Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse appears to be adding another fan favorite Spider-Man to the film's cast of characters in the form of Peter Parker's clone, Ben Reilly. The sequel to the Academy Award-winning 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is already set to feature many more incarnations of the popular web-slinger with Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and Peter B. Parker already confirmed to be joined by Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman, the Japanese Spider-Man, and Spider-Punk. With all these different Spider-Man appearances, one prominent version of the character fans have been curious about is Ben Reilly, the clone of Peter Parker who used the alias Scarlet Spider-Man.
First introduced as a clone of Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 back in 1975, the character was brought back and named Ben Reilly in Spider-Man #51 in 1994 before becoming the hero Scarlet Spider and eventually taking over the role of Spider-Man in the Marvel universe for a short time. Despite being part of the infamous Clone Saga storyline, Reilly found a fanbase and was brought back in the pages of Marvel Comics, and recently took up the villainous mantle of Chasm in the comics. It now appears that Ben Reilly will be joining the cast of Spider-Man characters in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse according to merchandise for the film.
The Twitter user haileestan2007 posted an image of an upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Trobule-themed board game and on the box alongside Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2099, and Spider-Gwen is none other than Ben Reilly's Scarlet Spider. No announcement from Sony Pictures has been made about Scarlet Spider appearing in the movie or any voice actor cast. See the image below.
While merchandise has already confirmed the appearance of characters like Spider-Punk, what is notable about Ben Reilly is how prominent he is featured on the Trouble box and is one of the playable characters, possibly indicating he will have a larger role in the film. What his universe will look like remains unclear, yet it could be that he resides in Miles Morales's universe which features a dead Peter Parker. Miles has met many different incarnations of Spider-Man before, but encountering a clone of Peter Parker would serve as a great mirror for Miles Morales's arc.
While The Spot is confirmed as Across the Spider-Verse's villain, given the recent antagonistic turn by Ben Reilly in the comics, this could be an indication that the character might not be a hero, but a foe to Miles Morales. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse could reveal him as the secret villain, or set him up for a villainous turn in the third film Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. This could allow the filmmakers to set up Spider-Carnage, a version of Ben Reilly who was taken over by the Carnage symbiote.
Source: haileestan2007
