Who is Ben Reilly? Exploring origins amidst leaks of appearing in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Recent leaks from early merchandise of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse suggests that Ben Reilly is all set to appear in the 2023 Spider-Man film. Reilly happens to be a clone of Peter Parker, and is usually seen sporting an iconic blue hoodey with a Spidey mask.

Photos on the internet reveal that Reilly features on the cover of the upcoming film's Trouble-themed boardgame.

However, no official announcement about the same has been made as yet.

Ben Reilly's appearance in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has sparked considerable excitement among fans.

For those who are not well-versed with the character, here is a quick guide that will tell you all you need to know about this clone's origins.

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Ben Reilly was grown in a lab by a supervillian to torment Peter Parker

Ben Reilly was brought to life by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, and first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #149.

Being a part of the now infamous Clone saga, Reilly is a genetic clone of Peter Parker and was created in a lab by the supervillain Jackal, aka Miles Warren, to torture Peter Parker because he blamed him for Gwen Stacy's death.

In the first encounter between Parker and Reilly, the clone seems to die when Jackal activates a bomb that kills him. Peter then picks up the clone's body and buries him. However, Reilly comes back to life owing to a serum which the Jackal had injected him with. Warren then retrieves his body and drops the dead body of another clone in his place.

After the clone wakes up, he sees Peter and MJ together, thereby concluding that he himself is a clone since his emotions would not have developed enough for him to accept his feelings for Jane.

He spends the next five years in exile and takes up the name of Ben Reilly - a combination of Uncle Ben's name and Aunt May's maiden name. He returns when Aunt May's health begins to decline. He then meets Peter and makes his peace with him before taking up the mantle of the Scarlet Spider.

While fighting side-by-side with the real Spider-Man, Ben and Peter are tricked by Osborn into believing that Ben is actually the real Peter and that Parker is the clone.

However, this eventually got retconned since fans at the time hated the idea.

Ben's history in the Marvel comics is an extensive one. While there is no way to be sure how much of his backstory will be included in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it will still be interesting to see where his character is taken on the big screen.

Besides Reilly, it has also been leaked that Spider-Punk will be making his debut in the upcoming sequel. A bunch of other Spider-Variants who will be joining the film include the likes of Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man 2099 and more.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases on June 2, 2023.