History
Ben's Creation[]
Ben Reilly was a clone of Peter Parker created by geneticist Miles Warren and commissioned by Norman Osborn. While imprisoned for his crimes as the Green Goblin, Osborn convinced his son Harry Osborn to attack Warren's lab. Harry obliged, and discovered the clone, along with a clone of his father and Peter's wife Gwen Stacy.
Believing that his father had commissioned the clone of Peter as his new heir, an enraged Harry attempted to kill them all. Gwen convinced Peter to save the clones, however, only Ben survived. To his horror, Peter would learn that the supposed clone of Gwen had in fact been the original, who had been kidnapped and replaced by Warren, who was obsessed with Gwen. Now given a chance at a real life, the clone took the name "Ben Parker" and left New York with the clone of Gwen, now using the name "Helen Parker".[2]
Ben in the 90's[]
Ben eventually moved to Chicago where he worked as a photographer. At some point, he and Helen split up and went their separate ways. When Aunt May passed away, Ben secretly attended her funeral. Despite supposedly living a quiet life, Ben could not resist being a vigilante, and fought crime as the "Red Mask".
In 1995 an ageing Ben was kidnapped by Otto Octavius. Octavius had seen Ben at May's funeral and deduced his true identity. Seeking to prolong his life, he wished to unlock the secrets of cloning that had died with Miles Warren, and needed Peter and Ben to help him reverse engineer the process. While examining them, Octavius discovered that Ben was in fact the original and Peter the clone.
After defeating Otto, Peter gave all the codes for his company Parker Industries, his Spider-Man suits, and detailed information on his life, claiming that Ben should finally be allowed to achieve his potential. Ben in turn gave Peter the mask he had worn as a vigilante. While Ben wholeheartedly believed that he was the original, it was in fact a ruse by Norman Osborn, a last ditch effort at ruining Peter's life. Peter was fully aware that Ben truly was the clone, using this as an opportunity to retire as Spider-Man.[1]
Ben's Death[]
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Ben replaced Peter not only as head of Paker Industries but as Spider-Man, spending a decade fighting crime in New York. When Morlun came to hunt the Spider-Totem of this reality, he sought out Ben, but soon deduced that Ben was a clone. The two fought, but Ben was no match for Morlun, who killed him. His death was broadcast to the world, revealing Peter Parker's identity as Spider-Man.[3]
It is possible that Ben was resurrected when Morlun was cut by the Totem Dagger,[4] but this is unconfirmed.See Also
- 3 appearance(s) of Benjamin Reilly (Earth-19529)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Benjamin Reilly (Earth-19529)
- 4 image(s) of Benjamin Reilly (Earth-19529)