The Scarlet Spider is an alias used by several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, both of whom are genetic replicates of the superhero Spider-Man. Both the Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker incarnations of Scarlet Spider appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Fictional character biography

Ben Reilly

Benjamin "Ben" Reilly, a clone of the original Spider-Man created by the Jackal, is the first major version of the Scarlet Spider.

Peter Parker

To continue his superhero activities, Peter Parker was forced to use the Scarlet Spider identity due to all of his Spider-Man costumes being ruined, while Ben Reilly pretended to be the former in prison.

Joe Wade

Joseph "Joe" Wade is the only character to operate as a villain under the Scarlet Spider alias. An undercover FBI agent, he was assigned to investigate the second Doctor Octopus. 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 his name. Despite this, Joe is unable to stop himself from committing acts of violence. The true Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly) attacks Doctor Octopus' lair, damaging the machine while Joe is still inside. This turned Joe into a mechanized version of the Scarlet Spider with superhuman strength and speed, claws on his fingertips, the ability to fire webbing from his wrists, crawl up walls, and fire laser "stingers" from his eyes. After the imposter goes on a rampage, the second Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) joins forces with the New Warriors to stop the cybernetic Scarlet Spider before the FBI put him in custody so Joe can undergo medical treatment to remove the technology.

Scarlet Spiders (Red Team)

The Scarlet Spiders, secretly all clones of Michael Van Patrick, work with the Initiative and wear advanced versions of the Iron Spider armour.

Kaine Parker

Kaine Parker, a clone of the original Spider-Man also created by the Jackal, is the fifth major version of the Scarlet Spider.

Other versions

MC2

In the alternate future MC2, Felicity Hardy, the daughter of Felicia Hardy and purportedly Flash Thompson, adopts the Scarlet Spider identity both to irritate her mother, and because she suspects Peter Parker may be her real father. She attempts to convince her possible half-sister Spider-Girl to take her on as a sidekick, but the latter refuses. Undeterred, she continues to fight crime until several near-death experiences cause her to give up the identity. Although she has no actual powers, she is skilled in martial arts and gymnastics and utilizes an array of spider-themed weaponry.

Spider-Gwen

The Spider-Gwen universe's Mary Jane Watson dresses as the Scarlet Spider for Halloween.

In other media

Television

Film

Video games