Scarlet Spider

Scarlet Spider is a name taken by various characters in Marvel Comics.

Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly)

Main Article: Ben Reilly

Ben Reilly was the name adopted by a male clone of Peter Parker who had been created by the villainous scientist known as the Jackal. He was created by Professor Miles Warren had an injection that removed some of Spider-Man's genetic material where the RNA cellular memory was altered to make him believe he was the real Peter Parker. After capturing Spider-Man, the clone and the real Peter Parker were left in a room that held Ned Leeds attached to a bomb that would only defuse to the real version. However, both Spider-Men believed themselves to be the real Peter Parker leading to a fight as they sought to save Leeds. The trap was only thwarted by a clone of Gwen Stacy who was horrified at Miles Warren's actions causing him to regret what he had done and attempting to free Ned Leeds. This caused the bomb to be activated which seemingly killed him and the cloned Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #149)

Scarlet Spider (Peter Parker)

Main Article: Peter Parker

Scarlet Spider (Joe Wade)

Main Article: Joe Wade

Joseph Wade was a male human who came to operate as an undercover FBI agent who had been assigned to investigate Lady Octopus. (Spectacular Scarlet Spider v1 #1) However, Doctor Octopus discovers Joe and traps his body in a virtual reality chamber before using his thoughts to power a hard-light holographic duplicate of the Scarlet Spider to tarnish the Scarlet Spider name. (Scarlet Spider v1 #2) Despite this, Joe was unable to stop himself from committing acts of violence. The true Scarlet Spider Ben Reilly attacked Doctor Octopus' lair, damaging the machine whilst Joe was still inside. (Spectacular Scarlet Spider v1 #2)

Scarlet Spider (Michael Van Patrick)

Main Article: Michael Van Patrick

Michael Van Patrick was the great-grandson of the man who created Captain America, Abraham Erskine. Michael became one of the greatest student athletes in the country. Dubbed 'MVP', Michael was recruited by Justice as part of the Initiative. At Camp Hammond, he took a liking to Cloud 9 and watched her train. MVP was tragically killed during an incident when Armory's Tactigon raged out of control. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #1) After his death Baron Von Blitzschlag performed cloning experiments on MVP's body, first cloning it at least four times. One of the clones was given the identity of the late Michael Van Patrick and sent back home. (Avengers: The Initiative Annual v1 #1) After his death via training accident, Dr. Blitzschlag found his genome too valuable to simply throw away and with reluctant permission from Yellowjacket proceeded to clone him. The clones were named Michael, Van, and Patrick. To accelerate their development, telemetry education was fed into their brains by Taskmaster to have the martial arts prowess and physical muscle memory and moves of Spider-Man. All three of them wore the Iron Spider Stark armor which Parker formerly wore pre-Civil War and during the event. Originally, they identified themselves as Red Team on the field. They took down the Sinister Syndicate consisting of Shocker, Boomerang, and Hydro-Man. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #3)

Scarlet Spider (Kaine Parker)

Main Article: Kaine

Kaine was the name given to a clone of Peter Parker with this one being the first created by the Jackal. Initially a success, the clone began to suffer from clone degeneration causing him to suffer from mental instability along with him slowly dying. Miles Warren deemed Kaine a failed experiment and attempted to dispose of him but the clone managed to escape. (Spider-Man v1 #60)

Earning money from both stopping robbers and committing robberies, Kaine started a trip around the USA to enter Mexico. During his stay in Houston, Texas, he saved a young girl, Aracely, from human traffickers and left her in a hospital. (Scarlet Spider v2 #1) A super-powered villain came after Aracely, and Kaine felt that he had to save her instead of leaving Houston. In a scarlet suit similar to Spider-Man's, Kaine faced the Salamander and managed to defeat him, being named by him as "Araña Escarlata" ('Scarlet Spider' in Spanish). When the people at the scene cheered him and told them they needed a hero, Kaine's sense of responsibility for Aracely led him to stay in Houston as Scarlet Spider. (Scarlet Spider v2 #2)

=Overview

In appearance, the Scarlet Spider was a masked identity who wore a costume similar to that of Spider-Man. (Sensational Spider-Man v1 #0)

Notes

• The concept of the Scarlet Spider was created by Dan Jurgens where it made its first appearance in Sensational Spider-Man v1 #0 (January, 1996).

Alternate Versions

• In Spider-Girl v1 #45 (2002), the Scarlet Spider appeared in the setting of the MC2 universe that was designated as Earth-982. This version was a female superhero that was actually Felicity Hardy who was the daughter of Felicia Hardy and Flash Thompson on this world.

In other media

Television

• In The Spectacular Spider-Man, though the Scarlet Spider did not appear the character of Joe Wade made an appearance in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Shear Strength". This version was shown as being an African-American FBI agent.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man, the Scarlet Spider appeared in the animated television series third season story arc of Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six. The identity of the character was not revealed initially but he called himself the 'first Spider' with him wearing Kaine's Scarlet Spider costume. He also had stingers that emerged from his wrist and also shot organic webbing. The Scarlet Spider had a particular enmity with Doctor Octopus who he said experimented on him until he escaped and began living in the sewers due to his true nature. He emerged to save Spider-Man from Doctor Octopus who had joined HYDRA but stated that he worked alone and did not work on a team. Spider-Man convinced him to aid him by telling him that they would strike against Otto Octavius.

Appearances

• Sensational Spider-Man v1: (1996)
• Scarlet Spider v1:
• Scarlet Spider v2:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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