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Background
Before the Spider-Man clone later known as Ben Reilly, there was the
enigmatic Kaine. Kaine was the Jackal's first temporary success at
cloning Peter Parker, but the cloning process was flawed.
Over time, Kaine degenerated, leaving scars across most of his face.
The Jackal tried to kill the clone, but instead, Kaine grew stronger,
eventually surpassing the strength of Spider-Man. When the Jackal used
the perfect clone against Spider-Man, the ensuing battle left the clone
and the Jackal for dead. Behind the scenes, Norman Osborn managed to have
the files switched, so the Jackal would think Peter was the clone and
Ben was the real deal. Consulting the Jackal's files, Kaine also believed
the same, so he followed Ben Reilly through his "exile", and has framed
Ben for murder, hoping to give who he thought was the clone, Peter, the
life Kaine could never have. Kaine was responsible for the apparent
death of Elizabeth Tyne, the love of Ben Reilly's life, and tried to
kill him countless times.
Protecting Peter's life, Kaine desperately tried to remove Ben Reilly from
the equation when he returned to New York, and ended up killing Doctor
Octopus (resurrected after the Clone Saga) and Grim Hunter. When Peter
Parker was on trial for the murders Kaine committed, Ben Reilly took his
place and waited in jail for Peter to clear him of charges. Peter hunted
down Kaine, who refused to cooperate, until Peter threatened to expose
his secret identity to save Ben. Frustrated, Kaine turned himself in and
confessed.
Of course, Kaine couldn't be held for much time, and he escaped to go after
Ben again. By then, it had already been "revealed" to Ben and Peter that Ben
was real and Peter was the clone. Ben, Peter and Kaine had to team up to
deal with the greater menace of Jackal and Spidercide in Maximum (aaargh...)
Clonage. Kaine ended up killed by Spidercide, who died along with the Jackal
after falling from a building.
Kaine didn't really die, though; he survived in one of Jackal's regeneration
pods. He was brought back during the Great Game, and got unwillingly involved
in it, and then escaped to prepare his final attack on the new Spider-Man,
Ben Reilly.
In Spider-Man: Redemption, Elizabeth Tyne returned to Ben's life. She revealed
that Kaine had blackmailed her into disappearing. Kaine chose the opportunity
to strike, and after a relentless battle, he stood victorious over a beaten
down Spider-Ben in a flaming diner. He said that neither of them deserved to
live, and that the three of them were going to die in there. Ben begged him
to save Elizabeth, who had nothing to do with it, and she begged him to save
Ben. Finally putting his senseless hatred to rest, Kaine saved them both, and
asked Ben to kill him. Ben refused, and told him he had to take
responsibility for his actions. They fought while Ben tried to convince Kaine
to turn himself in. Kaine then tried to kill himself by police fire, but
Ben saved him in the nick of time. Enraged, Kaine asked why. No words were
needed for him to understand. They looked each other in the eyes, and silently
made peace with each other. Kaine was saved, by "[his] brother", and was
ultimately convinced to turn himself over to the authorities. He was to be
forever
grateful for the help he was given to take the first step "toward redeeming
[his] corrupted soul", and would never forget it.
Kaine's voluntary imprisonment didn't last too long, either. When the maximum
security prison facility The Vault was destroyed in the pages of Thunderbolts,
Kaine (along with lots of other villains) ran free. Instead of turning himself
in, Kaine now had another purpose. Ben Reilly, the man who saved his life and
soul had been killed by the returned Norman Osborn. Kaine would not rest while
Osborn still drew breath. He followed the Scriers to Europe, on the trail of
the mysterious package that supposedly was Baby May, and later was sort of
revealed to be one of the pieces to the Gathering of (aaargh) Five. He killed
a few Scriers and retrieved it, but in the above mentioned Gathering (the
paaaain) of Five, Osborn was told by a Scrier that Kaine caused some problems,
but the "object" was retrieved. Don't try to make much sense out of it,
because it's not a bright plot.
Anyway, Kaine has since been conveniently forgotten, in the main Marvel
Universe, probably still harboring deep hatred for Norman Osborn, but bound
to stay out of sight by something stronger than morality: Marvel's aversion to
clones.
Thanks To:
Some of the above information is extracted from the various
versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent
Marvel Encyclopaedias.
The assistance of the
Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
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