Comic Book / Spider-Man Beyond

Warning: this storyline directly follows The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) and Late Arrival Spoilers for Nick Spencer's run will be unmarked on this page.

Sensational once more.

Spider-Man Beyond is a 2021-2022 storyline in the Spider-Man series, following on from The Amazing Spider-Man (2018). It's written by Zeb Wells, Kelly Thompson, Saladin Ahmed, Cody Ziglar, and Patrick Gleason, the latter also filling double duty as the artist alongside Sara Pichelli.

Following the events of the Sinister War arc, Peter Parker is exhausted. However, he gains a new headache upon discovering that his clone Ben Reilly, recently active as fellow superhero the Scarlet Spider, has now donned his own Spider-Man costume and is now backed by the mysterious Beyond Corporation.

Despite this, the two Spider-Men join forces - until their first team-up leaves Peter Parker seriously injured, putting him out of commission as a superhero for a while. Can Ben handle the mantle of Spider-Man again, after everything he's endured?

A short prologue to the arc appears in the Free Comic Book Day 2021: Spider-Man/Venom one-shot The main story starts in The Amazing Spider-Man #75 and runs for over 20 issues (including several 'extra' Spider-Man issues with non-standard .BEY numbering), ending in #93 (released March 30, 2022).

As well as the end of the "Beyond" arc, issue #93 was also the end of the entire series, which was replaced by the launch of The Amazing Spider-Man (2022).

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Spider-Man Beyond contains the following tropes:

