Marvel Announces Ben Reilly: Spider-Man

By Jamie Lovett

As Peter Parker's clone prepares to take over the Spider-Man mantle again in Amazing Spider-Man Beyond, Marvel Comics will also revisit Ben Reilly's first time as Spider-Man, when he believed he was the real Peter Parker, in Ben Reilly: Spider-Man. J.M. DeMatteis, whose previous Marvel Comics credits include "Kraven's Last Hunt" and Spider-Man: The Lost Years, returns to write the series when it launches in January. Ben Reilly: Spider-Man flashes back to a bygone era of the Marvel Universe to tell previously untold tales of Ben's time as Spider-Man. DeMatteis is teaming with X-Factor and Domino artist David Baldeón on the new series billed in the same vein as Peter David and Greg Land's popular Symbiote Spider-Man series.

According to the plot summary provided by Marvel Comics in a press release, murders are piling up in New York City, and they may all be connected. At the same time, a mysterious figure from Ben's past returns and the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane may hold the key to their identity?

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(Photo: Steve Skroce, David Stewart, Marvel Comics)

"What I've always found fascinating about Ben Reilly is that he's Peter Parker—and yet he's not," DeMatteis says in the press release. "Life has taken Ben on a strange, twisted path and altered him, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse; but, like Peter, he's a man who's constantly striving to do the right thing, even if he doesn't always succeed. Ben is wonderfully, painfully human, immensely relatable—and our new Ben Reilly: Spider-Man series allows me to dive even deeper into Ben's psyche, to explore him in new and, I hope, interesting ways.

"Having David Baldeon bringing this story to visual life has been the icing on the cake.  David's work is incredibly dynamic.  Fluid and powerful.  He nails the big moments—we've got some major antagonists going up against Ben—but he always holds tight to the characters' humanity, so that even the smallest, quietest moments shine and have resonance. It's been a true joy returning the Spiderverse and reuniting with my old friend, Ben."

What do you think of Ben Reilly: Spider-Man? Are you excited for Ben Reilly to be getting the Spider-Man spotlight in the coming year? Let us know in the comments section. Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #1 goes on sale in January. 

  • BEN REILLY: SPIDER-MAN #1
  • Written by J.M. DEMATTEIS
  • Art by DAVID BALDEÓN
  • Cover by STEVE SKROCE & DAVID STEWART

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