The Clone Saga. The Spider-Man storyline everybody seems to hate. Well, personally, I didn't, but everybody besides me certainly seem to. I've been re-reading a lot of the Clone Saga comics during the past few days and I suddenly came up with something I simply have to share with you. What if Norman Osborn had returned a lot sooner and what if it had been Norman who had reveal that Ben is, in fact the one, true Peter Parker?
Now in retrospect, this is something I would have liked to see.. May gets sick and the long lost clone Ben Reilly returns to New York. Everything until the Smoke and Mirrors storyline will happen the way it happened in the comic books. But during the Smoke and Mirrors storyline, Jackal will hint that he is actually working for someone else, but manages to escape before the two Spider-Men are able to find out who his employer is. Also, there will be no 3rd Peter Parker. Two Peter Parkers and Kaine are enough. The Death of Aunt May will also remain untouched, as Amazing #400 was breath taking in so many ways. Ben, believing himself to be the clone, does not get the chance to be at his aunt's side when she passes away. This is robbed from him. After May's funeral, Peter is arrested for a murder committed by the first Peter Parker clone, Kaine. Now, instead of switching places with Peter, Ben promises to clear Peter's name, as well as his own, since Peter was convinced that Ben was the one responsible for the murder. Now, the fact that Peter and Ben never switch places gives the readers a good chance to get to know Ben and the writers can give some more personality to him. In the end, Ben makes Kaine admit to the crimes, as he never wanted Peter to end up in jail (Kaine loved Peter like a brother, remember?) So, Peter is out of prison thanks to Ben and the two "brothers" now start to develop something of a friendship.
This is where, instead of the whole Maximum Clonage clusterfuck, the two Spiders would go after the Jackal and his "employer". In the final chapter of the "Revelations" storyline (which would occur a lot sooner than it did in the real saga) Peter and Ben would be blindsided by the mysterious shadowman behind the clone mess. Later, Ben wakes up at the bridge where Gwen Stacy died wearing the original Spider-Man costume and is confronted by the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. Osborn would explain how he is still alive and how he orchestrated the clone saga, robbing Peter five years of his life and that Ben is, indeed, the original Peter Parker. Now, storyline wise, it would be effective to just kill off the clone Peter here, but realistically thinking, it would never be accepted by long-time readers so we keep Peter alive. But Norman does explain that the clone can't help Ben here, as the clone's spider powers are now gone. So, it's just Ben and the Goblin. Just like it was in Amazing Spider-Man #122.
Also, Norman would still have a reason to kill MJ's baby, since it was the clone Peter who, in Norman's eyes, killed Harry. So, he has a reason to hate both of them. Sure, there were a lot of folks who would never accept Ben Reilly as the real Spider-Man, but I'm one of those who really liked him. This kind of speculation is pointless, since the story has been buried a long time ago, but I thought I'd share my thoughts.