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The short answer
Chasm is the name Ben Reilly carries once he has been broken by the erasure of his memory: an antagonist dressed in green and purple, who blames Peter Parker for taking his life from him. In Dark Web, he allies with Madelyne Pryor to open a portal to Limbo. We retrace his fall below.
Behind Chasm stands a figure well known to Spider-Man fans: Ben Reilly, Peter Parker's clone. Created by the Jackal during the Clone Saga, Ben was long regarded as Peter's moral and physical equal. Having lived in the shadow of the man he was copied from, he takes on the identity of Scarlet Spider to carve out his own path. Yet fate has never been kind to him.
The tragic events of Spider-Man: Beyond (Amazing Spider-Man #75–93) mark a turning point. Hired by the Beyond Corporation to be their official Spider-Man, Ben sees his memories manipulated, erased and distorted. This psychological sabotage brings on a deep identity crisis, to the point of blurring the line between hero and threat.
At the end of this descent into hell, Ben Reilly gives up his Scarlet Spider identity. Stripped of his memories, his humanity and his name, he is reborn in a new form: Chasm. An anti-Spider-Man driven by pain, resentment and the search for a legitimacy that was stolen from him.
👉 To understand Ben's rise more fully, discover the Beyond (Amazing Spider-Man #75–93) arc, a major turning point in his story.
👉 Also explore the pillar page dedicated to Peter Parker.
🕷️ A fan of dark doubles? Dive into our Spider-Man figurine collection to find Chasm, Venom, Carnage and other ambivalent faces.
The emergence of Chasm: a rebirth born of pain
Deprived of his most precious memories by the Beyond Corporation, Ben Reilly spirals down into psychological pain. The man he used to be disintegrates little by little, replaced by a darker entity, unstable and unpredictable. It is in this chasm of identity that he becomes Chasm, a name that perfectly captures the emptiness he feels inside – a gaping chasm in his memory, in his soul, in his relationship with Peter Parker.
Visually, Chasm breaks radically with Spider-Man's earlier costumes. His emerald green and psychedelic purple suit gives off an almost demonic aura, with fractured, organic lines. It suggests both a corrupted Spider-Man and an unknown force risen from a parallel world. Every element of his appearance is built to mark the total break with his past as a hero. This inventive design struck readers immediately and redefined his visual identity within the Spider-Verse.
👉 This Chasm costume already turns up across several Marvel spin-offs. Discover our Spider-Man costumes to see how these looks evolve across eras and versions.
👉 Have a look as well at the page on the Spider-Verse, to understand all the alternative versions of Spider-Man.
Chasm in Dark Web: when the clone loses himself in the darkness
In the Dark Web arc, Ben Reilly crosses a point of no return. Now called Chasm, he allies with Madelyne Pryor — the tormented clone of Jean Grey and the new Goblin Queen — to unleash chaos on New York. Together they open a portal to Limbo, an infernal realm where the laws of reality are inverted, turning the city into a living nightmare. Street lamps come to life, objects move on their own, and the inhabitants sink into utter confusion.
This bold crossover shines a light on two clones damaged by rejection, memory loss and the search for identity. While Peter Parker tries to protect civilians without tipping into madness himself, Chasm accuses him of stealing his life, his soul… and his right to exist. The confrontation between the two men becomes inevitable, both physical and psychological, in the vein of stories such as The Clone Conspiracy.
What makes Dark Web so memorable is the way it explores the dark side of the multiverse. While the Spider-Verse overflows with heroic versions of the web-slinger, Chasm is the antithesis of the hero: a being forged by pain, confusion and a deep injustice. Where Miles Morales or Gwen Stacy inspire a new generation, Ben Reilly becomes the symbol of a systemic failure in the handling of clones, a recurring theme in the darkest arcs.
This descent into hell is also reflected in the look of recent spin-off products. Fans of this darker side of the universe can find it in our Spider-Man blanket collection, where the dark, violent or alternative variants sit alongside the classic incarnations of the web-slinger.
What future for Chasm in the Marvel universe?
After the devastating events of Dark Web, Chasm is no longer a simple disoriented clone. He becomes a character in his own right: complex, deeply tragic… and potentially formidable. While some hope for his redemption, others see in him a new face of evil to be woven permanently into Spider-Man's mythology. In a multiverse already crowded with alternative versions, Chasm could well embody the most heartbreaking reflection of Peter Parker.
Just as Miles Morales or Spider-Gwen represent hope and the evolution of the myth, Chasm perverts it and calls it into question. He forces the reader to ask: what would Peter Parker have been without his moral compass? How would we react if our memories were torn away from us? Those questions run through the great story arcs such as One More Day or Beyond, where the price of identity comes dear. To see every story arc, you can visit our full page on the subject.
On the merchandise side, fans of this tortured version can carry the experience further with our Spider-Man slippers or our dark pyjamas inspired by the multiverse. Chasm, with his sinister design and his powers drawn from cloning and magic, opens the way to a more gothic, more mysterious aesthetic in the world of merchandising.
What is certain is that Ben Reilly's story is not over. He could well become a recurring figure in future animated or cinematic adaptations of the Spider-Verse. With the constant expansion of the Spider-Verse, his return looks inevitable. Fans want moving stories, nuanced antagonists and deep psychological dramas: all dimensions that Chasm embodies perfectly.
