Should the clone saga ever be adapted?

I was just thinking about how the Scarlet Spider(s) are such a beloved and rich part of Spider-Man’s history and yet the Clone Saga is weirdly controversial. Would you want to see an adaptation of this story, MCU or otherwise?

Commentaires

jerem17342025-11-20 01:01

The scarlet spiders are a beloved part of lore? People like the costume, but I've never met anyone that doesn't hate the clone saga. Only sins past, OMD, and the Paul run are more hated

meatchonk2025-11-20 01:02

I came in to Spider-Man comics during the clone saga. I was shaped by it, molding by it into the fan I am today. That’s why I hate everything. /s probably

Apyan2025-11-20 01:21

I know the feeling. The clone saga was one of the reasons people my age thought the current comics were shit and you had to hunt for the old stuff to get some quality material.

gumsoul272025-11-20 01:23

Original draft was much longer. I’m also a big fan of the Clone Sagas, and embrace its messiness with the same unwavering adamant stances Twilight movie fans hold to this day. But there’s no way I want to ever see this on screen.

No way except one.

Sam Raimi directs and produces Clone Saga 1, which is a very serious attempt at doing a screen adaption, and Clone Saga 2, released the following year, promising a sequel, but it’s just a campy recreation of the first Clone Saga, the “B” film takes edited together with a totally different tone and slightly different ending.

GatorToothNecklace2025-11-20 03:04

I say this to any older Star Wars fan I meet who is still genuinely surprised that people younger than us unironically love the prequels. IF that is what you grew up with, then yeah. I've been on reddit long enough to see the prequel memes sub go from mockery to tongue-in-cheek to bashful appreciation to outright adoration.

turingtestx2025-11-20 01:15

The clone saga itself is hated, but Ben was a genuinely beloved part of lore until Chasm

Bambalorian2025-11-20 02:32

I personally was also not a fan as him as the 2nd Jackal, then was hyped again when he replaced Peter as Beyond's Spider-man, but that clearly went off the rails. Chasm is fuckin awful but I do like how he is currently being written, I hope they redeem him.... again. or just kill him off again, pls no more chasm.

turingtestx2025-11-20 06:48

Yeahhh him as jackal also sucked. Didn't seem like that had nearly the same staying power that Chasm is having though.

Wtygrrr2025-11-20 01:24

The thing people really hated was making the clone the real Peter Parker before they retconned it. Most everything else was fine.

incompletetentperson2025-11-20 01:32

Its been 20 years… i just remember the clone saga being very fucking convaluted and confusing

Ronenthelich2025-11-20 02:15

Actually it’s been 30 years. Ran from 1994-1996.

incompletetentperson2025-11-20 02:26

I apologize, mean its been 20 years since ive read it (and i didnt even read it, just read a summary). So im very fuzzy. Funnily enough, that summary even took me a few hours to read cuz of how long and confusing it is l

Tim02812025-11-20 01:48

I have some mixed feelings about the Clone Saga. While I thought it was pretty hot garbage when it came out, there are some good parts to it. It started off pretty exciting and would likely have stayed that way if the writers weren't forced to drag it on for so long. Amazing Spider-man #400 was also pretty great. Whether or not you liked Aunt May's "death", it was well-executed.

For context, I was 13 when the Clone Saga started and 15 when it ended. I haven't read it for decades and have no intention of ever reading it again. However, my teenage brain did enjoy some parts of it.

I also realized that I would have liked having Ben Reilly stick around after the Clone Saga. It would have given the anti-marriage people at Marvel a convenient way to have a single Spider-man without ending it or having Mary Jane lose the baby/have the baby stolen (I don't remember that story ever being resolved!) If two Spider-men was too confusing, they could have had Peter retire as Spider-man and have Ben take over. Peter could become a supporting character and come out of retirement when the story called for it.

blackbutterfree2025-11-20 02:06

Kaine is for the edgy boys, Ben is for the nostalgia boys. They have their fans.

Lord knows Kaine's definitely the hot one, even with the scar.

Wowthatnamesuck2025-11-20 02:07

Ultimate clone saga was not horrible so adapt that instead?

SpideyFan9142025-11-20 07:16

I thought Ultimate Clone Saga was pretty bad, to be honest, even though I love Ultimate Spider-Woman. It was a clunky rushed mess that threw three more plot twists into every issue and let nothing breathe. Then Ock comes in with Magneto powers. Not the worst idea, but kinda robs Ock of his appeal if he's just Magneto Lite.

That said, Aunt May's reaction to learning Peter was Spider-Man deeply wounded me on a very personal level.

