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Amazing Spider-Man #87 suggests that the questionable Beyond Corporation has been grooming Ben Reilly to become their version of the Winter Soldier.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #87, available now from Marvel Comics.
Ben Reilly’s return to action as Spider-Man hasn’t been easy. Apart from his struggles to successfully retake the spider-mantle while Peter Parker recovers from a terrifying attack, Ben has also been at odds with his new benefactors, Beyond Corporation. While the organization claims that they want Ben to be the best version of Spider-Man possible, their true intentions point towards them making him into a very different type of hero reminiscent of the Winter Soldier.
While Peter Parker struggles to get himself back into fighting shape, Ben Reilly has been undergoing a whole different kind of regiment that is focused on his mind rather than his body. Amazing Spider-Man #87 (by Zeb Wells, Carlos Gomez, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Joe Caramagna) reveals that the various therapies and treatments that Beyond has been putting Ben through are very different that what he expected. The new Spider-Man knows that Beyond wants him to be their preferred version of the iconic hero, but he is unaware of their attempts to rewrite him as a person entirely, and there may not be much time left to stop them.
It appears that the endless streams of interviews that Ben has been subjected to by Beyond are all in service of establishing which memories they have already successfully removed from his mind. From the looks of things, Beyond is well on their way towards reducing Ben Reilly to little more than a superpowered blank slate for them to program and manipulate as they see fit, much in the same way that Captain America’s former partner Bucky Barnes was transformed into the Winter Soldier. While Bucky became a shadowy assassin in his brainwashed state, that isn’t likely to be the case for Ben Reilly if Beyond gets their way. As hard as it is to believe, the new Spider-Man’s fate might end up being even worse, assuming that this is just the beginning of the plans of his malevolent benefactors.
Beyond Corporation has made it no secret how much they care about protecting their brands, which includes the title of Spider-Man. Not only have they shot down any notion of Peter Parker continuing on under that moniker, they have already resorted to sending legal threats to Miles Morales. All of this seems to point towards Ben and Spider-Man being the first in what Beyond is hoping to be a series of superpowered acquisitions.
If Beyond really is looking to expand their status as the world’s foremost superpowered corporation, it will only be a matter of time before they try to bring other heroes into the fold or try to develop their own internally. Either of these directions will likely see their Spider-Man take center stage in any ensuing conflicts, setting Ben up to become Marvel’s latest hero to take an unwitting villainous turn. Just as how Shang-Chi’s attempts to reform the Five Weapons Society have cost him the trust of his fellow Avengers, Ben striking out under Beyond Corporation’s complete control may cause irreparable damage to the heroic legacy of the iconic hero.
Although is hoped that Ben Reilly will find some way of salvaging his mind, it now appears to be highly unlikely. Fortunately, there are still plenty of other heroes willing to defend the good name of the web-slinger, even if it means having to take down one of their own.
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