WARNING: The following contains spoilers for “Test-Drive” in Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom, available now from Marvel.
Peter Parker's life has always been filled with near-death experiences usually caused by the villainous figures that comprise his rogues' gallery, and it looks like they aren't far from finally catching up with him. While the events of Sinister War are still playing out, the promise of "Spider-Man Beyond" appears to also come with the tragic promise of Peter's demise. Thankfully, Spider-Man isn't gone with Peter Parker's death, and fans have already been given a glimpse of Ben Reilly suiting up as Spider-Man once again. Unfortunately, it looks like Ben's new role has come at the behest of the Beyond Corporation, one of the most twisted groups in the Marvel multiverse.
While Ben Reilly has been busy helping Iron Man take down Korvac in the far reaches of Marvel's cosmos, "Test Drive" by Zeb Wells, Patrick Gleason, Alejandro Sanchez and VC's Joe Caramagna sees the "Clone Saga" hero taking on a whole different breed of supervillain back on Earth. When the assassin Bushwacker carries out an organized attack on a room full of oil industry executives, Ben Reilly makes his return as Spider-Man and saves the day.
Not only has he shed his Scarlet Spider persona in favor of something a bit more recognizable, Ben Reilly has also been outfitted with a new high-tech suit that proves more than able to take anything Bushwacker can dish out. Ben serves the villain a quick defeat before making his exit and meeting with an unnamed representative from his new benefactors at the Beyond Corporation, although he might not be so quick to take their generous offer if he had a bit more knowledge of their inner workings.
First introduced in Nextwave #1 by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, the Beyond Corporation are precisely as otherworldly as their name could possibly imply. Over the years, members of the Beyond Corporation have embraced their place in the multiverse as agents of unfettered chaos and destruction, having brought Nextwave together on an alternate Earth to fight impossible foes for their own amusement. Eventually, Beyond would make moves in the primary Marvel Universe by making the already insidious Jason Quantrell their avatar on Earth. This put them on the radar of the Mighty Avengers, who were able to quell the threat, though they didn't manage to eliminate Beyond entirely.
All of Beyond Corporation's endeavors so far have been relatively upfront about their true intentions, even if the organization itself has never been one to step into the public eye in any meaningful way. Now it looks like all of that is changing with the prospect of a branded superhero of their own, and there aren't many that people love more than Spider-Man. With the promise of a dedicated team to coordinate between himself and the proper authorities, not to mention the new suit, the offer to work for Beyond Corporation is too good to pass up.
As benevolent as their current trajectory seems on the surface, it's hard to imagine that the Beyond Corporation doesn't have something distressing at work in the shadows. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that they were the ones behind Bushwacker's miraculous resurrection just to give Ben Reilly a reason to test out the suit they designed for him. Whether or not that assumption is true doesn't really matter though, because there is no reason to believe that Beyond would be acting in good faith either way. Whatever it is they're up to, there is little doubt that it will put them at odds with their personal Spider-Man sooner than later, and that might spell the end of Ben Reilly's latest turn as the hero almost as soon as it begins.