Ronenthelich2025-11-20 02:13

>the Paul run

Gods damnit! I had pushed that from my mind! I forgot the abomination that is that run! It’s my fault for being on the internet, but still! What the hell was Marvel thinking with that anyway?

Bambalorian2025-11-20 02:33

it was objectively not great, but it's when I started reading comics and I will always be a huge fan of Ben.

LakeOk26742025-11-20 03:03

I didn’t read the comics but I always thought “Ben is the original spider-man and the peter that we’ve been reading about is the clone” was an incredibly stupid “twist”. And marvel seemed to agree since it got retconned.

revolutionaryartist42025-11-20 05:21

The Clone Saga is hated, the Scarlet Spiders are not. Even at the height of people’s disdain for the Clone Saga, they still dug Ben Reilly as a character. And people came around on Kaine thanks to his own turn as the Scarlet Spider.

Thomas_JCG2025-11-20 01:01

God, no. Extremely contrived storyline with no actual payoffs, all that trouble to clone Peter just to make him sad? And in the end Peter was always the real one? Pass. The whole Spiderverse series does "Spider-Man with a different outfit" much better anyway.

sinwstro122025-11-20 01:11

I mean you just adapt the most barebones elements of the story and saga, to introduce Ben and kaine to the mcu.

Thomas_JCG2025-11-20 01:40

And what would you gain from that? Just different people with spider outfits?

sinwstro122025-11-20 01:42

They act quite different to Peter especially kaine who also has some different abilities too, and it would be cool to see the scarwlt spider suits in live action especially kaines and Tom gets to show off his acting skills.

Xhicrastin2025-11-20 01:01

I honestly thought the left Tom was a Photoshopped Jamie Tartt

DirectConsequence122025-11-20 01:06

Is it not?

Locolijo2025-11-20 03:16

Lol I'm just picturing tart as spiderman now

27Rench272025-11-20 06:18

I could fuck with that ngl

onepostandbye2025-11-20 01:02

rambozo82025-11-20 01:02

rvdp662025-11-20 01:05

Spider verse invalidates the clone saga needing to exist.

Wtygrrr2025-11-20 01:22

Well that’s just not true.

Bambalorian2025-11-20 01:28

in the most superficial way possible, sure.

rvdp662025-11-20 01:41

As a narrative exploration and in commercial success, it surpasses clone saga.

Pjsandwich242025-11-20 02:12

Not really. Given that the spiderverse has been explored in modern cinema but clones hasn't that's a baseless statement. Also clones have been woven into Petes comic story since the 90s. Even in the spiderverse saga in the comics kaine was brought in as an important character. They can exist together and there's no reason they shouldnt.

Bambalorian2025-11-20 02:23

Spider-verse was a more popular, sure. Who really cares about the inheritors etc as Spider-villains, or Peter being erased from the web of life and then coming back, these things don't really matter until the next spider-verse installment, while his clones continue to be important parts of his on going comics (dunno where Kaine is atm but I'd be shocked if he doesn't pop up soon in the current run). Peter wasn't worrying about Spider-Ham or Spider-Punk impersonating him or replacing him. Ben and Kaine have both taken on the mantle and responsibility through development of their characters. The clone saga wasn't exactly popular or well written but it had a lasting effect with characters that continue to have an impact, even in the spider-verse with Kaine being a key character in the comics, and Ben showing up in the 2nd movie.

Bambalorian2025-11-20 02:27

to me, Spider-verse is tales of what if other people had spider powers, and clones are how would other people with Peter's exact genetic profile handle his powers and responsibility. Similar but very different questions being posed. Edit: as if someone downvoted me for something I specifically said is my opinion lol. Sorry?

GrootyTooty2025-11-20 01:29

Well thats....absolutely true

ball_fondlers2025-11-20 01:47

I think the 90s cartoon introduced Ben Reilly via a proto-Spiderverse, so yeah, I suppose this is true

Upper-Tip-19262025-11-20 02:25

Id love if they brought in Andrew Garfield to play Ben Reilly.

SpideyFan9142025-11-20 07:18

Ehhhh.... I prefer clones, to be honest. Although the animated Spider-Verse movies are fucking perfect (and technically have Ben Reilly in them).

Altruistic_Eye_11572025-11-20 01:07

The truth is, it would be interesting if they adapted the Clone Saga, perhaps by simplifying the original's convoluted plot and blending it with what's been done in the Ultimate universe.

However, I think it's highly unlikely to happen. Firstly, because No Way Home already partially fulfills the requirement of having three Spider-Men interacting with each other, and secondly, we don't know the current situation between Sony and Disney.

