Scarlet Spiders #3
The Hero
Spider-Verse continues from Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #7…
Reflecting on his past life, Ben Reilly has learned that as long as you never give you, a hero always wins.[1] Now he and Kaine, another clone of Peter Parker from another dimension are face-to-face with Jennix, one of the Inheritors. In their opening slavo, Spider-Man blinds Jennix with webbing while the Scarlet Spider shoves him out into the main cloning facility.
The attack hurts Jennix who is annoyed with the sensation. However, before he can attack, Spider-Man drops a cloning vat on him. The two pile on Jennix when suddenly, Kaine begins losing control and starts transforming into the Other.[2] Ben tries to tell him to stop, but Kaine fatally stabs Jennix with his wrist stingers.
Moments later, Jennix emerges from one of the cloning vats after his mind was transferred into the new body. This second body is destroyed moments later by the Black Widow, who has managed to get control of the cloning vat’s automatic weapons. Spider-Man tells her that she has to shut down the defense systems before their enemy regains control and pleads with the Widow not to kill anyone while she’s doing it. That’s when Jennix emerges from another cloning vat. Deducting that Jennix’s mind is transferred to new bodies through a carrier wave of some how, Ben tells Jessica to shut that down next.
Unfortunately, before Jessica can pull this off, the Human Torch of this world arrives and begins attacking her. This leaves Spider-Man and Kaine to deal with Jennix. Things aren’t going so well as Ben is growing tired and Kaine is having trouble keeping the Other in check. By the time the Black Widow defeats the Human Torch and rejoins the others, Ben is seriously injured. When she pulls him to safety, he tells Jessica to save Kaine since he’s the one Jennix is most interested in. Dazed and seriously injured, Ben’s life begins flashing before his eyes. He thinks that he always made the right call, unlike the Peter Parker of his world who lost so many of his loved ones. Eventually, his Peter lost his powers and passed on the mantle of Spider-Man to Ben. From there, there seemed no stopping Ben. He was even hailed as a hero when he saved the life of Marla Madison, wife of Mayor J. Jonah Jameson.[3]
By this time, Jennix has defeated both Kaine and Jessica. He boasts that their mission was futile because there are facilities like this all over the planet. That’s when Ben, armed with one of the defensive lasers. He figures that while there may be facilities all over the world, this is the only one that has the carrier signal that and heads off to destroy it. Jennix follows after him, leaving Kaine and Jessica alive. Jessica contacts Ben through their communicator offering her assistance on how to shut down the carrier wave. Unfortunately, her battle with the Human Torch left the control panel melted beyond repair.
With no other choice, Ben takes out one of the cannon’s shells which contain unstable energy that has great destructive force. Jessica realizes that Ben is going to sacrifice his life, and tells him to stop, but Ben knows they have no other choice. He tells her that he is proud of her and that she has lived up to be as noble as the real Peter Parker, and a hero in her own right. He tells her to never forget that and to look after Kaine. That’s when Jennix arrives and he tries to stop Ben from detonating the shell. Jennix is too slow to stop Ben from throwing the shell at the others and the resulting explosion destroys the upper levels of the Baxter Building and the cloning facilities.
The Black Widow has managed to get Kaine to safety, but Kaine is furious over the loss of Ben. She tries to tell him that focusing on this is like poison, but it falls on deaf ears. All the Scarlet Spider cares about is avenging Ben Reilly’s death now that the Inheritors have a weakness, they can die. Opening a portal to Loomworld, Kaine — who is once more transforming into the Other — to kill them all. The Black Widow pauses to reflect on Ben Reilly. At first, she thought he was goofy and naive, but in the end he proved he had everything it took to be a hero. With that, she departs through a dimensional portal to rejoin the others.
… Spider-Verse continues in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #13.
Recurring Characters
Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Jennix, Human Torch
Continuity Notes
Two moments in Ben Reilly’s life reflect events that occurred to Peter Parker on Earth-616.
One shows Ben being attacked by a mob that supports Electro. On Earth-616, people made Electro something of a working-class hero when he fought against government bailouts in Amazing Spider-Man #612-614.
The other shows the death of Doctor Octopus. This is similar to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #700. However, on Earth-616, Doctor Octopus managed to swap bodies with Peter Parker for a time. See Superior Spider-Man #1-31.
As explained in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #13-15, Kaine became the host for the Other.
Ben Reilly’s memories are nearly parallel with the Earth-616 version of Spider-Man. The things he mentions include:
The deaths of Peter’s Uncle Ben, Captain George Stacy, and Gwen Stacy. On Earth-616’s Peter Parker lost these loved ones in Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spider-Man #90, and 121 respectively.
Peter Parker losing his powers and passing on the mantle of Spider-Man to Ben Reilly was also something that happened on Earth-616. Peter began losing his powers and retired as Spider-Man in Spectacular Spider-Man #229. Ben Reilly eventually became Spider-Man in Sensational Spider-Man #0. However, on Earth-616, Ben Reilly was killed by the Green Goblin in Spider-Man #75, and Peter Parker (whose powers had come back by this time) reclaimed the mantle of Spider-Man.
Ben Reilly states that he saved the life of Marla Madison. Earth-616’s Peter Parker was unable to do so and she was murdered by the Spider-Slayer. See Amazing Spider-Man #652-654.
