Ben Reilly


Benjamin "Ben" Reilly, 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, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 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 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, 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 a spiritual quest to redeem himself. This arc is completed in "Spider-Geddon", 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, leading him to become the villain 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. Nicolas Cage will portray a version of Ben Reilly who is Spider-Man Noir in the 2026 TV series Spider-Noir.

Publication history

Ben Reilly 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:
Though Conway had no intention of using 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 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, 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 was later revisited in What If #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, the character also featured in two intercompany crossovers DC vs. Marvel with DC Comics and Backlash/Spider-Man with Image Comics.
Though the character was not used in mainstream continuity for several years after his death in Spider-Man #75, the character was 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 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 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. 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 the lone spider hero in New York.

Mooted return

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 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.

Resurrection

Ben Reilly returns in the storyline Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy, it revealed he was repeatedly resurrected, killed and resurrected again 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 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 super-clones who could then continually have their mind transferred to new bodies if they ever suffered fatal injury, continuations of 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 the path to be a hero, before learning he has been favoured by Lady Death as her new favourite person from how many times he had died and returned, and how many people he had revived via his reanimations, to whose bodies their souls returned. Death warns Ben that since his soul has degraded with each death and revival, in spite of his wish to return to heroism, his next death and return will lead him to a path of villainy, a plotline followed up on in Spider-Man Beyond, at the end of which Ben is rendered a bitter partial amnesiac, as the villain Chasm.

Fictional character biography

Creation

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, Warren attempts to clone the hero. Parker's first clone, Kaine, suffers from clone degeneration and 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 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.