Amazing Spider-Man #81 preview puts Ben Reilly at odds with Miles Morales over the Spider-Man TM

Amazing Spider-Man #81 page
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The unfortunate feud between Ben Reilly, the current Spider-Man filling in for Peter Parker, and Miles Morales, also technically the current Spider-Man with Peter's blessing to use the name, ramps up in December 15's Amazing Spider-Man #81

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Ben and Peter's conflict all comes down to the Spider-Man name, which Ben's employers the Beyond Corporation assert is their legal property, sending him to put a stop to Miles using the Spider-Man name. Too bad Peter Parker's currently hospitalized, or he'd likely have something to say about his chosen protégé being denied his legacy.

Marvel Comics has now released a preview of interior pages from the issue by writer Saladin Ahmed, artists Carlos E. Gomez and Bryan Valenza, and letterer Joe Caramagna, in which Ben Reilly's latest "assignment" puts him at odds with the people of Brooklyn - and in the path of Miles Morales.

Check out the pages here, along with the issue's main cover from Art Adams and a pair of variant covers by Arist Deyn and Mahmud Asrar, respectively:

The Beyond Corporation, who are likely not entirely on the up-and-up given their villainous history in the title Nextwave: Agents of HATE, lay claim to the trademark on the Spider-Man name and identity thanks to having purchased the assets of Peter Parker's former company Parker Industries, which used its corporate assets to trademark the name and likeness of Spider-Man.

The only problem is, it wasn't actually Peter that did that - it was Otto Octavius, when he had body-swapped with Peter Parker, stealing his identity and becoming the Superior Spider-Man, meaning Peter didn't even know the trademark existed until he lost it to the Beyond Corporation.

Amazing Spider-Man, currently in the 'Spider-Man Beyond' era, continues with weekly releases of both the main title and tie-ins. Keep up with it all with our handy listing of all the new Spider-Man comics planned for 2021 and beyond.

George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)