As ‘Spider-Man Beyond’ Ends In March, Is There More To The Future Of Ben Reilly?

by Tony Thornley

I’ve always been a Ben Reilly fan.

As a kid I started the same way much of my generation did- with licensed comics. In my case it was with GI Joe, and as that ended I transitioned to DC’s young heroes, reading Superboy and Robin until my local shop closed. That meant until a new shop opened, I’d only be able to pick up books from a convenience or grocery store. I wasn’t a regular Marvel reader for some time (I still had sore feelings over GI Joe’s cancellation) but when I did pick up any Marvel books, I was drawn to the then-ongoing Clone Saga.

I was drawn to Ben Reilly. The character was Peter, but a version struggling with his identity, struggling for redemption. Killing him off is arguably one of the worst mistakes in a series of missteps that brought the Clone Saga to its end.

The rest of Ben’s history is a series of poor choices up to the beginning of Spider-Man Beyond. There were years of pretending the character didn’t exist. His resurrection as a villain. A spin off series that was nothing more than the writer taking an unearned victory lap after years at Marvel. And then death again.

At last, Spider-Man Beyond came along, giving the character a boost that he needed. Finally he had a purpose, and a life that was connected to his Spidery identity without being beholden to playing second string to Peter. On top of that, a new future for the character was teased in December’s timeline spanning Timeless, with a brief glimpse of him in Los Angeles.

So with all that, what does the future hold for Ben? Well right now, he’s dealing with a mindwipe and a new Goblin. But March’s Amazing Spider-Man #93, we’ll learn more about what’s next for the character as the Spider-Man Beyond era ends..