Who is Scarlet Spider? - Spider-Man's Clone with Problems

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In this series, we look at the characters behind the Marvel Snap cards, recapping their origin, their powers, looking at how well they fit their card, and giving you something to read.
This week's spotlight is on Ben Reilly, the spider clone who struck out on his own and then turned into a bad guy, Scarlet Spider.
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Music by Epidemic Sound

[@EdK-Music]

"that's right Peter, I'm you and you're me, and this... is a gun."

[@uncannydcmarvelous5732]

Man it's so weird that when it comes to live action, the 70s tv series is the only one to ever do the clone thing (I know it's not comic accurated... but sort of counts... or not?)

[@mechashadow]

​@@uncannydcmarvelous573290s series? Hello?

[@uncannydcmarvelous5732]

@@mechashadow I said "live action" xD

[@TheSoulDivided]

It's pretty funny that, as messy as the clone thing is, it's nowhere near the most unpopular thing Marvel has done with Spider Man (looking at you, One More Day)

[@spideybuildscars]

And Paul lol

[@gannonkendrick9343]

I think we can say that One More Day ISN'T the worst thing to happen to Spider-man anymore, and I think most people would agree. Wells's arc on Spider-man has replaced it. Because for everything Nick Spencer did to try to bring Peter and MJ back together, (even though they ultimately broke up in it) Zeb Wells, with his arc, sought to permanently sever the relationship. Like at least Joe Quesada didn't give Mary-Jane a husband, illogical superpowers, and (imaginary) kids. One More Day created member-berries bachelor Peter, but Zeb Wells sought to make Peter into a pathetic antihero-turned-occasional-supervillain (see Spider-Goblin). I've read the new Peter Parker, and he's decades of character growth, undone in seconds. He both causes the accidental death of Ms. Marvel, and gets constantly saved by her at key moments for no logical reason, except that Ms. Marvel is a spider-character now apparently.

[@TheSoulDivided]

@@gannonkendrick9343 Character growth is for losers! Peter should stay the same forever!

[@TevyaSmolka]

Personally for me my favorite thing about Ben Riley scarlet spider is well him being a uncle to mayday Parker spider-girl the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane and having her meeting uncle Ben Riley would’ve been really awesome and super cute in my opinion.

[@spideybuildscars]

I'd love to see more of that definitely

[@TevyaSmolka]

@@spideybuildscars same here as well. ;)

[@ProjektTaku]

Ben Reilly really does seem like one of those character's that could benefit from adaptational simplification, similar to Madelyne Pryor. I hope the new Spider-Man animated show introduces him for 1 episode as a clone controlled by the Jackal, then have him freed & get the Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider name & costume.

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

@ProjectTaku I just wish Across The Spider Verse had a more accurate adaption of him and he had more of a role in the movie. It would’ve been cool to see his 90s universe animated.

[@fabioherrera859]

He actually got a simplified origin with the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, the first Spider-man cartoon under Disney

[@ProjektTaku]

​@@fabioherrera859 that was actually my introduction to him, but he's more Kaine with Ben's name, which is weird since they introduce a new version of Kaine later. In fact, am I the only one who's questioning why they made the other Spider-Man clone in the comics the hero Scarlet Spider? Why couldn't Kaine stay a villain?

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

He appeared in 2 episodes in the Spiderverse finale of the 90s Spider-Man cartoon ahd managed to make a good impression. Peter of that universe lost May, then Jackal cloned Peter, but neither knew who was the original. This stress caused Peter to become Spider-Carnage. He was a really cool variant.

[@TheThunderbirdRising]

Unironically I love Ben Reilly/The Clone Saga so much. It's such peak comic book nonsense, it's impossible for me to not adore. Also the classic Scarlet Spider outfit is incredible, my go to in the Sony Spiderman games

[@alexknj1]

Really weird how this video just ended five minutes in, but I guess nothing happned after Ben died thr first time.

[@stevencooper564]

Since the ps1 spiderman game, rhe Scarlet Spider costume has been ny favorite. It's simple, but its iconic.

[@Comicbroe405]

Definitely my favorite Spider-Man clone.

[@OtakuJuanma2]

It's hilarious that he has so many this statement is possible.

