Ben Reilly in “The Clone Saga!”
Spider-Man: Hold it right there! I don’t know what the gag is, but I’m not laughing!
The Amazing spider-Man #149
Spider-Clone: Neither am I, handsome.”
A man clutches at his head. He can feel his mind splintering. He tries to focus on his dearest memories. The kindly couple that adopted Peter, not him. The first time he tried to kill met his brother. The freedom he felt saving people as the one and only Spider-Man’s clone. It had been the greatest time of his life.
“My first life.”
Memories come unbidden. Pain as his body falls apart. Cruel laughter as he’s reborn again and again. Countless lies, endless manipulations. Why has he lost so much and kept only the worst parts?! His happiness, his life, his sanity dropping into a hellish chasm!
Ben Reilly’s eyes snap open. There’s only one way to get it all back. Spider-Man must die.
Ben Reilley is at the heart of one of Marvel’s most controversial stories. It spun a tangled web as he and Peter Parker vied for the title of Spider-Man. So who is Ben Reilley? Is he friend or foe? Who is the true Spider-Man? Let’s find out.
Scene Select
The Scarlet Spider: Ben Reilley’s Backstory
Peter: “This is starting to sound like a bad comic book plot!”
Spider-Man: The Animated Series “I Really, Really Hate Clones” (Season 5, Episode 12)
Ben: “It gets worse.”
Ben Reiley debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 in 1975. He was created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru.
Spider-Man was captured by The Jackal, a mad geneticist who had cloned Gwen Stacy. Spider-Man woke up and saw a second Spider-Man in the same room. Jackal claimed that a hostage would die if the cloned Spider-Man tried to defuse a bomb. The two Spider-Men fought until they could rescue the hostages. Jackal died when the bomb exploded.
Both Spider-Men survived the explosion and one left New York because he wasn’t sure who the original was. He named himself Ben Reilly after Uncle Ben and Aunt May’s maiden name. Ben wandered the country for years, but returned to New York after learning that May had suffered a stroke.
Ben and Peter were standoffish because of stress and lingering doubt. Was Peter the clone who had stolen Spider-Man’s life or was the clone now butting in? Ben decided to stay in New York and fight crime as the Scarlet Spider.
The Jackal: Ben Reilley’s History
The Jackal: [about his costume] “Please, Peter, this is darker than red. It’s more of a scarlet.”
Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy
The Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man formed a loose partnership, helping each other when necessary. Their bond was disrupted by The Jackal, who had cloned himself and played both Spiders against each other. Ben Reilly was the clone one week, then Peter the next.
Two years of identity crises ended when Green Goblin attacked a pregnant Mary Jane Watson. Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man fought the Goblin, who claimed to be behind all of Jackal’s schemes. Ben Reilly was mortally wounded and disintegrated, revealing that he had been the clone all along.
The Jackal cloned Ben Reilly to find a cure for his cloning process’ trademark degenerative condition. Twenty-five clones were murdered, cloned again, and given Ben’s memories while the Jackal experimented on him. A now-insane Ben escaped, killed Jackal, and stole his identity. Ben created clones of everyone Spider-Man had ever failed, all rigged to spread a deadly virus. The plan failed and Ben/Jackal went on the run.
Chasm: Ben Reilly’s Modern Stories
Chasm: “I think we’re going to make a great team, Madelyne.”
Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom #1
Goblyn Queen: “I should hope so, Ben. We have so much in common.”
Ben Reilly traveled to San Francisco and became the Scarlet Spider again. He was repentant for his actions as The Jackal, but slowly spiraling as trauma from all of his deaths went unchecked. Even worse, another Spider-Man clone named Kaine was also acting as Scarlet Spider in the city.
Ben returned to New York when Peter was hospitalized where the Beyond Corporation convinced him to become a Spider-Man that they sponsored. He was happy to finally have a support network and life of his own. Ben discovered that he had died several more times. Beyond kept cloning him from incomplete samples that erased his memories.
Their betrayal broke Ben Reilly. He blamed Peter for all of his pain and became a villain called Chasm. Spider-Man defeated Chasm, unintentionally sending him to another dimension with experimental tech. He fell into Limbo and was driven mad. Chasm was freed by Madelyne Pryor, an evil clone of Phoenix who saw him as a kindred spirit. She forged Ben Reilly into a weapon while they planned revenge against their original selves.
Dark Web: Ben Reilly’s Powers and Personality
Superboy: [flies at Scarlet Spider] “If I were you, I’d brace for impact!“
DC vs Marvel Comics
Scarlet Spider: “Impact? Did I ever tell you of a new gimmick I’m trying called impact webbing? [blinds Superboy, who crashes into an electrical transformer] Sorry, kid.”
Ben Reilly has all of Peter Parker’s powers: super strength, agility, durability, wall-crawling, spider-sense, and inherent knowledge of how to make webbing. Scarlet Spider’s signature trick was impact webbing, web balls launched with concussive force to instantly trap enemies.
Chasm enhances those powers with Madelyne’s dark magic. His Spider-Sense now automatically counters attacks instead of warning him. He also gained the ability to create energy weapons and erase memories.
Ben Reilly was a jovial smart aleck like Peter in his early days. He grew more cynical after years of manipulations, mind games, and dozens of deaths. As Chasm, he lost control and lashed out at everything he saw, with a particular hatred for Spider-Man.
The Actors Who Play Him
Christopher Daniel Barnes – Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Scott Porter – Ultimate Spider-Man
Andy Samberg – Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse
Nicholas Cage – Spider-Noir
Didya Get All That?
From great pain, there will come no responsibility
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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