Thursday, October 16, 2014

Guide to the Spider-Verse: Scarlet Spiders


The Scarlet Spider is one of Spider-Man's most famous allies. And there have been quite a few individuals to don the webs of the Scarlet Spider. Ben Reilly was the first, and most famous, Scarlet Spider. A spider-powered clone of Spider-Man created by the Jackal, Ben initially believed that he was the real Spider-Man. Creating a red Spider-Man costume of his own from scavenged materials and tossing on a blue spider-hoodie , the Scarlet Spider swung into battle alongside Spider-Man, even taking over as Spider-Man for a brief while until his death. Joe Wade was a spy trying to infiltrate the ranks of the henchmen of Lady Octopus, but the villainess found him out and forced him to be her guinea pig in her holographic projector. Initially he was used to power a solid-light hologram of the Scarlet Spider used to discredit the real Scarlet Spider, but the tech malfunctioned and fused into Joe, changing him into the second Scarlet Spider. Clad in silver-and-scarlet armor, Joe terrorized the public until her was stopped by Ben Reilly (who was in the guise of Spider-Man). The third Scarlet Spider was also a clone like Ben, but unlike Ben, he was a clone of a Avenger trainee. Patrick and his brothers Michael and Van were clones of a super-hero in-training named MVP who was killed in practice while training to be an Avenger. A clone was sent home to pose as the real MVP, but three more were created to put MVP's athleticism to use in copies of Spider-Man's super-powered red-and-gold Iron Spider armor as the Scarlet Spiders. During the course of their career, Michael and Van would fall in battle, leaving Patrick the last surviving Scarlet Spider. A second clone of Spider-Man would take on the title Scarlet Spider after he was cured of a debilitating clone disease. Kaine was a disfigured Spider-Man clone who hated Ben Reilly for being a prefect clone. Kaine would be a villain for years until he was forced to undergo a metamorphosis and emerge completely cured and given powers the real Spider-Man didn't have anymore. In honor of his "brother" Ben, Kaine became the fourth Scarlet Spider in a high-tech red-and-black. In addition to his his tech Scarlet Spider suit, Kaine also took Spider-Man's black-and-red stealth suit. In the Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker was seen as a Scarlet Spider in a potential future wearing a variation of Patrick's Scarlet Spider armor. In another timeline, Felicity Hardy (daughter of the Black Cat) used her acrobatics and spider-themed gadgets to become the Scarlet Spider (wearing a garnet-and-light blue variation of Ben's costume). In a possible future in her timeline, Felicity upgraded her Scarlet Spider suit into high-tech garnet-and-black armor and led the Avengers.

All images owned by Marvel Comics.

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