[@Comicbroe405]

​@@OtakuJuanma2 Lol 😭

[@KITZIT]

I'm going to have to push back on Scott "kicking Maddie to the curb," since I just read all this: he spent a good long time reaching out to her after he left to check on the Jean situation (Maddie having told him that if he left he shouldn't come back), with him eventually taking a sabbatical to see what was going on with her, leading to another whole big mess. He was a big wreck over everything that was happening to all three of them. My favorite detail of all this, by the way, is every time Scott opens his wallet, pictures of both Jean and Maddie fall out, and whoever sees this says "Wow, these are two great pictures of what is clearly the same woman!"

[@kellymccabe9154]

The way Scott and Maddy separated has been so widely misconstrued by people online that people just believe he fully cheated on his wife or something. People just reiterate that idea, without having read the actual story, so it's just accepted fact online that Scott cheated on Maddy, or 'kicked her to the curb' which isn't true, and conpeltely ignores how severely torn up and guilt he was over the whole thing, and also ignores the fact that Maddy was (retconned to be) a literal clone of Jean specifically engineered to have a baby with him as part of a diabolical plot by a 200 year old super villain. Like, did Scott handle that situation the best? No. But I feel like we should be cutting him a lot more slack than he gets....

[@Wezt334]

Title: Who is Scarlet Spider? Answer: Marvels punching bag

[@fabioherrera859]

That is also Peter Parker dude

[@Wezt334]

@@fabioherrera859 I don’t know I think Ben has it worse both in universe and in editorial

[@fabioherrera859]

@@Wezt334 fair enough.

[@jackyjordan5642]

Really hope we get a Scarlet Spider adaptation some day (whether it be a show, game, movie, etc.) I especially would love to see Insomniac do a Scarlet Spider game set in a different location (maybe Las Vegas) instead of just reusing New York.

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

@jackyjordan5642 hopefully he shows back up in Beyond the spider verse and we get to see him fight noir

[@kellymccabe9154]

I have no real reason for this, but I always thought Ben should set up shop in Chicago.

[@nikhilkapoor428]

I am so glad JMD wrote Ben Reilly: Spider-Man (2022) because I really like him now.

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

@nikhilkapoor428 one of the most underrated marvel comics. That was the same year we got Beta Ray Bill Argent Star, another severely under rated marvel comic

[@Sebboebbo]

Da Snap lore king is back baby he neva miss we're eating good today y'all

[@jackrogers5712]

Love Scarlet Spider. When I was a kid in the 90s I didn't understand the clone saga at all, but I loved the design. While I got older and was able to understand what was going on, my love for the character only grew. Now I own a Scarlet Spider miniature for display purposes. Awesome.

[@UltimatePower01]

Ben was royally screwed in dark web. Maddy got Jean’s memories and Jean could’ve given Ben, Peter’s memories at the end, but didn’t. Maddy goes “I got what I wanted, buzz off”. An event of plot induced stupidity.

[@WaterMeLoan64]

Andy Sandburg played this character well in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse!

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

@WaterMeLoan64 hopefully he comes back in Beyond and gets more to do

[@THEREALZACHELMORE]

I’ve been waiting for this one for a looooong time!

[@ricardofredes9527]

Not sure if I should put Dark Web as a recommended read for Ben, unless you mean it as a way of of underlining how Marvel really doesn't know what to do with him

[@danielhzn]

Love his costume

[@samhillier5167]

Love your videos, Nando. Watching these got me hooked on your movie content too. Great stuff!

[@Turtlpwr]

I’ve always loved that costume so much

[@omoefeasiemo3601]

14:09 he also appeared in the 90s Spider-Man cartoon

[@troillandford7679]

Can’t wait to add Scarlet spider to my colors deck. Black knight, the widows, green goblin, omega red, quicksilver, scarlet witch, white tiger, black cat, red hulk and red guardian

[@troillandford7679]

Forgot blue marvel

[@troillandford7679]

Jean grey too I guess lol

[@pjlusk7774]

I always loved that Sensational Spider-Man costume.

[@Durmomo0]

Man, I loved Ben when I was a kid. The hoodie costume was so cool in the 90s

[@gabindelacruz3201]

god i love ben reilly he's my fave spider-man-adjacent-character

[@shanedbunting]

Brode! Get this man a Snap Creator thingy Stat!

[@TheJacobG]

Ah the 90s Clone Saga. Where even the writers admitted they had no idea what was going on.

[@LMNtaLXicon]

Does Nando have, like, a Marvel Snap creator code or something? I wanna try it, but I need Marvel to know that Nando, the guy who writes all the Marvel stuff, sent me.