• Amnesiac Dissonance: A variation. Ben doesn't lose all of his memories but Beyond does remove some key memories, including the circumstances of Ben Parker's death. This makes Ben much less compassionate and heroic, resulting in him doing less heroic things like leaving MJ at the mercy of the Queen Goblin, while he takes Janine from the scene.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: Ben is the protagonist for this new era of Spider-Man stories due to Peter's injuries.
• Arc Welding: Issue #88 reveals that a lot of Beyond's methods expand on a conspiracy first mentioned in Marvel Knights Spider-Man. There it was said that villains were engineered to distract heroes away from white collar crime. This series presents the idea that heroes and villains are created so that people problematic to special interest groups can be made to disappear during their brawls in a way that won't be questioned.
• An Arm and a Leg: In issue #78, Morbius' entire left arm is amputated by a blast from the Beyond building's security system.
• Bat Family Crossover: So far, the Beyond era is slated to affect Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018), following Miles' fight with Ben. The logistics here are simplified by Saladin Ahmed writing both books.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: Although Peter's recovering, his Spider-Sense has been going crazy and even turning itself off. It takes a dream sequence after being pummeled crazy and rescued by Captain America to finally start accepting everything.
• Berserk Button: Ben doesn't take kindly to being called an impostor, as shown by his angry reaction when Miles calls him this in issue #81.
• Bittersweet Ending: Beyond's plans are stopped, but they once again evade justice for their actions. Peter believes Ben is dead, but he's actually still alive, transformed by the quantum goo that should have killed him, once more taking a more Anti-Hero approach as Chasm. On the plus side, it seems Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is improving a bit more with MJ asking Peter to move in with her.
• Break the Haughty: Doc Ock defeats Ben by revealing that the only reason Beyond recruited him was that his self-worth was so low he would do anything they told him.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Ben returns to Amazing Spider-Man, having been absent from the title since Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy.^note Ben's been around in other titles, dropping in on Savage Avengers before taking a secondary role of sorts over in Iron Man (2020, Ongoing).
  • Morbius the Living Vampire appears in the title again (#77 and #78), being absent since The Amazing Spider-Man (Dan Slott), though he made appearances in his own solo titles and crossovers.
  • Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, the Daughters of the Dragon, show up as well, last seen together over in Captain America: Sam Wilson.
  • #78 Beyond sees Mist and Colleen fight a monster powered by "the Obsidian Star." Which, as the end of the issue reveals, is the same item that gave The Captain his powers.
  • Ben's original love interest Elizabeth Tyne/Janine Godbe hasn't been seen since the '90s after turning herself in for the murder of her abusive father. Now she's back in Ben's life after the Beyond Corporation uses their money and influence to have her released from prison.
  • Issue #92.BEY features the return of Aaron Stack/Machine Man, who hadn't been seen since Iron Man 2020 (Event).
• Cheap Costume: Ben’s Scarlet Spider costume is described as such by his Beyond Corporation field support.
• Clothes Make the Superman: Ben’s new Spider-Man costume is made of “impact thickening, foam-based polymers” which can withstand attacks like Bushwacker’s gunshots even up close.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When Ben asks about his Scarlet Spider costume, he's told that it looks like a fourteen-year-old designed it. More or less, Ben stole this variation way back in Ben Reilly, The Scarlet Spider.
  • When Miles and Ben finally confront one another over the Spider-Man mantle, the former remembers that they actually met each other during the events of 2018's Spider-Geddon.
  • Maxine directly references Norman Osborn's invasion of Asgard during her private discussion with Marcus as an example of how a superhero crisis can be used to cover up major scandals as Osborn's invasion inadvertently helped cover-up multiple homicides committed by a CEO named Jason Halifax by destroying the mansion where the bodies were stashed in the ensuing conflict.
  • Colleen references dating Cyclops in issue #78 (BEY.).
• Corporate Conspiracy: Maxine Danger reveals that the Beyond Corporation's entire Hero Division is actually a giant False Flag Operation designed to control the news cycle by capitalizing on the collateral damage caused by superhero fights, as the media would be so distracted by the superpowered spectacle that the incidents which actually need attention will continue to fly under the radar. This also gives the Beyond Corporation the ability to destroy incriminating evidence through controlled devastation of an area and nobody would be the wiser since the damage will be written off as typical superhero shenanigans.
  Maxine: The superhero thing is fun. We get to give back to the community. Corporate charity. Magazine covers. Pats on the back. But we are Beyond. We sell products.
  Marcus: The superhero division is smoke?
  Maxine: A Beyond-Branded Meta-Product that controls the news cycle and can make people, buildings, and hopefully continents, eventually disappear. No questions asked. For anyone who needs it and can pay. Of course, having it laying around for situations like this doesn't hurt either.
  Marcus: But to do what you're talking about. Superheroes wouldn't be enough. You'd need villains too.
  Cue Maxine sporting a Grin of Audacity
• Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: Ben is now acting as the Beyond Corporation's Spider-Man and has their backing and support in his crime-fighting. Gradually deconstructed as Beyond itself hasn't changed.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Several scenes imply that the Beyond Corporation is using heroes like Ben to gather information about superhuman abilities for less than noble reasons. The exact reasons haven't been revealed, and a few Beyond staff have had Pet the Dog moments where they've passed up collecting information for noble reasons. It's later confirmed that Beyond is indeed an Evil, Inc. that plans to use both superheroes and supervillains as pawns to help cover up major scandals and corporate secrets on their behalf. And the Assessor, the villain responsible for physically and psychologically torturing Miles Morales, is actually one of their underlings.
• Costume Evolution: Ben dons a brand new Spider-Man costume for this era. It shares many similarities to his previous Sensational Spider-Man costume, except now the spider emblem is smaller and placed to the right and there are blue segments on the side similar to Peter's costume.
• Covers Always Lie: Issue #90 (chapter sixteen) features Glory Grant and Robbie Robertson on the cover. Neither of those characters appears in the issue.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • BEY issues focus on characters other than Ben or Peter.
    • Issue #78.BEY focuses on Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.
    • Issue #80.BEY focuses on Aunt May and Dr. Octopus.
    • Issue #88.BEY centers around Hobie Brown as the new Hornet and the other Slingers.
    • Issue #92.BEY follows Monica Rambeau.
  • Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond focuses on Felicia and Mary Jane dealing with a criminal while Peter is recovering in the hospital.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: The villain of Issue #82 is a completely random people-eating monster that disguises itself as an orderly so that it can whisk patients away to its lair in the hospital's Creepy Basement.
• Defiant to the End: Maxine Danger is many things, but a coward is not one of them. When cornered by Doc Ock, she outright refuses to beg on principle and proceeds to mock him until Spider-Man arrives.
• Demoted to Extra: As Ben becomes the main active Spider-Man, Peter only makes sporadic appearances throughout the story.
• Didn't Think This Through: To keep Ben under control, Maxine erases some of his key memories, including the circumstances of Uncle's Ben death. When Queen Goblin attacks, Maxine is horrified that Ben just runs off rather than fight her. Too late, Maxine realizes that maybe Ben isn't going to be much of a hero when he no longer remembers why he became a hero in the first place.
• Downer Ending: One actually Invoked by editor Nick Lowe in the final issue's outro; the story as a whole was meant to showcase the tragedy of Ben's "Final Hurrah" as Spider-Man ultimately getting undermined by the manipulations of the Beyond Corporations. The story ends with Ben suffering a Death of Personality, completely losing his memories and even losing his sense of identity as Spider-Man. He takes on the mantle 'Chasm' to represent his new self. Lowe's outro even acknowledges that Ben "doesn't have a place in the Spider-Landscape."
• Eaten Alive: At the end of the Black Cat & Mary Jane special, The Hood is eaten alive by the bag-demon that the two had disguised as his magic hood.
• Enemy Mine: Deeming it as the only option left that can save Peter, Aunt May seeks the help of Doctor Octopus.
• Evil Feels Good:
  Queen Goblin: For years, I listened as my whimpering patients cried over horrors long past. I'd often wonder how a parent could hurt a child. Be so cruel. But now, seeing the two of you cowering in front of me. Powerless. I get it.
• Gut Feeling: Upon being told that Ben has resurfaced, Mary Jane confesses to Peter that she strongly believes nothing good can come from him showing up.
• He's Back!: Peter finally suits back up in issue #89, but it's quite clear he is not at 100%.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Beyond experiments on Morbius and uses his DNA to create Creature Z, an engineered weapon even Maxine is afraid of. But when they captured him he was feral because his system was "in crisis"; to make their experimentation easier Beyond stabilized his condition. This made him fully rational again, with the knowledge of destroying Creature Z in one simple step.
• Hybrid Monster: Creature Z is a clone of the Lizard modified into a living vampire like Morbius. It has pale gray scales, bigger fangs and bat wings.
• Instant A.I.: Just Add Water!: Ben creates a simple AI for the suit overnight that allows him to turn off comm and tracking systems.
• It's Personal: At first, Otto only started investigating Beyond as a favor for Aunt May to find a way to help her ailing nephew. However, once he discovered that Beyond had acquired some of his intellectual properties from Parker Industries, it became personal very fast.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • In the Black Cat & Mary Jane special, Felicia comments on how her ubiquitous Domino Mask works even though it hides only a very small portion of her face. Generally, people aren't anywhere near as analytical as they think they are, and the mind tends to focus on a limited set of obvious traits when recognizing things — in her case, her striking white hair, domino mask and black suit. This is what allows Mary Jane to pass herself off as the Black Cat — Tombstone takes in the obvious traits, concludes that she's the actual Cat, and doesn't look past them to tell that she's a different person.
  • About 12 seconds after this arc revealed it would be introducing a character called "Queen Goblin," fans started snarking about the fact that Marvel already had a female villain called "the Goblin Queen" (the long-suffering Madelyne Pryor of X-Men fame). Wait a few issues; Peter Parker immediately quips about this when he enters combat with Queen Goblin.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Issue #86 reveals that Beyond erased Ben's memories of the events of Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy so they could have a "squeaky-clean" Spider-Man at Ben's insistence. Ashley Kafka stopped that. However, when Beyond attempts this again, they accidentally break Ben. Issue #87 seems to suggest all of his Peter Parker-related memories are now gone. #88 confirms it to be true as he leaves Mary Jane alone to deal with the Queen Goblin.