But if they're having trouble keeping Spider-Man in the MCU, I don't even want to imagine them having to maintain two others and not being able to use them in other projects without Sony's permission.

Minglu072025-11-20 01:13

Not in a movie, but I think it could be a fun idea if we ever got a tv show for him.

HamSoloTheSpaceMan2025-11-20 02:20

True

Something about the Clone Saga is very fitting for a tv show.

Neandersaurus2025-11-20 01:13

Noooo

Symbiotic_vengeance2025-11-20 01:14

Hot take but I just wanna see the Chasm suit in live action. It’s so cool. Just got my hands on the Funko.

Professional_Ad_54372025-11-20 01:18

Maybe with the next Peter run after this next trilogy and then a Miles Trilogy. So in like 15-20 years.

DrBoots2025-11-20 01:26

God I hope not.

Tim02812025-11-20 01:27

I'd enjoy seeing it outside of the MCU in an animated show or an animated movie. Hopefully it would remove all of the terrible stuff from the story.

DJfunkyPuddle2025-11-20 01:44

It's completely redundant with multiverse stuff. It's different with comics because all the storylines move faster.

Imaginary-Event-2025-11-20 01:48

Wasn't a main issue with the clone saga just it being stretching out for far too long? I think adaptations doing a more streamlined version of it wouldn't be awful.

Bambalorian2025-11-20 02:41

Faking out Ben as the real deal and Peter as the clone really made people mad apparently. Turned out Osborn faked the test results and Peter is the OG, but it really pissed people off. That's when I started reading comics though, so I didn't have any other expectations at the time, seemed like something that would happen in comics books as a new reader haha.

Arbok97822025-11-20 04:01

> Faking out Ben as the real deal and Peter as the clone really made people mad apparently. Turned out Osborn faked the test results and Peter is the OG, but it really pissed people off.

To be fair, the plan was to have Ben be the real deal. They reversed course on the decision, creating the idea it was a fake out that Osborn was behind, because of the backlash and new talent coming onboard that wanted to write stories about Peter Parker.

If you haven't checked it out, I'd read through the "production" section of the Wikipedia entry for it as it's pretty interesting seeing the behind the scenes stuff for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clone_Saga

Bambalorian2025-11-20 04:59

Will do!! Thank you!

Edit: Ok I read it, and wow… that was worse than I expected.

Humble_Attitude51732025-11-20 06:09

As a new comic reader then, I was really disappointed when they moved back to Peter from Ben. Ben's story felt like a fresh start and I liked giving Peter and MJ a happy ending. Having to always reset to the status quo is what ultimately made me kind of tired of the comic book stories.

Dismal-Apricot98892025-11-20 04:27

That wasn’t a fake out, that was a desperate retcon to fix something that severely pissed fans off.

Bambalorian2025-11-20 04:58

Oh wow, didn’t know that

RememberJefferies2025-11-20 01:50

I pity the writer trying to condense the whole god awful clone saga mess into a 90-120 minute movie.

HearingCandid89742025-11-20 01:51

I saw a couple of people suggest making it into a series or across multiple movies which could work

hauntingduck2025-11-20 06:17

instead of one bad movie we can get three!

Meizas2025-11-20 01:50

I think casual audiences would get confused with variants and things. Maybe in Spiderverse or something instead

TheTwelfthLaden2025-11-20 01:58

I mean, if they can make a psuedo-One More Day in No Way Home, I think they can find out how to adapt the Clone Saga. I just want Ben tbh.

CubsFanCraig2025-11-20 02:01

No. Next question.

kennyofthegulch2025-11-20 02:01

LOL fuck no.

blackbutterfree2025-11-20 02:05

Tom himself has said in the past that he'd like to do the Clone Saga. With how bad the comics did it, I can't imagine the MCU could do it worse.

gogetuh2025-11-20 02:06

A little bit off topic but I’ve always thought that every movie spidey deserved to adapt different aspects of the characters comic history

-Tobey as the family man who teaches his daughter Mayday in the ways of being both a superhero, and a normal person with normal responsabilities

-Andrew, who could have leaned into the more body horror(with a storyline where Peter’s starts mutating into a Spider, since the tie-in games really dived into that with Rhino and Lizard ofc), or messy science side of stories like the clone saga (given how important the concept of that Peter’s DNA being one of the only ones compatible with the Spider, the idea of somebody developing clones seemed like it fit)

-Tom, as the hero who lives in a superhuman-populated world which makes his struggles as a superhero all the more tragic since there are other characters out there who don’t struggle nearly as much as him despite having the same hero responsibilities, and who eventually becomes a mentor to Miles morales in order to avoid another kid of having the same tragedies occur to them

SpideyFan9142025-11-20 07:21

This makes sense to me. I loooove the idea of adapting the Clone Saga, but somehow it feels wrong with Tom.

