Over the years, Peter Parker has been a survivor of identity fraud on many occasions. Otto Octavius, for example, took Peter’s body and renamed himself Superior Spider-Man. Ben Reilly, who is a near-exact replica of Parker, has taken up the mantle of the Scarlet Spider.
In Howard Mackie, Tom Lyle, Scott Hanna, Joe Rubinstein, and Kevin Tinsley’s Spider-Man #60, Kaine reveals to Peter that he is a clone for the first time. When Peter wants to get Ben Reilly out of jail for offenses that Kaine committed, Kaine takes off his mask.
Spider-Man: Peter Parker’s Deadliest Clone Marvel’s Texan Hero
However, there is another, much more violent clone of Peter who was redeemed after several years as a deadly villain. Jackal’s first unsuccessful attempt at cloning Peter Parker was by Kaine.
Under the mask, a scarred version of Peter’s face can be seen. Kaine explains that he was the first clone, but that he was ruined from within by degeneration. He was created with Peter’s powers, but he also had the power to see into the future and a corrosive touch.
He felt compelled to protect the life Parker had created for himself, which is why he despised Ben Reilly’s interference so much. During the events of Dan Slott’s Spider-Island, Kaine will be transformed into Tarantula, a spider-human hybrid.
The Jackal and the Spider Queen used Kaine to help them wage war on Spider-Man while turning the rest of Manhattan’s residents into spider hybrids. Peter defeats Tarantula and tosses him into a vat containing Anti-symbiote; Venom’s which was being used to treat people.
This reversed the degeneration that Kaine had encountered his whole life and turned him into a perfect clone of Peter. The Spider Queen was defeated after Peter sent Kaine his stealth outfit. With nowhere else to go and a fear of being hunted down by the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, Kaine went south to Mexico.
Kaine was transported to Houston in Christopher Yost’s Scarlet Spider series, where he robbed a group of human traffickers. When Kaine encountered a shipping container full of bodies, he discovered one survivor named Aracely, who later revealed to have psychic abilities.
Aracely was taken to the hospital by Kaine, where a fire-wielding vigilante known as Salamander managed to recapture her. After defeating him, Kaine decided to keep Aracely in his hotel because he was afraid she would be deported and put back in danger.
Kaine went on to form a partnership with a doctor and a policeman to support the community some more, and they persuaded him to remain in Houston. People kept filming his bravery and sending them to the local press, which called him “The Scarlet Spider,” much to Kaine’s chagrin.
Kaine would always come to a halt right before he was about to deliver a deadly blow to an adversary, recalling Peter’s words of duty. He claims to have developed a moral compass as a result of his degeneration being cured.
Kaine was the complete opposite of Peter Parker when it came to protecting his identity. He frequently removed his mask in front of others.
Kaine would team up with the likes of Agent Venom, Wolverine and a Texan version of the Avengers. He took off his mask while fighting an agent of the Assassin’s Guild, alerting them to his presence in the city.
Houston is one of America’s warm and most humid areas. As Kaine was out of skyscrapers to hang from, he’d fall into the rooftops below. This would be inconvenient for a hero to swing around in while dressed up.
Donald’s police officer husband took it personally when Kaine was unable to rescue his pal Donald from Kraven. Kaine rescued everyone, but he felt it was time to join Aracely in Mexico.