• Legacy Character:
  • Ben, Peter's first ongoing successor in the main universe, becomes Spider-Man once more.
  • This Beyond Corporation doesn't seem to be the same interdimensional beings that perplexed Nextwave, being a legitimate corporation instead. If Monica Rambeau's appearance in issue #78 is any indication, something might be off.
  • #78 Beyond, which shows them specifically focused on acquiring what is revealed to be the "Heartstar Between Galaxies" responsible for The Captain's powers, indicates that their interests may overlap more with their past incarnation than they let on. It's also heavily implied that they're gathering a lot of information about superhuman powers for less than noble reasons. Colleen Wing and Misty Knight are suspicious of them, and notably don't tell their Beyond handler about retrieving the aforementioned power source.
  • Queen Goblin is this to a point. She's Ashley Kafka fused with the sins of Norman Osborn.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Ben is constantly pressured by the Beyond Corporation to fight Miles, as he is an “unregistered Spider-Man” since the corporation owns the trademark for the Spider-Man name after buying up some of Parker Industries holdings. When Ben refuses to comply, his boss Maxine Danger reiterates how Beyond has invested tremendous resources into him and heavily implies that it can all be taken away if he doesn't get with the program. This includes reversing their decision to have his girlfriend Janine released from prison.
• Logical Weakness: As pointed out after a training simulation in issue #78 (BEY.), Ben's Spider-Sense can be overwhelmed by multiple assailants attacking him at once, resulting in him getting blindsided.
• Matchstick Weapon: The Queen Goblin uses a double-headed mace that can burn enemies.
• Meaningful Rename: Defied. As part of their collective effort to enforce their total control over the Spider-Man trademark, the Beyond Corporation tries to get Ben to convince Miles on their behalf to change his name to "Striker" or "Stinger" which apparently tested well with their focus groups. Not only does Ben completely dismiss his employer's orders, but he also makes peace with Miles after a team-up and gladly continues referring to the younger wallcrawler as "Spider-Man" out of respect.
• Mission Control: Marcus Momplaisir's job at Beyond is to serve as this for Ben, helping him find villains and working with the authorities to clean up and help any civilians in the crossfire.
• The Missus and the Ex: Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) checks in on Peter in the hospital from outside their window initially while Mary Jane and Aunt May are inside, coming inside to sit by Peter’s bedside. Contrary to their past antagonism, MJ and Felicia bond and Mary Jane insists that Felicia stay with them, as any support they could get is appreciated.
• The Mole: #78 reveals that Misty and Colleen are working with Monica Rambeau against Beyond.
• Never Heard That One Before:
  Ben Reilly: The U-Foes! I'm glad you're all here. We superheroes have been talking and decided someone had to tell you: you guys smell. Like, there's a distinct odor and it's not good. It's almost like one of you is made of noxious gas.
  Ironclad: That wasn't funny the first time we heard it.
  Ben Reilly: First time.
• Never My Fault: Upon learning that the rights to Spider-Man were among the remnants of Parker Industries bought up by the Beyond Corporation, Otto Octavius immediately blames Peter for the situation — ignoring that the only reason Parker Industries was in such a position was Otto attempting to steal the company back whilst aligning himself with Hydra as they took over the United States. Furthermore, it was Otto's idea to have the Spider-Man identity and likeness be submitted as a corporate-owned intellectual property in the first place. Meaning that if anything was to happen that could cause him to lose control of his corporation, the rights to the Spider-Man IP could easily fall out of his hands.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Twice in #75:
  • Turns out Otto trademarked the name Spider-Man. When Parker Industries is bought up by Beyond, so is the name since Peter never transferred ownership to himself.
  • During the fight with the U-Foes, Ben completely forgets Peter’s costume doesn't have the upgrades his does. As a result, Peter is left unprotected from a dangerous blast of radiation and gas created by X-Ray and Vapor. It's also implied that Peter's injuries from the last few issues made this worse.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Morbius's system was "put in crisis"; Beyond stabilized it to make it easier to experiment on him. Doing so restored his rational mind, which he and others failed to do.
• No-Sell: Mary Jane slugs Queen Goblin in the face after she killed an innocent man. Queen Goblin barely even flinches. Points for trying though.
• Nominal Villain: Marcus Momplaisir works for Beyond's "Hero Department" as Ben's mission control and handler. However, Marcus genuinely cares about Ben and Janine's well being and is oblivious to the true extent of Beyond's dealings, namely that they are only investing in superheroes as a solution to villains they are creating.
• "Not So Different" Remark: In the Mary Jane/Black Cat special, both MJ and Felicia realize how similar they are in Peter's life, allowing the two girls to bond more.
• Not So Stoic: Maxine Danger is cold-blooded sociopath who never smiles aside from the occasional smirk of arrogance. She loses her cool once and only once in issue #92 (BEY.) when Monica Rambeau reveals how she had Misty and Colleen infiltrate her department to undermine her from within.
