The latest big screen adventure for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker isn’t even close to starting shooting yet having suffered a delay along with the rest of Marvel Studios’ Phase Four output, but rumors are already looking well beyond Spider-Man 3 and towards a potential future where Peter won’t even be the MCU’s friendly neighborhood web-slinger anymore.
With Kevin Feige confirming that Miles Morales exists in the MCU, fans have been hoping that the beloved character shows up sooner rather than later. Holland himself has already admitted he’s more than on board with the idea, too, although we’re not sure how he feels about the reports that Peter Parker will eventually be killed off and Miles will assume the mantle of Spider-Man on a permanent basis.
While this isn’t expected to happen for a long time yet, with Miles’ next appearance set to be in the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse sequel, we’ve nonetheless heard that another version of Spidey from the comic books is set to appear in the third outing for the MCU’s Spider-Man franchise, but it isn’t who you might expect.
According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us Ahsoka Tano will be in The Mandalorian season 2, Han is returning for Fast & Furious 9 and a Justice League Dark show is coming to HBO Max, all of which were correct – Ben Reilly is slated to show up in Spider-Man 3 as a student at Peter’s high school. Of course, those with a knowledge of comic book lore will be aware that this would mark a huge departure from his established origins.
In the source material, Ben Reilly played a major role in the iconic Clone Saga arc as a genetic replica of Peter Parker that suited up as the Scarlet Spider. Marvel have been known to take liberties with the comics in the past though, and it seems they’ll be doing so once again. It’s still unclear exactly what the studio has in store for Ben, but we’re told that he’ll try to steal Peter’s blood at some point so that he can get his own Spidey powers, as he’s obsessed with the hero and wants to be like him. We’ve also heard that he’ll eventually suit up, though it remains to be seen when that’ll happen.
In any case, we know that Ben won’t be a clone like in the comics, but he is indeed on his way to the franchise and as of now, the plan is to introduce him in Spider-Man 3.
