Who Is Ben Reilly? Origin, Powers and Key Facts

Ben Reilly is a Marvel comic book character, with over 753 comic issue appearances. The second and most successful clone of Spider-Man created by the Jackal. A superhero known as the Scarlet Spider, Reilly later replaced Peter Parker for a time as Spider-Man after he found out that all this time he was the original and not Peter. Ben met his ultimate demise in the fight against the Green Goblin which led to Peter becoming Spider-Man once again, after he found out that he is the real Spider-Man after all.

Who is Ben Reilly?

Origin Ben Reilly was the first successful clone of Spider-Man created by the Jackal. The Jackal, in his deranged grief over Gwen Stacy's death, pitted Ben against the real Spider-Man in Shea Stadium, putting both in identical costumes and allowing both to believe they were the true Peter Parker. After a heated fight, the two Spider-Men teamed up to try to save a clone of Gwen from the Jackal. In doing so, Ben seemingly died. Spider-Man dropped Ben's body into a smokestack, unable to think of any other way to deal with a dead body identical to Peter Parker. However, the clone was not dead and literally rose from the ashes. Believing he was the real deal, he went home only to find Peter already there. The world as he understood it fell apart, and he left New York.

Key facts

Ben Reilly is of human origin and first appeared in "Even If I Live, I Die". The character is published by Marvel. With 753 recorded issue appearances, Ben Reilly ranks among the most featured characters in comics.