• Passing the Torch: A hospitalized Peter is forced to go ahead and give his blessing for Ben to be Spider-Man in his stead.
• Pretender Diss:
  • In the tie-in for The Death of Doctor Strange, Felicia makes it quite clear that Ben is no Spider-Man and he doesn't have the right to be. Even when the story ends, she only gives him a begrudging "You're Spider-Man... for now."
  • In issue #81, Miles Morales straight-up calls Ben an imposter and is utterly appalled when he finds out that he's working for the very corporation that's trying to sue him over the rights to the Spider-Man mantle. While Miles does eventually chill out after teaming up with Ben to take out a rampaging plant monster, he still doesn't approve of Ben's affiliation with Beyond.
• Put on a Bus: Peter is hospitalized in the second issue of the run, later falling into a medically-induced coma. As such, Ben has to take the reins of being Spider-Man.
• Rags to Riches: Thanks to being employed by the Beyond Corporation, Ben is given a handsome salary, an impressive new suit, and a lavish living space. Not bad for a guy who was so poor that he had to steal his first superhero outfit.
• Reforged into a Minion: To prevent Ashley Kafka from further meddling in her plans for Ben Reilly, Maxine Danger turns her into the Queen Goblin by infusing her with Norman Osborn's exorcised sins; sending her after Ben's girlfriend Janine.
• The Reveal: Test-Drive gives little indication that there is another Spider-Man until Ben takes off his mask and is referred to by name.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant:
  • Test-Drive features Ben facing Bushwacker, a villain more associated with Daredevil and the Punisher.
  • The supervillains Peter and Ben fight in their brief team-up are the U-Foes, a group of supervillains that fight the Hulk more often than not.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: In-Universe, in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #32, a lawyer in a flying limousine serves Miles papers to force him to relinquish the title of Spider-Man. Miles ain't budging, but he's going to find out what's going on.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When Peter is exposed to a potentially lethal amount of radiation and must be hospitalized, Ben breaks the terms of his contract, takes off his Spider-Man suit, and goes dark to get him the care that he needs without notifying his new corporate sponsor. While it's implied that his handlers understand seeing his "brother" almost die was very traumatic for him, it's all but outright stated that he is never to do that again.
• Shout-Out:
  • #78 Beyond is pretty much one giant love letter to Nextwave, with Mindy and Colleen fighting absurd and seemingly random enemies with an equally absurd arsenal, non-stop jokes, and caption box commentary galore. The combination of the two working for the Beyond Corporation and how the item they were sent to retrieve is the source of Captain's powers, make it unlikely that this is a coincidence.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Aunt May asks Mary Jane to use her connections to help Peter, but Tony Stark is MIA (due to events in his comic) and she can’t contact Dr. Strange (due to the events of The Death of Doctor Strange).
• Superior Successor: Deconstructed. On the surface, Ben seems to be having a far better time as Spider-Man when compared to Peter. Ben has a better suit and gadgets, an entire support-team backing him, a stable lucrative income and sleek living conditions thanks to his contract with Beyond, and successfully rekindled his relationship with his old flame Janine. However, many characters who personally knew the original Spider-Man such as Felicia Hardy and Miles Morales see Ben as a Sketchy Successor and a Sell-Out whose continued affiliation with Beyond will ultimately prove to be his downfall. Ben's critics are eventually proven right as it's revealed that Beyond only chose to make him their Spider-Man because he's easy to manipulate and can mentally reprogram him if he's too defiant.
• Taking the Bullet: Ben improvises and tests his new costume out by taking Bushwacker’s shots head on to protect the civilians he’s holding hostage.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Ben tries to invoke this on Peter, begging him to let him be Spider-Man for the time being. Peter refuses, most likely because he doesn’t want to confront what he’s dealt with. The events of the issue force him otherwise.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Ben is given sessions with Dr. Kafka to help process the struggles of superhero life.
• They Would Cut You Up: After Beyond captures Morbius and the Lizard, they experiment on them for their supervillain research program, creating Creature Z.
• Training from Hell: Felicia recruits Captain America to help train Peter back into fighting shape.
• Vibroweapon: One of the Beyond weapons Colleen uses in #78 (BEY.) is a "vibro-katana".
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Ben arrives in Bed-Stuy to fight Rhizome only to find a bunch of civilians assisting their wounded while recovering belongings from the wreckage of their homes, Ben awkwardly tries to leave without even attempting to lend a hand. Earning him immediate backlash from the crowd.
  Ben: Alright folks, Spider-Man is here! Let me at that bad guy!
  Firefighter: Huh? That thing is gone. We're dealing with the wounded.
  Ben: Where did Rhizome go?
  Elderly Woman: Rize—who? I'm looking for my grandmother's jewelry in here. My daughter is supposed to get married in it.
  Kid: And I'm trying to find my homework. Are you here to help, Spider-Man?
  Ben: I...Uh...Well...See...That's not my assignment.
  Young Woman: Assignment? Who the hell are you?!
• What You Are in the Dark: The first issue has Peter recalling a time in his childhood when he stole some chewing gum from a candy store and Aunt May made him pay for it. Later that day, Uncle Ben gave him a lecture about being careful who you are when no one is looking.

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