You remember how Amazon cancelled Spider-Noir a few weeks back? And how, within the news of Spider-Noir’s cancellation, there was talk about the folks at Prime Video and Sony TV actively pursuing another secretive SPUMC project? Well that secretive SPUMC project is secret no longer, folks. Per Deadline‘s reporting, Amazon MGM Studios is close to giving the green light to a new live-action Spider-Man series based on Marvel Comics’ classic ‘Clone Saga’ — the run which introduced two new Spidey variants, Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, to the world.
Written by American Born Chinese creator Kelvin Yu, this proposed new Spider-Man series is set to take inspiration from — but, crucially, not directly adapt — the second arc of the Clone Saga, with two potential routes for Reilly and Parker’s live-action introductions reportedly being considered. The first would follow Ben and Kaine — two genetic clones of Peter Parker created by mad scientist Miles ‘The Jackal’ Warren in the comics — as they grapple with their newly discovered identities as clones while also facing off against other Spider-clones, sort-of Across The Spider-Verse style by the sounds of it. Another suggestion from Deadline‘s sources is that the show could dispense with Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker’s established good/evil Peter Parker clone origins entirely, constructing all-new identities for the pair on their paths to becoming Scarlet Spiders. Given the way Spider-Noir gave its titular gumshoe Spidey variant Ben Reilly’s name seemingly entirely due to rights-related reasons, there is an established precedent for SPUMC projects going off-piste in their approaches to the webhead and his many manifestations.
Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller, who oversee the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters for Sony TV are expected to executive produce the new show should it get that all-important green light. Many question marks hang over the project at this stage, from its approach to one of comics’ most (in)famously convoluted storylines, to who’ll be running the show, to how it may address the existence of another Ben Reilly in SPUMC’s knotty continuity. Even so, the possibility of another big creative swing from the Sony side of the Spider-Verse — especially after the brilliance of Spider-Noir — is surely a good thing. And while we wait for further updates on this one, we recommend cloning yourself so you’ve got two heads to try and wrap around the ins and outs of The Clone Saga. It’s been over 30 years and we’re still puzzling that one out….