HamSoloTheSpaceMan2025-11-20 02:12

Fuck it, why not?

Clone Saga would be different from the normal stuff we do get. Man-Spider or Morbius are other stories that’ll feel different.

No-Operation-65542025-11-20 02:24

im gonna go against the grain here and sure why not, its not like MCU does 1:1 adaptation anyway. as long as it ends with most of them dying sure why not

saranowitz2025-11-20 02:32

No thanks. We have enough spidermen already. Not every comic story has to be retold

Grayx_28872025-11-20 02:37

The real question is... **Can it be adapted into a movie?**

Exact_Donut_47862025-11-20 02:38

Wouldn’t it kinda feel like a retread of No Way Home?

AjaxCooperwater2025-11-20 02:42

That would be awesome… but this all depends on Sony…

a_o2025-11-20 02:57

It would be a good alternative to, or maybe even a complement to, them inevitably doing Venom again. Having a clone of Peter be the one that saves the one we know from the symbiote.

AdmiralCharleston2025-11-20 03:12

I actually think they could do it but make the clones not identical, then have josh hutcherson playing Ben. He's got Tom Holland but more rugged energy

MaterialPace88312025-11-20 03:15

No no no, hell no, no no no.

MightyPainGaming2025-11-20 03:19

Not by Tom Holland.

IronBryan2025-11-20 03:23

They are missing out on so much if they don’t!

ShadycrossFade2025-11-20 03:26

Maybe at some point sure. Peter having clones is essentially the same as having alternate versions of himself and we got that in the last movie not only that but there’s a whole other Spider-Man franchise focused on that concept. I think it could work but should be a bit further from the multiversal stuff

JonTheWonton2025-11-20 03:32

if they stop at Ben Reilly it could work. I'd rather see a long term symbiote arc tho

Marlowe1262025-11-20 03:40

Couldn’t hurt

DJnotaRealDJ2025-11-20 03:40

I used to have an action figure of the jacket spiderman. The nostalgia flooded back

ShawshankHarper2025-11-20 03:52

Redeem the clone saga

TrinityCodex2025-11-20 04:10

Nobody got time for that

Riley__642025-11-20 04:16

I think in order to do it justice you would need it to span more than one movie and I’m not sure how likely it would be that marvel would put a mini saga within a larger saga as the clone saga would be rather self contained to Spider-Man and not really be affecting other characters or the larger story.

Earthwick2025-11-20 04:25

No the clone saga was awful. People who never read it and weren't around as it released seem to have this idea it was good. It was awful and so hated. Just like one more day. Killing off Peter Parker, making his life more and more miserable, adding more and more guilt... It doesn't need to be done.. new Villians, new exciting arca for existing Villians, balancing Spidey and parker life these are what people want but these writers decide to go and make a ridiculous change to the character and his arc that's always like "I'll let them go because I'm not selfish." But it's so overdone.

ThePurpleSoul702025-11-20 04:34

Eventually? Would love to see it. Tom Holland is super versatile and could definitely pull it off.

But not soon. Peter needs to mature as a character a little more. He needs to get comfortable in his current situation before his life gets flipped on its head again.

Etticos2025-11-20 04:41

I’d honestly love this. Seeming Tom be Ben and Peter and Kaine would be sick.

AimreckCollection2025-11-20 05:12

Yes 1000% imo

Yeseylon2025-11-20 05:44

It's already been adapted

https://scryfall.com/card/spm/28/the-clone-saga

hauntingduck2025-11-20 06:18

wasn't expecting the MTG reference here but I guess with recent events I shouldn't be surprised lmao

Commercial_Site6222025-11-20 05:55

No. Not a big fan of the storyline. If they do though, keep it to one film.

hauntingduck2025-11-20 06:15

Clone saga was largely regarded as being awful when it came out and I think it would be equally awful in film form

marvelstudios-ModTeam2025-11-20 07:12

... your post lacked enough effort to promote new or productive discussion to the subreddit. If you're attempting to start a discussion with a low effort screenshot or video, try making a text post where you analyse the topic of the discussion and offer your own opinion.

If you're asking an open-ended question, try to add your own personal answer and the reasoning.

TheTwistedToast2025-11-20 07:15

Given No Way Home somewhat successfully adapted One More Day, I'd be happy with them giving anything a try. And I think Tom Holland would be really good for it

bestoboy2025-11-20 07:15

if it means we get spider-carnage then yes