Doctor Octopus is back, and she has a grudge against Ben Reilly's Spider-Man

Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #3 cover (Image credit: Steve Skroce (Marvel Comics))

No, that's not Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Liv Octavius/Doctor Octopus, that's Carolyn Trainer, the second comic book Doctor Octopus - and she's returning to Marvel Comics in 2022.

Trainer returns in March 16's Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #3 to face off against Ben Reilly/Spider-Man in this untold tale from the '90s written by her co-creater JM Dematteis and drawn by David Baldeón.

Carolyn Trainer was created in 1995's Amazing Spider-Man #405 by DeMatteis and Angel Medina as a replacement Doctor Octopus following the death of Otto Octavius during the 'Clone Saga.' Trainer was a doe-eyed student of Otto Octavius's, and his surprise death led her to pick up the mantle thanks to a set of four tentacles of her own - and even adding a force field to the Doctor Octopus formula. Years later, Trainer eventually helped in the resurrection of Otto Octavius, and took the name 'Lady Octopus'.

The aforementioned Liv Octavius from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse seems based somewhat on Carolyn Trainer, merging her with the idea of a gender-swapped Otto Octavius. Trainer herself appeared in the 2017 Spider-Man animated series, as well as this year's Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends cartoon.

As this new Ben Reilly: Spider-Man story is intended to be an 'untold tale' set during Ben Reilly's original stint as Spider-Man, Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #3 apparently focuses on Trainer-as-Doctor Octopus still jealous over Ben Reilly's father/son style relationship with her own father, Seward Trainer.

Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #3 (of 5) goes on sale on March 16. A collection of all five Ben Reilly: Spider-Man issues is scheduled for July 5.

Check out GamesRadar's list of the 50 greatest Spider-Man villains.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)