Amazon Prime Video canceled its Spider-Man TV series Spider-Noir after just one season, but it looks like there is already another show from the web-slinger’s universe in development at the studio. It’s been unclear what Sony and Amazon’s larger plan is for the collection of Marvel characters they can use, as Spider-Noir was the first program to emerge from a chaotic period of development on a handful of different shows set in the Spider-Man universe, many of which never made it to the screen.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Well, the next idea for a Spider-Man TV series is certainly a new one. Not only is it a wild concept for a TV series, but it will also be adapting one of the craziest and most infamous Marvel Comics story arcs from over 30 years ago.
Spider-Man Clone Saga TV Series In the Works at Amazon
Reports are stating that Amazon Prime Video is “closing in on an order” for a new TV series based on Spider-Man’s famous “Clone Saga” story arc. The series is being written by Kelvin Yu (Bob’s Burgers, American Born Chinese), but other details are being kept secret for now. As with Spider-Noir, fans should expect that there “may be significant changes in the screen adaptation” of the Clone Saga, but one thing that is being shared is that the main characters of the series will be Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, two clones of Peter Parker/Spider-Man who ended up taking very different paths to their own superhero/anti-hero identities.
Even the rumors about the series don’t seem to agree: Some reports claim that the show’s focus will be Ben and Kaine discovering their identities as clones and trying to reconcile that false existence, while also having to battle other wayward clones. Other reports claim that the series will be a massive departure from the comic book lore and could explore Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker taking on new identities and getting into their own adventures.
This report aligns with recent news that Sony and Amazon Prime Video have at least four different Spider-Man TV shows currently in development, including one that was being written by Yu. However, now that we know the concept for the show, it boggles the mind to think about the other pitches that are being tossed around… Clearly, Sony and Amazon are willing to go deep into the bench of Spider-Man characters for show concepts, so nothing feels like it’s off the table.
Spider-Man’s Clone Saga Explained
The “Clone Saga” is a story arc that ran in Spider-Man comic books from 1994 – 1996. It was a sequel to a 1975 story in The Amazing Spider-Man #149, in which Peter Parker learns that the maniacal villain The Jackal is actually his biochemistry teacher, Professor Miles Warren. Warren was driven mad by the death of his obsession, Gwen Stacy, and blamed Peter Parker/Spider-Man for it. Warren masters cloning and successfully brings a clone of Gwen to life, then kidnaps Spider-Man and clones him as well. The two Spider-Men fight it out but eventually settle their differences to save the day, with the clone seemingly dying in the effort.
In 1994, Marvel Comics decided to pull a major retcon, bringing back the Jackal as well the seemingly dead clone for the “Clone Saga.” The story arc revealed the twist that the Peter Parker who walked away from the clone battle was actually the clone all along. The original Peter had survived and taken on the name “Ben Reilly” and lived a life of his own. The twists kept coming when a mysterious assassin named “Kaine” was revealed to also be a clone of Peter, the original prototype who developed his own abnormal powers, but also severe degenerative deformity and psychosis.
After the ’90s Clone Saga story arc, Kaine (or “Kaine Parker”) became a regular recurring character in the Spider-Man universe. He was eventually cured of his genetic flaws and became another perfect clone of Peter Parker, who often interacts with Ben Reilly.
