Marvel's New Spider-Man is Actually Afraid of Peter Parker
Warning: contains preview images for Ben Reilly Spider-Man #2!
Marvel’s new Spider-Man, Ben Reilly, is secretly afraid of the person he was cloned from—Peter Parker. In a preview for Ben Reilly Spider-Man #2, on sale February 23 in print and digital, Reilly, in a moment of vulnerability, reveals to his therapist that he lives in fear of Parker, fear that Parker will steal Reilly’s life away from him once again.
Ben Reilly, the clone of Peter Parker, briefly took over the mantle of Spider-Man in the mid-1990’s during the infamous "Clone Saga." The story’s original intent was to reveal the Peter Parker fans had been following for years was actually the clone, and Reilly the “real” Peter Parker. Fan outrage led Marvel to backpedal on this development, and within a year Peter Parker was back as Spider-Man. Reilly has since struck out on his own, as the Scarlet Spider. Recently, Peter Parker suffered serious injuries, and as he healed, Reilly took on the mantle of Spider-Man once more; Reilly’s new stint as the Wall Crawler is being bankrolled by the sinister Beyond Corporation—making Spider-Man a corporate hero. Life might be good for Reilly right now, but in a preview for Ben Reilly Spider-Man #2, he reveals he still looks over his shoulder from time to time—afraid of Peter Parker. The issue is written by J.M. DeMatteis, illustrated by David Baldeon, colored by Israel Silva and lettered by Joe Caramagna.
The preview opens with Ben Reilly telling his therapist about a recent incident, in which the Scorpion attacked Reilly while he was home in his apartment. Rather than outright killing Reilly, Scorpion tells Reilly to follow him, throwing Reilly’s Spider-Man outfit at his feet. Reilly tells his therapist that he knows everything about the Scorpion, thanks to having some of Peter’s memories; Reilly takes off in pursuit. Reilly’s therapist brings up Ben Reilly’s issue of “loss of personal identity” as he continues to relate his story. Scorpion leads Reilly to an abandoned theater, cutting the light on and blinding him. Reilly tells his therapist as he looks to the stands, for a brief second, he thinks it’s Peter Parker standing in them; he goes on to say he was afraid Peter was “steal [his] life away again.”
As the preview ends, readers learn Peter was not in the stands, there to steal Reilly’s life away, but the moment reveals that Reilly is still coming to terms with his past. For many years, Ben Reilly thought he was Spider-Man, only to have that ripped from him. The therapist’s observed that Reilly has serious identity issues, and readers see that in this preview. Peter Parker arrived in Ben Reilly’s life, quickly upending everything Reilly thought he knew about himself. It forced Reilly to carve out a whole new identity for himself, a bumpy process that took some time. Reilly has arguably done well for himself, so much he was asked to return as Spider-Man while Parker was recovering—but given his past, it is understandable why he would fear Peter returning to steal it all away from him again.
Ben Reilly is back in the seat as Spider-Man, showing his growth as his own person, but Marvel has revealed that Reilly still fears losing it all again, thanks to Peter Parker.