
Series. In the storyline "Spider
Wars", numerous versions of Spider-Man from different realities
teamed up, including Ben Reilly as the Scarlet Spider. As he
explains his origins, he and Spider-Carnage, the main villain of
this series finale, realize they are related - Reilly is his clone
or maybe Spider-Carnage is his clone. None of them are sure because
the Miles Warren in their reality had robbed them of their past.
Apparently, it hints that maybe Reilly is the real Spider-Man and
Spider-Carnage is the clone, due to the difference in their genetic
structures. In the scene where Ben explains his story involving
multiple spider-clones, Spider-Man remarks "This is starting to
sound like a bad comic book plot!", an in-joke nod to the Clone Saga
- Although Peter Parker is featured as Spider-Man in Spider-Man Unlimited, his
side-cropped blonde hair in the series is designed similarly to Ben
Reilly's hair as seen in Reilly's time as a substitute Spider-Man
in the comics.
Toys
Ben Reilly has received numerous action figures over the years
since his creation, continuing even after the character's death:
- 1996: Reilly, as the Scarlet-Spider, as an action figure by
ToyBiz in the "Marvel OverPower Card Game -
PowerSurge Invincibles" toyline.
- 1996: Reilly, as New Spider-Man with venom containment gear,
featured as an action figure by ToyBiz
- 1997: Reilly, as Spider-Carnage, featured as an action figure
by ToyBiz in the Spider-Man/Venom - Along
came a Spider toyline.
- 2002: Reilly as Scarlet Spider was a KB
Toys exclusive in the Spider-Man
Classics toyline.
- 2004: "Web Attack Spider-Man" in Spider-Man Classic Series 8
was painted like Reilly's Spider-Man suit.
- 2005: Spider-Ben and Spider-Carnage Minimates were available in Series 10.
- 2007: A Scarlet Spider Minimate was
sold with Hobgoblin.
- 2008: Ben Reilly, in his redesigned Spider-Man costume,
received a figure in the Ares Build-A-Figure series of Marvel Legends. Although he's in his
Spider-Man costume, his figure is labeled as "Scarlet Spider" to
differentiate him from Peter Parker versions. Additionally, one of
the pictures on the package is not Ben Reilly at all, but art from
the cover of Spider-Girl
#94.
Video games
- He appeared in the 2000 Spider-Man video game two
alternate costumes for Spider-Man (as Scarlet Spider and as
Spider-Man). These costumes later reappeared in the sequel,
Spider-Man 2: Enter
Electro. In both games, neither costume grants extra
abilities.
- The Scarlet Spider is an alternate costume for Spider-Man in
the video game Marvel:
Ultimate Alliance.
- Ben Reilly's Spider-man costume as well as his Spider-Carnage
costume are unlockable for the Wii version of "Spider-Man: Web of Shadows".
Bibliography
Scarlet Spider titles
- Amazing Scarlet Spider #1-2 (Marvel Comics, November 1995 - December
1995)
- Scarlet Spider #1-2 (Marvel
Comics, November 1995 - December 1995)
- Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 (November 1995)
- Spectacular Scarlet Spider #1-2 (Marvel Comics, November 1995 - December
1995)
- Web of Scarlet Spider #1-2 (Marvel Comics, November 1995 - December
1995)
While
Web of Scarlet Spider #3-4 (
Marvel Comics, January 1996 - February 1996)
exist, they starred a different Scarlet Spider, although Ben Reilly
appeared (as Spider-Man) in issue #4.
Spider-Man titles with Ben Reilly as Spider-Man
- Amazing
Spider-Man #407-418 (Marvel
Comics, January 1996 - December 1996)
- Spider-Man
#64-75 (Marvel Comics, January 1996 -
November 1996)
- Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3, #0 (Marvel Comics, August 1995 - October 1995,
January 1996)
- Spider-Man: Redemption #1-4 (Marvel Comics, September 1996 - December
1996)
- Spider-Man Holiday Special 1995 (Marvel Comics, December 1995)
- Spider-Man & The Punisher: Family Plot (Marvel Comics) February 1996 - 2 issue limited
series.
- Spider-Man Team-Up #2-5 (Marvel Comics, January 1996 - December
1996)
- Spider-Man Unlimited #11-14 (January 1996 - December
1996)
- Sensational
Spider-Man #0-11 (Marvel
Comics, January 1996 - December 1996)
- Spectacular
Spider-Man #230-240 (Marvel
Comics, January 1996 - November 1996)
- X-Men/Spider-Man #3 (Marvel Comics, January 2009)
Footnotes
-
http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.8317.Amazing_Spider-Man~colon~_Wedding_Bells
- http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=12867
- Spider-Man: The Lost
Years
- Amazing Spider-Man #608
- Amazing Spider-Man #609-610
- Sensational Spider-Man #3
- Amazing Spider-Man #410
- Spider-Man #67
- Spectacular Spider-Man #233
- Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75
(December 1996)
- Friendly Neighborhood
Spider-Man #14
- Avengers: The Initiative
#3
- Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2
- Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36
- Amazing Spider-Man #608
- Amazing Spider-Man #608-609
- Spider-Man: Clone Saga #1-3
External links
References
-
http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.8317.Amazing_Spider-Man~colon~_Wedding_Bells
- http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=12867
- Spider-Man: The Lost
Years
- Amazing Spider-Man #608
- Amazing Spider-Man #609-610
- Sensational Spider-Man #3
- Amazing Spider-Man #410
- Spider-Man #67
- Spectacular Spider-Man #233
- Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75
(December 1996)
- Friendly Neighborhood
Spider-Man #14
- Avengers: The Initiative
#3
- Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2
- Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36
- Amazing Spider-Man #608
- Amazing Spider-Man #608-609
- Spider-Man: Clone Saga #1-3