[@BlkVenom]

I love Ben Riley but I hate how they treated him after his 90s run. Especially when they gave Kaine the Scarlet Spider title. Though I grew to like Kaine in that run, I didn't care for the use Scarlet Spider for him.

[@Dougmond]

Hey Nando great video as always but I would recommend to anyone who plays snap to pick up scarlet spider if they can. He’s a card that will always be good and will infinitely get better as he scales with other buffing cards. So the more powerful cards get the better he gets.

[@sonicdihedgehog1]

Really, Ben Reilly has Got to be One of the More Complex Characters and Spiders Out There. Really, Guy Grew A lot More as a Spider. Hope to See Him Actually Get His Actual Greater Development Later On Once he goes back to being his Actual Self........ But, Really, The Likes of Jessica Drew has Actually Got to have Some of the Most Crazy, Chaotic, and Confusing Origins Out There. Like, Really, So Many Retcons Here and More Origins being some of the Most confusing out there. Being a Mutated Spider to being an Agent of Hydra, All that Stuff. Really, just Some of the Most Complicated Out There........

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

They had something good, despite the mess, they couldve ended it well at different points, him becoming a new spiderman while Peter moved on, but they blew it

[@Derekivery]

I started reading Spider Man comics in the 90s specifically because of the Scarlet Spider suit.

[@Retro_Red]

"He's like, 'Peter gets all the breaks'..." Has Ben ever met Peter Parker?

[@queefnugget17]

Surely you play SNAP with these vid releases

[@TevyaSmolka]

Great job man on Ben riely scarlet spider it’s fantastic

[@GoodWitchKirby]

"Spider-Man's Clone with Problems" Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down? -Blight (Batman Beyond)

[@Pope-of-Comics]

If you haven't, check out the new mini series,, Chasm: The Curse of Kain. Had a solid first issue.

[@timburbagereads]

I love the Scarlet Spider costume so much

[@TheChiefBusta]

If they ever add kaine youll have to call him Spider-mans clone with more problems lol.

[@slack__]

spider-hobo-man, with trenchcoat and beard powers xD

[@skorie6180]

I wonder how long the videos for the various Symbiotes are gonna be, I know nothing about them, but would be surprised if the random ones had much going on

[@Nutriageek]

I thought this was going to be much longer 😂

[@phabothadon7855]

All I'm saying is if Sony cared about making a good venom verse they would've made their spider guy Ben Reilly as an anti hero type

[@martimchaves1009]

hey nando i don't know if you are doing these videos for sponsorship or whatever but I just wanted to say that if you ever jumped into a gaming channel or smth related to games, I would veery much enjoy it, and I bet a lot of other subscribers would too, so I just hope you consider it. But anyways, great video as always.

[@BingBangPoe]

The whole Clone Saga was a massive convoluted mess and Marvel's still struggling with it to this day. They simply don't know what to do with Ben and the other Spider-clones. I actually like the whole Chasm idea _in concept_ with Ben allying himself with Madelyne Pryor, who's another clone. But the whole thing is so "evil villain twirling his moustache" clichè.

[@frankmateo2299]

My biggest issue with the handling of Ben Reilly in the last 10 years is that the writers have to omit the actual reasoning which is given as to why Ben is the way he is now. The thing missing from Ben is Uncle Ben in his heart and mind. Even when he lost his memories he didn't recognize why his own name as Ben. Janine calls his name unaware that it had meaning outside of just being his name and he rolls with it. Peter never places two and two together even when Ben kept saying it felt like he was missing something important and that he needed his help to get it back desparately. When Maddie gets her memories back from Jean who in an instant realized... oh you just want the Nate back no sweat here you go. Maddie just says... welp guess all is good. Ben why are you so mad? Ben listen to reason. Ben stop. Not once going... hey I could just mind meld the two like Jean did us and now we're all gucci. Nope! Ben must be stop... I cannot fathom why he's soooo evil.

