Marvel’s most interesting Spider-Man was unceremoniously left out of Spider-Man: No Way Home, much to the film’s detriment – but his popularity continues to increase even so. The blockbuster film reunited all three Spider-Man stars past and present on the big screen thanks to the reality-bending nature of the Multiverse. But while Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland were all included in the film, the absent Spider-Man is undoubtedly the most intriguing: Ben Reilly, Spider-Man’s well-known clone.
Ben Reilly was created in the 1970s in a one-off storyline involving Miles Warren, otherwise known as the Jackal. The villain cloned Spider-Man and both Peters eventually worked together to defeat the villain, but one of the heroes died in the process (and crucially, the issue did not reveal if the clone or the original perished in the fight). Years later, Ben Reilly would reemerge during the infamous 90s Clone Saga, a storyline with multiple problems. However, Ben himself wasn’t one of them.
Ben and Peter would clash during the saga, eventually teaming up to fight yet another clone. Ben was eventually led to believe that he was the original, and Peter was the clone – though writers quickly backtracked after hearing the ferocious fan backlash (they were distraught that the Peter they had been following since the 70s wasn’t the “real” Peter, perhaps inadvertently proving Ben’s point that clones aren’t seen as real people). Realizing that he was a clone yet again, Ben would die heroically, only to be revived yet again in 2017’s Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy.
For all of the nonsensical plot twists and sudden, shocking swerves in the Clone Saga, Ben Reilly left the narrative rather unscathed. Ben Reilly has the distinction of internalizing all of Peter’s problems and his own; he has all of Peter’s memories up to and including the death of Gwen Stacy, plus his own angst related to his clone nature. His life has effectively been stolen from him; forced to watch the “real” Peter Parker swing around Manhattan without a care in the world, Ben Reilly is perhaps the most tragic of the Spider-Men.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has yet to explore Ben Reilly’s story. Actor Tom Holland has expressed a desire to adapt the Clone Saga in the future (and playing two characters in one film is often one of an actor’s many goals throughout their career). Perhaps the as-yet-unnamed Spider-Man 4 will bring together Peter Parker and Ben Reilly for the first time on the big screen, leading to a Spider-Man Clone Saga that will hopefully make more sense than the one depicted in the comics.
