Comics Scarlet Spider Returns?!

[shinlyle]

From Newsarama:

Is this town really big enough for another webslinger?


While I was checking out Marvel’s interview with card-carrying Spider-Man brain trust member Marc Guggenheim about Amazing Spider-Man #600, one thing really stuck out at me:

“Who says it’s just one thing?” queries Guggenheim in return. “How about reintroducing a character whose last name is ‘Reilly’? How about the introduction of a new villain who will play a pivotal role in the upcoming series arc, ‘Who Is Ben Reilly?’”

Forget Bucky and forget Barry Allen: Ben Reilly is like a can of worms stuck inside a barrel of gunpowder. Or worse yet: a clone of Peter Parker.

Ben (who took his uncle’s first name and his aunt’s maiden name) represented the Clone Saga, and the outrage that many Spider-fans felt when it was revealed (and later retconned) that the Peter Parker we had been following for decades was really a clone. Following this revelation — and the fact that Mary Jane was pregnant with a baby — Peter was swiftly depowered and had to make way for a newer, blonder Spider-Man.

Now, this story could mean many things — it could mean he is returning, or that another character is acting out in his name. Or it could simply mean that someone has remembered Ben even existed (something that Marvel had previously avoided, even going so far as to making “clones suck” jokes for much of this decade) — in this case, it could be Norman Osborn, whose return was punctuated by impaling Ben on his Goblin Glider in Spider-Man: Revelations. Thoughts?

Somewhere out there....there is a shark.....and that shark....is being jumped by Marvel.

 

[iloveclones]

Well, just as there are fans of the marriage, there are fans of Ben Reilly. This is no more "jumping the shark" than the marriage ever was.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Somewhere out there....there is a shark.....and that shark....is being jumped by Marvel.

No.

And... http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=210445&page=122


There's already a Ben Reilly thread on the hype. You should add your thoughts there instead of creating a whole new thread. It is after all only two threads down the board.

 

[moraldeficiency]

And you guys really think this is gonna be ben reilly? All it says is a character with the last name reilly. You see that page pic where may is looking at the old photo with her and ben and the parkers and those other people? Hmmmm..... could we have someone from ben's family showing up here? And with the marriage controversity (and the word that something will play out here from that) we might have a previously unmentioned parker showing up as well.

Just to remind everyone this is the gugg that made jackpot just some random girl and then killed her off for no reason.

 

[moraldeficiency]

donkey punch.

 

[iloveclones]

Honestly, you're probably right, in that it's a tease. But you never know. All it takes is for one writer to come up with a good idea (like Bru did for Bucky.) Now, Gugg is a far cry from what Brubaker has done the last few years, but I'll wait and see. (And the art is Pat Oliffe, right? I dig his stuff.)

 

[iloveclones]

And I only had to say it once

 

[shinlyle]

I say this as someone who hates Ben Reilly, but he went out a hero, and bringing him back after dying a hero is about as bad as bringing back Norman Osborn after dying by his own hand (wait...).

Honestly, I think this is Marvel's way of testing the waters to see if fans will really just buy anything.

iloveclones- I know BR has his fans, but Marvel will bring him back as a joke, or bring him on to kill him off again, and that'll hurt his fans even more.

JJJ's Ulcer- Yes....there's a 300 page long (guessing) thread dedicated to the dead Spidey-wannabe-that-was. Alot of people on this forum, myself included, don't go there, and may find this news interesting. Thus, a new thread was born.

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

Personally I would love to see the Return of The Scarlet Spider if it was done right. I could see some epic events there. I personally think that as much as a lot of people claim to hate the clone saga they really don't, they just love to ***** out the clone saga. I think without the clone saga there would be something missing from the Spider-Man universe.

Marvel, I say go for gold and do it well

 

[peterparker30]

Personally I would love to see the Return of The Scarlet Spider if it was done right. I could see some epic events there. I personally think that as much as a lot of people claim to hate the clone saga they really don't, they just love to ***** out the clone saga. I think without the clone saga there would be something missing from the Spider-Man universe.

