WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #86 by Zeb Wells, Michael Dowling, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Joe Caramagna, now on sale from Marvel Comics

Superheroes erasing the memories of their enemies has been a surprisingly fruitful topic of discussion in comic book storylines. The potential benefits, moral quandaries, unintended consequences, and innate terror of such tactics have been explored from multiple angles -- especially lately in Devil's Reign. But it turns out one Marvel hero has been experiencing a similar style of attack behind-the-scenes.

The new Spider-Man, Ben Reilly, has been getting quietly brainwashed by the Beyond Corporation. They tampered repeatedly with Reilly's memories in Amazing Spider-Man #86. On top of being a cruel act against Ben that could cause serious problems, it's also a dark inverse of the kind of tactic used by Spider-Man recently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Amazing Spider-Man #86 dives into the full-lengths the Beyond Corporation are willing to go to manipulate Ben Reilly. Notably, this includes attacking his memories. Since being recruited by the Beyond Corporation, Ben Reilly has been learning the lines the company is willing to cross for control. His attempts to just be a hero have run into serious problems, especially when he learns more about their full plans. Thanks to Doctor Octopus, Reilly learned the full extent of their manipulations -- confronting his psychiatrist Ashley Kafka about it. During their session, Kafka reveals she understands his anger -- and that she knows Ben is a clone. Despite never remembering telling anyone that, that memory (and others) have been erased from his mind.

Although Reilly apparently gave his consent to Beyond before the procedure, Kafka admits it's a dangerous tactic that could unravel Reilly's entire personality. Discovering this (and Beyond's other plans) however results in Ben being knocked out and forced back through the process. Beyond hopes to simply erase the revelations. But that's when his mind seems to fall apart, potentially creating a psychologically unmoored Spider-Man. Ben losing so much of his memory is a tragic revelation, despite the traumas that the process likely helped quell. Losing a sense of himself and the growth he achieved by overcoming his dark period is one of the reasons Ben has been left flailing. The process possibly destroying his mind only takes it further, potentially costing him definitive memories and important development.

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It's darkly fitting for a Spider-Hero to be confronting such a threat. Over the years, Peter Parker has been forced to erase the memories of the world multiple times -- with comics like One More Day and One Moment In Time -- resulting in his identity being hidden anew. Doctor Strange even performed a similar tactic in Spider-Man: No Way Home, erasing the memories of the world's population of Peter Parker's very existence. It's about time that a Spider-Hero suffered a similar fate and felt the innate rage others felt for Spider-Man after his own mindwipes. But at least those didn't come with the potential ramifications of erasing their personality in the process

Notably, though, it's also perfectly fitting for it to be Ben who suffers this fate. He didn't make the decision to erase anyone's minds, and yet is suffering the same kind of mental attack that Peter unleashed across the world. Once again, Ben Reilly is targeted for no fault of his own and manipulated into an impossible situation. And with no Doctor Strange around to mend the entire situation as the MCU version did in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Reilly might end up causing some serious damage following this latest attack on his mind and memories.

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