It takes a lot to top Steve Ditko's original Spider-Man costume, but several artists have come close. We've seen a striking Spider-Man in Insomniac's game from 2018, a 'superior' design when Dock Ock took over Peter Parker's body, and a neo-noir design from 2099. But out of all the recent designs that were phased out too quickly, Ben Reilly's Spider-Man costume has to be the coolest.
Introduced during the Clone Saga when Marvel planned to retire Peter Parker and replace him with what was then thought to be the real version - and not a clone - Ben's Spider-Man suit is arresting for all the right reasons. The black spider spans across his chest and falls over his shoulders, while the external web-cartridges lend a more competent feel to the outfit overall.
Naturally, when Marvel got cold feet and reinstated Peter as the OG Spidey, the Ben Reilly character was retired and with it the suit designed by Mark Bagley.
Bagley has hit home runs every time he's been given the chance to put his own spin on Spidey's costume, most recently in Spider-Man: Life Story, but Reilly's is still the best.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