Marvel, I say go for gold and do it well

Well said, the clone saga certainly had it's moments, but if they did bring back Ben and gave us NO cause to believe that our Peter was not the real Spider-man they could do it very well with the right writer/artist team. COME BACK SCARLET!!!

 

[Themanofbat]

If he comes back as the Scarlet Spider, I hope he gets a better costume...

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

I think the treatment I gave Ben's return over in the Reilly thread was pretty close to Winter Soldier material, if I do say so myself. Actually, if I think about it, it IS the Winter Soldier...but I wrote it 3 years earlier. Ha!

 

[Themanofbat]

I think the treatment I gave Ben's return over in the Reilly thread was pretty close to Winter Soldier material, if I do say so myself. Actually, if I think about it, it IS the Winter Soldier...but I wrote it 3 years earlier. Ha!

Yo... you can PM me the answer if you don't feel like announcing it here...

What's your "credit" name as a writer of the Official Index to the Marvel Universe?

Also, I was wondering why in Stern's ASM run as detailed in OIotMU #5, you gave no "last seen in issue" reference to Mary Jane's return to the book?

Was that an oversight?

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Chris Buchner's the name, writing's the game.

Very simple: in juggling all the facts we do, and the format per entry ends up being organic as situations not originally planned for arise, multiplied by the sheer number of issues each writer ends up doing and editing, mistakes happen. That's why each issue comes with an Errata section to fix any boo-boos we made along the way. Believe me, writing these things ain't as easy as they may look. I personally re-write my entries 5 times each before submitting them.

I'm pretty sure we've already caught that one fer the errata.

P.S. The original Indexes also had their fair share of mistakes, in case anyone was wondering.

 

[Themanofbat]

Thanks...

Keep up the good work.

 

[ScottishFogg]

My only question is . . . HOW?

How are they going to bring him back? He was reduced to a pile of ash! Is he going to be a clone of a clone? Or is Peter's deal with the devil going to change how the Clone Saga ended too?

 

[Themanofbat]

JQ recently admitted that something else other than the marriage being erased happened as a result of OMD, which could possibly be that Ben Reilly never died...

 

[shinlyle]

My only question is . . . HOW?

How are they going to bring him back? He was reduced to a pile of ash! Is he going to be a clone of a clone? Or is Peter's deal with the devil going to change how the Clone Saga ended too?

That's my problem with the whole thing. Ben was impaled by a goblin glider, then fell 30 stories onto the top of a car, and then dieintegrated into dust. He was effectively killed 3 times on one issue. Either of those three things would have killed him, let alone all of them! Also, there was no way that Ben could have been switched out mid-fall, as it happened in full view of a hundred people.

If they erase his death, that' one thing, but saying, "Oh, he never REALLY died" is pretty insulting.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

However, Shin, if ya heard us clone-heads over the years you'd know clone degeneration doesn't work that way. It was Mackie's quick fix out solution. so it's very possible the Ben clone that died was in fact a clone of Ben, and the real Ben's been out there imprisoned or some such.

Besides, Bucky got blown up on a plane. He seems to be alright.

 

[iloveclones]

Besides, Bucky got blown up on a plane. He seems to be alright.

Awesome....

 

[ScottishFogg]

However, Shin, if ya heard us clone-heads over the years you'd know clone degeneration doesn't work that way. It was Mackie's quick fix out solution. so it's very possible the Ben clone that died was in fact a clone of Ben, and the real Ben's been out there imprisoned or some such.

Besides, Bucky got blown up on a plane. He seems to be alright.

So . . . then . . . when did he get switched out? Are they really going to rewrite a momen in history they don't want people re-reading? Because wouldn't that just bring more attention to the Clone Debacle? And he's been imprisoned somehwere? Why? By who? At least when Whedon did it with Colossus, it made sense.

Sorry. I know I'm overreacting to a story that doesn't exist yet. It just seems . . . dumb. And I say that as a fan of Reilly.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

If they didn't want people to remember it they wouldn't be makin' moves to pull his fans into the mix. And who do you think? Green Goblin, thought that much was obvious. Here was my spin on it way back in 2005...

