Good news, True Believers! Ben Reilly is back. Starting this April, he will be donning the Scarlet Spider costume once again.
Originally created in 1975 within the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #149, Ben Reilly is a clone of your friendly, neighborhood wall crawler. He has had a complex history with Marvel. At point he was even took over as Spider-Man for a while, with initial plans for it to be permanent. Prior to Spider-verse, last we saw him was when he was killed by Green Goblin a little over 20 years ago. He recently returned using the same mantle as his creator, Jackal.
In April, Ben will be returning as the Scarlet Spider in a new title called Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider. This new adventure will be written by long time Spider-Man writer Peter David with art by Ultimate Spider-Man’s Mark Bagley. This series will delve into the mind of Ben Reilly, warped by all the times he’s died. He is caught between his new identity as The Jackal and his legacy of being a hero. He will also be dealing with a new character who has a personal vendetta against Ben. Additionally, it is said that the most recent Scarlet Spider, Kaine Parker, will be involved in this story.
I, for one, am excited about this new title. I like where they are going with this. It is a different twist on the Hero Goes Evil and Evil Reforms tropes. I just wonder how other members of the Spider family are going to feel about his return? Especially the main man himself Peter Parker, a man who once referred to Ben as a brother. What do you think about all this, True Believers? Will you be picking up issue #1? What other characters would you like to see in this title? Let us know in the comments below.