The Clone Saga Should Be Spider-Man’s Next MCU Story (Thanks To No Way Home’s Cameos)

To mention the word «clones» to a Spider-Man fan is to spark a level of debate equal to DC acolytes arguing whether or not Zack Snyder was onto something with the DCEU. It technically started in 1973, when the villainous Miles Warren, AKA the Jackal, cloned both Peter Parker and the late Gwen Stacy, the latter of whom he was creepily obsessed with. This story ended simply, with Peter defeating this doppelganger. Jackal and the Spider-clone die from the same bomb. Peter doesn’t stress over whether he’s the real Peter.

Flash-forward to 1994: Peter’s thought-deceased clone returns, now calling himself Ben Reilly — yes, that’s the wall-clutching, Andy Samberg-sounding Spidey from «Across the Spider-Verse». While the «Spider-Verse» version didn’t get a fair shake, the comics version was a grizzled, tougher, but still responsibility-driven hero who becomes the Scarlet Spider, wearing a torn hoodie that inspires hundreds of cosplays to this day. One clone is never enough, so Reilly was accompanied by other Spider-variations, each with their own unique skillset. 

Looking back, the story stands as a mixed bag of clever ideas and god-awful creative decisions that fans were consistently vocal about. One huge redeeming quality is that it gave us the fan-favorite Ben Reilly, plus the even edgier Spider-clone Kaine. Unfortunately, other harebrained ideas didn’t go down well, whether it was forcing readers to accept Reilly as the «real» Peter (they went back and forth on this) or randomly resurrecting Norman Osborn, ruining his iconic death to reveal him as the big bad.

Still, the plethora of Peters could tap into the same winning formula as «No Way Home,» regardless of how loathed the source material was. Especially when you consider that «No Way Home» also reworked a universally despised Spider-Man comics story.