Before Ben Reilly was Marvel’s next Spider-Man, he was Peter Parker’s controversial replacement in the ’90s during the infamous Clone Saga.
History is set to repeat itself at Marvel Comics as Ben Reilly, Peter Parker’s clone, is once again set to take over the role of Spider-Man. Shortly after he returned to Peter’s life as the fan-favorite Scarlet Spider, Ben served as Spider-Man during a controversial, but not entirely unsuccessful era in the mid-90s.
However, Peter soon took the mantle back after tragedy befell Ben at the end of “The Clone Saga.” Now before Ben suits up again, we’re tkaing a look back at what happened to Ben’s first tenure as Spider-Man.
Ben first appeared in 1975’s The Amazing Spider-Man #149, by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru. Created by Miles Warren/the Jackal, Ben was forced to battle Peter, with each of them believing each other to be the clone, before he ultimately learned the truth and teamed up with Peter to try to save a clone of Gwen Stacy and Ned Leeds. The ensuing battle caused an explosion that appeared to kill Warren and the clone Peter. Many years later, the clone was revealed to be alive, beginning the second, much more complicated “Clone Saga” of the 1990s. It was here that Ben was given his own distinct identity, having chosen his name to honor Uncle Ben and Aunt May — Reilly being May’s maiden name — as he still had memories of Peter’s life and consequently loved them both.
Ben had spent the intervening years as a drifter. When May fell ill he returned to New York to visit her, leading to an unintended meeting with Peter. Although Peter, who was in a fragile mental state at the time, was initially outraged upon seeing Ben again the two successfully foiled an attack on the Ravencroft Institute by a group of supervillains led by Judas Traveller, with Ben wearing a makeshift Spider-Man costume. Despite still questioning his legitimacy as a person, Ben elected to stay in New York for a time and after taking down Venom in another homemade costume he created a heroic identity of his own: the Scarlet Spider.
Ben and Peter would later discover evidence suggesting that Peter was the clone, which so disturbed him that when Warren emerged alive he worked with him for a time before redeeming himself and teaming with Ben to take the villain down. Because of this, a near-death experience, and Mary Jane’s pregnancy, Peter elected to retire from being Spider-Man to focus on his family, leading Ben to take up the mantle. Ben was featured as the lead character of the Spider-Man line throughout most of 1996, including during events like Onslaught and Marvel vs DC. “The Clone Saga” finally ended with the reveal that a resurrected Norman Osborn was behind everything. He faked the evidence suggesting Peter was the clone as part of an elaborate scheme to ruin his life and later poisoned Mary Jane, causing the death of the unborn baby. In the final conflict, Ben sacrifices himself to save Peter, after which his body disintegrated, seeming to confirm that he was the clone in Spider-Man #75, by Howard Mackie, John Romita, Jr. and Scott Hanna.
Ben stayed dead in the main Marvel Universe until the 2016 storyline Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy, in which he served as a villain after being driven mad by years of abuse by Warren. After this brief villainous turn, he reclaimed the Scarlet Spider mantle and worked to redeem himself in a solo title, Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider. The fact that he’s being set up to become the main Spider-Man again is a testament to his enduring popularity, but their shared history makes it inevitable that Peter will eventually reclaim the role.
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