SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for "The Clone Conspiracy: Omega" #1 by Dan Slott and Corey T. Smith, on sale now.


The epilogue to the latest Spider-Man event officially closes out Peter Parker's very own clone war in "The Clone Conspiracy: Omega" #1's main story by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Cory T. Smith, and a brand-new day dawns for several more members of Spidey's supporting cast. While featured on James Harren's cover, The Rhino is just one of those characters who begin a new chapter in their lives, and in fact plays a comparatively minor role in the story. Peter David and Mark Bagley also deliver a prelude to their upcoming "Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider" series starting next month, while Slott and Stuart Immonen take Spider-Man out of New U in the issue's final backup feature and set the course for the next arc in "Amazing Spider-Man."

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Kaine Has A New Role in Spider-Man's World

"The Clone Conspiracy" brought Peter Parker's flawed clone Kaine out of the Spider-verse and back to this world, but just because the event is over doesn't mean Kaine is going anywhere. As S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives to lock down New U's Haven facility and Horizon Labs personnel administer inoculations to those impacted by the Carrion virus, Kaine confronts Peter regarding the fate of their clone brother, Ben Reilly. Unaware of Reilly's escape from Haven as revealed in "Amazing Spider-Man" #24, Peter still believes Reilly to have died battling Doctor Octopus in "The Clone Conspiracy" #5. Kaine, however, who suffered under Reilly's experimentations, is far more skeptical, and takes it upon himself to remain on this world to track Reilly down. In doing so, he parts ways with Gwen Stacy – that is, Spider-Gwen of Earth-65 – who heads back to her own world.

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The events of "The Clone Conspiracy" set the stage for a natural antagonistic relationship between Reilly and Kaine. The set-up indicates a significant role for Kaine within the pages of "Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider," especially with Reilly apparently trying to change his ways after his confrontation with the original Jackal, aka the original Miles Warren, as also seen in "Amazing Spider-Man" #24. "The Clone Conspiracy" #5 also set up a legitimate rivalry between Reilly and Otto Octavius, so Reilly's character already has a head start on the build-up of his own rogues gallery before his series even begins.

A Turning Point For The Rhino and The Lizard

The issue opens with The Rhino mourning the loss of his beloved Oksana for a second time. When S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to collect the clone's remains, the momentarily passive Aleksei erupts in anger as he's confronted by Spider-Man. When Peter's punches fail to stop him, Peter reaches out to Aleksei as a fellow victim, one who's also mourning people lost a second time thanks to The Jackal. Aleksei calms down and allows himself to be taken into custody after Peter convinces him that the best way he can honor Oksana is to keep moving forward. The exchange seems to form a new bond between Peter and Aleksei, and portends a possible friendship between the two after having spent decades as rivals.

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Meanwhile, Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, was last seen seeking safety for his reconstituted family during the chaos of the final battle at Haven. Their bodies now decayed due to The Jackal's final attempt to destroy all of his creations, Connors seeks an alternate solution to preserve his family. While Peter and Anna Maria Marconi had developed a successful method of halting the clones' degeneration, Connors instead uses his own science to save the lives of his wife and son. The moderately predictable result is shown on the story's final page: the entire Connors family has now been transformed into grotesque Lizard-like creatures. When Spider-Man next faces the Lizard, it's likely he'll have the whole Connors family to deal with.

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Ben Reilly Finds A New Investor

There are bad days at work, and then there are really bad days. After the final battle at New U cost The Jackal's assistant Dr. Rita Clarkson not only her job, but probably her career, Clarkson drowns her sorrows at a local bar. About the only thing that could make such a day worse is one's boss showing up. Of course, that's exactly what Reilly does, much to Clarkson surprise as she believed Reilly to be killed during the battle. It turns out Reilly's arrival is well-timed, however, as he saves her from a distraught and revenge-seeking husband and brother of a woman whose cloned body had disintegrated before their eyes. Grateful for his intervention, Clarkson drains her bank account and gives Reilly enough money to start his new life.

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With a new perspective and now flush with cash, Reilly's ready to waltz into his pending series. Whatever approach he brings into this new life, though, isn't one of a totally altruistic boy scout – Reilly causes one of the men seeking Clarkson to be shot by the other, and he even hints that he might have set up the violent encounter. No one's going to mistake Reilly for Peter by way of his personality, and still scarred from his partial decomposition, it seems like no one's going to mistake him for his looks, either.

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What's Next For Spider-Man That Doesn't Involve Clones?

Wilson Fisk was last seen in "The Clone Conspiracy" #3 as an ally, offering Spider-Man information that ultimately led him to The Jackal. Spider-Man is seen at the start of the issue's final story storming his way into The Kingpin's headquarters at Fisk's own behest, who seeks to repay Spider-Man for his defeat of The Jackal and avenging his unholy resurrection of Fisk's wife and son. That repayment is in the form of additional information that will lead Spidey to another one of his longtime foes: the one-time Green Goblin, Norman Osborn.

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The Kingpin was originally a Spider-Man foe who has recently been reintroduced into the Spidey's world, and now Osborn has been set-up to be the next one-time Spider-villain poised for a return. The issue promises that this thread will be continued in "Amazing Spider-Man" #25, on sale March 15.