[@radrno7]

This might sound controversial to people, but I'd love if they made a story exploring the clones as Jackal's sons, with Jackal mistaking Peter and Gwen's blood at the place she died. The first successful clone would be an identical copy of Peter, but with side-effects due to the mutant spider gene spliced from birth, unlike Peter who got bit and developed it over time. This first clone would kill other clone attempts, so Jackal would trap, poison and send him far away to die. He would survive, get adopted by lowlifes and grow to call himself Kaine, as in Cain from the Bible but with a typo. The second successful clone would be a mix of Peter AND Gwen, hence why he would have Peter's traits like his powers while also having Gwen's traits like her looks. Jackal would grow affection towards this clone and would raise him as his own son, naming him Ben for having a fond past connection with Peter's uncle. Ben would be perfect in everything, smart, strong, fast and kind, until meeting Kaine, the first clone. The 2 would clash thinking they're opposites, but they're actually just 2 sides of the same coin, because Kaine recognizes Ben's dad as someone who did him wrong in the past and goes to their house to know more about himself, where he would find out he's actually a clone and that he was meant to have died years ago, but when he would try to confront Jackal, Ben would step in, with Kaine leaving him wondering why he was there in the first place. Ben would confront his dad about it and find out he's a clone, but Jackal not standing the idea of losing his son would motivate a secret clone (Spidercide) to bring him back and Kaine would help Ben in hopes of getting him on his side against their dad. Once defeated, Spidercide would talk all about how Jackal created all of them to go after Spider-Man, but the truth is that Spider-Man is actually their real dad and Jackal lied to them. The story would end with Ben and Kaine going separate ways, in doubt about Spider-Man, while Spidercide goes back home to kill Jackal, but of course Jackal would survive to return in the future.

[@LiAkahi]

I’m genuinely surprised that this video isn’t like an hour long 😂

[@fabioherrera859]

So if Peter is Cyclops and Ben is Havok, that would mean that Kaine is Vulcan, right? So who would be Teresa Parker?

[@gannonkendrick9343]

I was about to correct you, telling you that "no, it actually wasn't Madelynn Pryor - it was QUEEN GOBLIN, AKA a disenfranchised clone of Ashley Kafka," because in the past I got excited by the X-Men connection too, and was disappointed to learn that I was wrong. But no. Ben Reilly is straight up connected to both GOBLIN QUEEN AND QUEEN GOBLIN. In roughly the same arc, no less. AND THEY'RE BOTH EVIL CLONES. What's up with that?

[@gannonkendrick9343]

My theory is that at some point, somebody working on a comic got confused and drew Madelynn Pryor, not knowing there was a new character with an almost identical villain name and backstory. Then they ran with it, because they kind of had to.

[@kylestephenson-co6ui]

if hell could be rated, he could he has suffered

[@pinkpowercoin3341]

Love Ben as a character. Wish Marvel would stop shi**ing on him. But they also can’t stop jerking Peter around, so that tracks I guess

[@arturo182]

Is it me or does the intro feel like it's playing at 1.1x speed?

[@mcpics4448]

All I can say is Poor Poor Ben

[@Seasonal-Shadow_4674]

Even across the spider verse seems to hate him lol

[@DavidRodriguezJr]

I think your figures are moving 0:33

[@Guimhj]

Hmm sounds like it should move and leave a clone behind lol

[@clairbeeguitar]

I wonder if clone saga is where we're going next for mcu spidey. I could see an exec saying "people like movies with multiple spidermen, let's put tom holland in a blonde wig"

[@williamdaviddiazcuchimaque7511]

Ojalá fuese la trama de spiderman 5 y el villano sea el chacal

[@troillandford7679]

Weren’t they planning on doing this storyline with Andrew Garfield and the clones?

[@uncannydcmarvelous5732]

Not exactly, only rumored thing was that for TASM 3, Peter was gonna use the symbiote to revive Gwen and her father, or something like that, no clone stuff

[@IVeNoMII]

I tried Marvel Snap and I lost because I played a card with 0 effects and some guy played a card with the same stats but a bonus effect which was a strictly better version of the card I just played that I assume must be a paid card from a pack or something. So I narrowed my eyes and said "fuck you" and uninstalled the game.

[@OtakuJuanma2]

Fans of Linkara are now crying in frustration, or remembering something hilarious.

[@cursedvhstape2443]

god… dark web… ugh

[@FearLessTribe]

Ben sucks

[@The_Corvid]

Agreed, Kaine is far better.

[@Hugop_arts]

Scarlet Spider was first designed by Tom Lyle, whom was a professor of mine in art college. He’d always joke how he’d be happy for the Lego games cuz he’d get a nice check whenever SS was used haha. He unfortunately passed away due to a stroke a couple years ago. One of my best professors in college 🥲