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The short answer
Chasm is the name Ben Reilly takes once the erasure of his memory has broken him: 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 turn below.
Contents
At the heart of Chasm lies a figure well known to every Spider-Man fan: Ben Reilly, Peter Parker's clone. Created by the Jackal during the Clone Saga, Ben was long seen as Peter's moral and physical equal. Having lived in the shadow of his original, 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 watches his memories get manipulated, erased and distorted. That psychological sabotage triggers a profound identity crisis, one deep enough to blur 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 shape: Chasm. An anti-Spider-Man driven by pain, resentment and the hunt for a legitimacy that was stolen from him.
👉 To understand Ben's rise better, dive into the arc Beyond (Amazing Spider-Man #75–93), a major tipping point in his trajectory.
👉 Also explore the pillar page devoted to Peter Parker.
🕷️ A fan of dark doubles? Dive into our collection of Spider-Man figures to find Chasm, Venom, Carnage and other ambivalent faces.
The emergence of Chasm: a rebirth forged in pain
Robbed of his dearest memories by the Beyond Corporation, Ben Reilly spirals into psychological pain. The man he was disintegrates bit by bit, replaced by a darker, unstable, unpredictable entity. It is in this chasm of identity that he becomes Chasm, a name that captures perfectly 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 older costumes. His emerald green and psychedelic purple suit gives off an almost demonic aura, with fractured, organic lines. He evokes both a corrupted Spider-Man and an unknown force risen from a parallel world. Every element of his appearance is designed to mark the total break with his heroic past. That bold design struck readers immediately and redefined his visual identity within the Spider-Verse.
👉 This Chasm costume already turns up across plenty of Marvel merchandise. Discover our Spider-Man costumes to see how these looks change across eras and versions.
👉 Head over as well to the Spider-Verse page, to make sense of every alternative Spider-Man.
Chasm, the name of the void
Robbed of his memories by the Beyond Corporation, Ben Reilly becomes Chasm, a name that symbolises the chasm in his memory and in his relationship with Peter Parker.
Chasm in Dark Web: when the clone loses himself in 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 run backwards, turning the city into a living nightmare. Street lamps come alive, objects stir, and the people 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 clash between the two men becomes inevitable, at once physical and psychological, in the tradition of stories such as The Clone Conspiracy.
What makes Dark Web so striking is the way it explores the dark side of the multiverse. While the Spider-Verse brims with heroic versions of the web-slinger, Chasm is the hero's antithesis: 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 how clones are handled, a recurring theme in the darkest arcs.
This descent into hell is mirrored in the look of recent merchandise too. Fans of this darker side of the universe can find it in our collection of Spider-Man throws, where the dark, violent or alternative variants sit alongside the classic incarnations of the web-slinger.
The alliance
Chasm allies with Madelyne Pryor, clone of Jean Grey and the new Goblin Queen.
The portal to Limbo
New York becomes a living nightmare where street lamps and objects come alive.
The face-off
Chasm accuses Peter Parker of stealing his life, his soul and his right to exist.
What future for Chasm in the Marvel universe?
After the devastating events of Dark Web, Chasm is no longer just a disoriented clone. He becomes a character in his own right: complex, deeply tragic… and potentially formidable. While some hope for his redemption, others see a new face of evil to fold permanently into Spider-Man's mythology. In a multiverse already crowded with alternative versions, Chasm could embody the most heartbreaking reflection of Peter Parker.
Just as Miles Morales or Spider-Gwen stand for hope and the evolution of the myth, Chasm twists it and calls it into question. He forces the reader to ask: what would Peter Parker have been without his moral compass? How would you react if your memories were torn away from you? These questions echo through the great story arcs such as One More Day or Beyond, where the price of identity comes dear. To see all the story arcs, 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 powers drawn from cloning and magic, opens the way to a more gothic, mysterious aesthetic in the world of merchandise.
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 Spider-Verse expanding constantly, his return looks inevitable. Fans want moving stories, nuanced antagonists and deep psychological drama: exactly the dimensions Chasm embodies.
Peter's heartbreaking reflection
Chasm forces the reader to ask what Peter Parker would have been without his moral compass, and how we would react if our memories were torn away.
