Ben Reilly in the MC2

 

With Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in cinema’s and featuring everyone’s favourite Spider-Clone, Ben Reilly as the Scarlet Spider. Not only am I fan of the character, he holds a very significant role in the MC2. Let us take a look at the legacy of Ben Reilly in the MC2.

 

Let us briefly review the history of the character in the Main Marvel Universe. First appearing as only a clone of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #149, the character was created by Professor Miles Warren aka The Jackal. In the real world, the character of the Spider-Clone was created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru during the original Clone Saga. Taking a new name in honour of his uncle’s first name and his aunt’s maiden name, Ben Reilly would spend five years travelling and living a very different life to Peter Parker’s before eventually returning to New York when he learned that Aunt May was gravely ill, making his presence known to Peter at the end of Spectacular Spider-Man #216 leading into Web of Spider-Man #117.

.

I am not going to be covering the entirety of the Clone Saga here. I will simply point out a few of the relevant occasions referenced in the MC2, starting at the very beginning with What If #105. There, in the Parker Family Home, Mary Jane explains to her daughter May ‘Mayday’ Parker how Peter lost his leg in final battle with the Green Goblin aka Norman Osborn. Mayday soon uncovers her ‘Uncle Ben’s’ own Spider-Man costume and web-shooters and it’s these she wears as Spider-Girl for her very first battle against the newest Green Goblin aka Normie Osborn. Afterwards, Mayday gives the costume a fiery funeral with her parents but soon after sews herself a new costume with the same design as Ben’s. With only minor changes over time this remains Spider-Girl’s recognizable and iconic look to this day.

 

When the enigmatic vigilante Darkdevil made his first appearances, his costume patterned after the deceased hero Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, theories about his secret identity were rife. It was revealed in the three-issue mini-series Darkdevil that the titular character was in fact the son of Ben Reilly and Elizabeth Tyne known as Reilly Tyne, who had been spared from certain death as a result of his degenerating cells by Ben’s clone brother Kaine only to be possessed by the demon Zarathos, before the latter was driven out  by the spirit of Matt Murdock (Darkdevil #1-#3).

 

Elizabeth Tyne is briefly shown behind bars, a direct reference to her fate following the events of the mini-series Spider-Man: Redemption which ended with both Kaine and Tyne turning themselves in for their crimes. While we know Kaine broke out after Ben’s death, Elizabeth apparently remained in prison and, in the MC2 canon, gave birth to her and Ben’s son, Reilly Tyne.

References to Ben Reilly’s activities during the 90’s Clone Saga appears in Spider-Girl #44 when Peter provides Mayday with a heavily edited and censored version of some of the significant events including flashbacks to Ben Reilly’s time on the road (Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-#3), his aforementioned return and encounter with Peter (Spectacular Spider-Man #216, Web of Spider-Man #117), alongside Peter battling Cletus Kasady aka Carnage (Spectacular Spider-Man #217), seeing off Peter and a heavily pregnant Mary Jane ( at some point after Spectacular Spider-Man #229) and Ben suited up in his Spider-Man costume (Sensational Spider-Man #0).

 

Peter also notes that May reminds him of Ben quite a bit as they both approached web-swinging the same way; with optimism and enthusiasm. Finally, Peter tells Mayday how Ben died a hero by sacrificing himself to save Peter from the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, as seen in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75. May realizes this is the same man responsible for her kidnapping as a baby and Peter’s lost leg (Spider-Girl #44).

 

Desperate to be Spider-Girl’s partner and having read a book about Spider-Man written by Ben Urich, Felicity Hardy (daughter of Flash Thompson and Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat) is inspired to don a costume patterned on that of the original Scarlet Spider (Spider-Girl #46).

 

We learn through flashbacks that Kaine initially tracked down Alison Mongrain on his journey to avenge his fallen brother, Ben Reilly, leading to him learning of Norman Osborn’s kidnapping of Peter and Mary Jane’s baby May.  After rescuing and reuniting May with her mother, Kaine makes Norman his target though he apparently did not confront him before the fateful final battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin resulted in Osborn’s death. In the present while again pursuing Mongrain, Kaine tells Felicity he is pained to see her garbed in Ben’s costume as he never got to beg his forgiveness for the wrongs he had inflicted upon him before he was killed (Spider-Girl #48-#49).

 

 

This brings us to Spider-Man Family Vol. 1 #1. Therein we have a story (seemingly) set during the mostly unexplored point in time after Baby May is rescued and returned to Peter and Mary Jane Parker by Kaine but before Peter loses his leg in his final battle with Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Lured into a trap by the villain Jack O’ Lantern aka Maguire Beck, Spider-Man meets and teams-up with Araña and her *sidekick* Miguel as they battle a museum room full of Spider-Man robot’s designed to resemble various costumes and points in Peter’s career. Among these we see a robot that appears to be clad in the Scarlet Spider costume and another in Ben’s own Sensational Spider-Man costume. Both of these robotic duplicates are destroyed by Spider-Man who alongside Araña and Miguel go on to defeat the mastermind Jack O’ Lantern.

 

 

In Spectacular Spider-Girl (vol. 1) #1/Amazing Spider-Man Family #5 ‘Gwen Reilly’ appears out of nowhere at the Parker’s door step, claiming to be Ben Reilly’s daughter. However, this is revealed to be an elaborate scam, with ‘Gwen’s’ real name being Connie Frederickson, a con artist who had previously used the alias Connie Osborn. Connie is the daughter of Kolina Frederickson (Norman’s private nurse mentioned above) and -apparently- Norman Osborn (Spectacular Spider-Girl (vol. 1) #3/Amazing Spider-Man Family #7). Recruited into the Order of the Goblin by Fury the Goblin Queen, Connie was given plastic surgery to resemble Gwen Stacy and sent to toy with the Parker’s (Spectacular Spider-Girl (vol.1) #4/Amazing Spider-Man Family #8). However, Connie was killed shortly afterwards by Elan DeJunae who wished to eliminate any one else with a potential claim to the legacy of Norman Osborn and distract Spider-Girl in the process (Spectacular Spider-Girl (vol. 1) # 2/ Amazing Spider-Man Family #5, Spectacular Spider-Girl (vol. 1) #8/Web of Spider-Man (vol. 2) #4).

Ben Reilly is one of the most significant and impactful characters in the MC2. He acts as Mayday’s ‘Uncle Ben’ and she embodies him both in costume and in aspects of her approach to heroism. Ben’s death had a life-changing impact on his clone brother Kaine, who initially sought revenge on his killer but eventually found his own path to atonement. Reilly Tyne, Ben’s and Janine’s son, continues in his father’s footsteps as the heroic vigilante Darkdevil and Felicity Hardy has taken on Ben’s former costumed identity as the new Scarlet Spider.  Rest in Peace, Ben. You showed us it is our choices which define us, not the nature of our creation.

 

Until I figure out which is the clone and which is the other clone, I remain

 

frogoat