Ben Reilly

Ben Reilly is a clone of Peter Parker created by the Jackal, who believed himself to be the original Spider-Man for a time. Struggling with questions of identity and humanity, he eventually forged his own heroic path as the Scarlet Spider.

Few characters carry the weight of legacy quite like Ben Reilly, who swung into comics via Panini Deutschland's Marvel Special #1 in 1997 — a Copper/Modern Age arrival shaped by the creative hands of Mark Waid, Reinhard Schweizer, and Ron Garney. Over a remarkable span stretching across 27 years to 2024, Ben has built up 65 catalog appearances across titles like Spider-Man, Der sensationelle Spider-Man, and Spider-Man Special, sharing those pages with heavy hitters like Logan/Wolverine and the ever-present Mary Jane Watson-Parker and J. J. Jameson. With two key collector issues to his name and that kind of staying power, Ben Reilly is clearly no footnote — he's a genuine fixture of the Spider-Man corner of the Marvel universe well worth tracking down.