An amazing new cosplay has recreated the instant-classic redesign of classic Spider-Man villain the Jackal. With this version of the Jackal facing off against his own past, the cosplay also has deeper meaning in its representation of Ben Reilly, Peter's clone and the former Scarlet Spider.
Introduced in-costume in Gerry Conway and Ross Andru’s Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #129, the original Jackal is the alter-ego of Miles Warren, a biology professor at Empire State University which Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy both attend. Obsessed with Gwen, Warren becomes the Jackal after her death, cloning both her and Peter, the latter resulting firstly in Kaine and later in Ben Reilly, who would replace Peter Parker as Spider-Man for a time during the 1990s. With the villain's return as a major threat during The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4, the Jackal got an incredible new redesign, outfitted in a black mask of Anubis and a striking red suit, at odds with the villain's appearance as a furry green gremlin.
Now, this redesign of the Jackal has been immortalized in an incredible new cosplay by gravelroadcosplay The cosplayer is pictured in full Jackal regalia, mask, red suit and gloves, looking regal and intimidating in equal measure. The villain also faces off against Scarlet Spider in his classic costume. This is ironic considering this Jackal’s actual identity. As revealed in Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy #3, by Dan Slott and Jim Cheung, this version of the Jackal isn’t Miles Warren at all, it’s Ben Reilly. Gravelroadcosplay gives credit to @dr.costumes for the Jackal mask, and to @bryantcoxphotography for the photoshoot, as well as to the group effort of @supergeek_designs, @printcostumeofficial, @peter_d_parker_fnsm and @artcrist_props for the Scarlet Spider costume. Facing off, the two versions of Ben Reilly are battling not only literally, but in a sense thematically, representing the best and worst instincts of Ben Reilly.
Jackal's New Look Is Marvel's Best Redesign
Replacing his skinny, animalistic form, this redesign of the Jackal also makes explicit several thematic ties separating Ben Reilly’s new alter-ego from that of the Scarlet Spider. As the Jackal, Ben takes a mask of the Egyptian god Anubis to disguise his identity. Not only is this mask appropriate for his alias, as Anubis is himself jackal-headed, but also makes sense within the story, as Ben’s goal is to conquer death, bringing back the loved ones of characters in order to blackmail them, with his stated eventual goal being to conquer death forever.
Jackal has long been one of Spider-Man's most underutilized villains, with a visual theme that never really spoke to his obsession with cloning. In redesigning the character along the theme of Anubis, Marvel made the villain both look incredible and tied his resurrection and jackal themes together, and the Spider-Man villain's glow-up is perfectly captured in this awesome cosplay.
Source: gravelroadcosplay