The Spider-Man Who Deserved Better

The story of Ben Reilly, Spider-Man's genetic clone, and how he had everything taken from him before he even started. Sounds dramatic

outro song by Timmy:

everything owned by Marvel Comics

[luckyland]

He didn’t put “rise” or “fall” in the title

[MrTrolltle]

We finally have the video covering the only character the marvel writers hate more than Spider-Man, clone Spider-Man

[carlbloke]

To this day I find it hilarious how Spider-Man TAS dunked on the Clone Saga when Peter said “it sounds like a bad comic book plot.” And Ben then says “it gets worse”.

[RelativelyBest]

Characters accepting their clones/copies as siblings is actually one of my favorite tropes.

[bobbybooshay]

Not only did the jackal clone Peter's DNA. He also cloned the writers need to completly destroy a Parker. A truly impressive scientific feat.

[donkeyman]

The most lowkey tragic thing I felt when reading Ben's stories was during the Beyond arc when he accidentally called himself "Peter" in a thought bubble. I don't know why, but that really hit hard for me.

[anothergamer]

The biggest tragedy of Ben Reilly is how because of Marvel editorial holding back Peter at every turn, we'll never get a moment where Peter has kids that call him "Uncle Ben"

[admiralweb]

Man, don't we all want a clone-bro like Ben Reilly.

[bZman]

Ben Reilly should have never been killed off. They should have kept him as the lead of Sensational and Peter as the lead of Amazing and had them team up often as brothers. I genuinely LOVED their interactions towards the end, with Ben helping Pete with building the crib and the like. Pete and MJ should have had May as well, thus he would be spending less time as Spidey but all the single guy Spidey tropes would live on with Ben. Marvel literally could have pleased every fan by going this route, both the "Pete needs to be single" and the "Pete happily married and growing up" crowd. Ben and the audience were done a disservice by Marvel.

[michaeljung]

The worst part of the whole thing is that in this current era of "Spider-Verse" and Miles Morales, comic book audiences are more than capable of accepting multiple characters co-existing as Spider-Man -- and yet poor Ben is STILL getting dumped on. I see absolutely no reason why Ben can't continue to be another Spider-Man and stay true to his original heritage, and yet writers insist on treating him like a joke that they can harass and abuse with no consequences. Sadly, the 1990s story was all about how Ben's life had value no matter how he was born, but Marvel comic book creators seem to have forgotten all about that.

[BINACmini]

No matter how bad Ben had it, at least the green gobbler didn't cook his aunt into stew.

[ThorgisArcade]

Love Ben Reilly, the first comic I ever bought was the issue where he took over as Spider-Man. So glad to see someone put a lot of my thoughts on the character, and the current state of comics, into words.

[gilgafresh]

Peter and Ben are at their worst spots, Kaine just forgotten at a time where you could honestly have him in and it'd fit. Where you could easily do a Switch up of Redemption, as Kaine takes Ben's role and redeems Ben and helps him like he did for him. It's just so unfortunate that Editorial LITERALLY ENDS BENS STORY WITH HIM BEING EVIL IN THE LAST 3 TITLES HE'S BEEN IN save for Spiderverse.

[T-TR]

If Ben has one thing going for him, it's both his suits. They're easily some of the cleanest Spider-man costumes.

[LoganCMikulas]

Ben in the 90s era (specifically his time going into becoming the Sensational Spider-Man) under JMD is some of the most riveting Spidey media to date. It was legitimately inspiring how he was a version of Peter that overcame his severe guilt complex and turned it into a innate desire to do the right thing. The fact that he was just happy to be alive and that he wanted to be better for the sake of everyone around him? In all of the Clone Saga’s shittiness, Ben’s growth from severe self-loathing to confidence genuinely felt earned.

Boy, I hope that’s not ruined in the future! Right?…

[jamesmanger]

While I had heard about Ben Reilly before, my first real exposure to his character was in Across the Spider Verse. And don't get me wrong, Andy Samberg plays a funny parody of overly-edgy 90s comic characters. But after seeing your video, it almost makes me wish we could have gotten some of that depth represented in the film. This was a gripping story with heartwarming ups and heartbreaking downs, and I really enjoyed your own insights into the character. Thanks for sharing!

[curiouspig]

Sometimes I feel like a clone except nobody took anything from me and I’m just a loser

[nidomeister]

Both Peter and Ben have had it really rough. Marvel truly is Spider-Man’s greatest villain.

[SubparO]

There was something so innocent and heartwarming about the idea of Ben taking over as Spider-Man and letting Peter be happy. There is something that is so genuinely nice about Peter and his clone considering eachother brothers. The comics status quo is the most cruel antagonist in mainstream comics, when it exists, no-one can be truly happy, since that doesn't sell.

[kyleco]

The idea that ben couldve been the original Pete, can be executed very well, the fact that they were switch by the end of the gerry conway run, and realizing from then on it was ben we were following rather than pete is an idea that could be executed very well