Warning! Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man #76
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man, Ben Reilly officially earns Peter Parker's title as the new Spider-Man after receiving the first wall-crawler's blessing. With a recent battle putting Peter Parker in the hospital, the original Spider-Man is going to be out of commission for a while, leaving the new corporate-backed Spider-Man Ben Reilly to take his place. However, Peter Parker didn't actually ask his clone to serve as his replacement. Prior to Peter's recent sickness, Ben Reilly had already begun to web swing around as an unsanctioned new Spider-Man thanks to the Beyond Corporation.
In the beginning of Amazing Spider-Man #76 from writer Zeb Wells and artist Patrick Gleason, Ben Reilly has rushed Peter Parker to the hospital seeing as the latter Spider-Man is currently dying from an excess of radiation poisoning from his recent battle against the U-Foes. While Ben's advanced spider-suit, courtesy of Beyond, protected him from X-Ray's attack, Peter's did not. Now, the source of Spider-Man's power is killing him.
While Ben Reilly had originally told Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #75 that he wasn't asking for Peter's permission to be a new Spider-Man, he seems to have changed his tune in light of the original Webslinger's sickness. Despite the Beyond Corporation choosing Ben to be their officially sponsored Spider-Man (as they own the trademarked name and likeness), Ben decides that he can't be Spider-Man without Peter Parker's blessing, returning to the hospital to make his request. Knowing that his clone ultimately deserves to be Spider-Man just as much as he does, Peter agrees to share his name with Ben, giving him his blessing. However, it looks as though Peter has one condition which Ben wholeheartedly agrees to when he goes after the U-Foes for a rematch.
While it's unfortunate that Peter Parker is in the hospital and potentially dying, it's good he's agreed to have Ben step up to the plate in his absence. Likewise, it's possible that the corporate-backed Webslinger may even become a genuinely Superior Spider-Man given all of the support, resources, and high-tech gear he has at his disposal. He certainly takes the fight to the U-Foes pretty hard by the issue's end, displaying some fairly impressive hardware courtesy of the Beyond Corporation. That being said, here's hoping Ben will be prepared when/if his benefactors prove to be more corrupt than they're currently letting on.
In any case, Ben Reilly was told to "Be Amazing" as Marvel's new Spider-Man, and it looks as though he's already delivering, having earned Peter Parker's title after his solo rematch with the U-Foes. Still, it's going to be important that he continues to earn and be worthy of the Spider-Man name going forward, especially if Peter Parker is out of the game for longer than anticipated as Amazing Spider-Man continues.