The five series were instituted as part of the Clone Saga after when Peter Parker gave up being Spider-Man to retire with his pregnant wife Mary Jane, and the Scarlet Spider took on his duties.

The Scarlet Spider books were direct continuations, in terms of creative teams and story lines, of their Spider-Man counterparts.

The writers of the two issues were Howard Mackie (plot) and Todd DeZago (script), and the pencillers were Gil Kane and John Romita Jr. On July 22, 2011, during San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel released an image to the audience depicting a burnt sweater of the original Scarlet Spider.

[6] Yost stated that the Scarlet Spider series would be a story about a former super-villain who is finding himself and is on the pursuit of a journey of self-discovery.

[7] The series introduces several new characters in the Marvel world, such as Aracely Penalba (the demigod superhero known as Hummingbird), Dr. Donald Meland and his husband Wally Layton.

On July 6, 2012 Marvel teased readers with the submission of an article displaying a logo titled Minimum Carnage, and that more information would be released soon.