SINS PAST 1.5*



A new Goblin has entered the scene, terrorizing Peter's life. All he knows for sure is it's NOT Norman. Peter begins to investigate and his search takes him back to the old Brooklyn factory where the Goblin strikes. Spidey is almost defeated except Kaine appears from out of nowhere and saves him. Kaine and the Goblin tussle and both fall a sufficient height to take the Goblin out. Kaine unmasks him to reveal Ben Reilly!



Confused and enraged, Peter leads the charge on Norman's dwelling for answers. Norman tells him the tale of how he captured Ben and how Warren's process wasn't lost with the scientist having left one final journal. He explains how he cloned Ben in order to strike another blow at Peter(explaining the degeneration; a clone of a clone is a lot more unstable). Then, over the time Ben has been "dead", Norman's been conditioning his mind (ala ASM v. 2 #25 style with the addition of the Goblin formula and memory manipulation) to turn him into the son he always wanted in Peter. As he could not have the original, he settled on the double who would destroy Peter and take his place...under the Goblin's control.



Kaine, waiting outside, heard enough and attacks due to his respect gained for Ben (Redemption) and kills Norman. With the secrets of how to undo Ben's transformation forever lost, Peter strikes out at Kaine leaving Ben, brought along, ample time to revive and escape. Peter pursues after warning Kaine to stay out of his way.



Peter finds Ben atop the Brooklyn Bridge. He remembers what happens there, but it doesn't seem right, raising doubt within him. Peter confronts Ben, and upon seeing the Spider Ben attacks. The two tussle around the bridge and almost kill each other by falling off. Both take heavy damage until Peter gets the upper hand. He removes Ben's Goblin mask and replaces it with his own. Holding his head up to a reflective surface, Ben sees himself as Spidey and things begin to add up for him. His mind begins to reject the Goblin's programming as his enhanced metabolism has been the formula this whole time.



Eventually, Ben returns to whatever can pass as normal with some slight shell shock. He's unsure of his future at the moment. The Parkers invite him to stay, but Ben decides that Peter's life is his own and he should go somewhere that needs a Spider-Man, and to make sure his head is clear without damaging Peter's already shaky rep. On his travels he passed through Seattle and liked it there, so he decides that's where he'll go. Ben leaves, promising to keep in touch.



Later that night, Peter is awaken by an uneasy feeling. He ventures outside where he finds Kaine waiting in the shadows. Kaine calms Peter's building rage towards him in order to present a package he holds: Peter's daughter. Kaine tells him what Osborn did and hands her over. Peter asks why he's done all this. Kaine tells him "A mutual friend made me remember what it meant to be Peter Parker. No matter what has happened to me, no matter what excuses I produce, I have a responsibility to live up to. I can't ever atone for what I've done or become, but I can remember where I came from." With that, he leaves, and Peter is a new father once again.



Kaine stands over Norman's grave next to Harry's. He tells Norman it's finally over and the Parkers can get on with their lives without fear. Kaine decides he needs to find his own place in the world, to redefine himself. With that, he leaves New York on his own adventure.



The End?



*In the spirit of X-Men 1.5, anytime I redo a story that's been done to hopefully improve it, I add a .5 to the title.

 

[Themanofbat]

Not to mention that in the latest issue of ASM #597, there's a blonde guy in one of Norman's test tubes... a tease perhaps?

Like someone mentioned before, Ben died in a way that the other clones died, but Ben shouldn't have, so maybe Norman's had him "imprisoned" all thius time...

Could work...

 

[iloveclones]

Not to mention that in the latest issue of ASM #597, there's a blonde guy in one of Norman's test tubes... a tease perhaps?

Like someone mentioned before, Ben died in a way that the other clones died, but Ben shouldn't have, so maybe Norman's had him "imprisoned" all thius time...

Could work...

I doubt the tube guy was meant to be Ben, since his hair would be brown when it grows out (unless Normie is bleaching it for him.)

I actually thought that might be a clone of Steve Rogers, since he was talking about the Super Soldier Serum.

 

[Themanofbat]

Gosh... older AND smarter...

Why aren't we watching the Pens game?