Traveller didn't really fit into Spider-Man's world." As such, Traveller's role would remain a mystery to readers for a while, as writers dropped him in and out of this saga. Tom DeFalco came up with the idea of making Spider-Man's wife Mary Jane pregnant, feeling it would be a dramatic event that would help set up the saga's ultimate resolution. But then, Marvel Comics experienced a major financial crisis which nearly bankrupted the company. In consequence, editor-in-chief DeFalco was fired, and Marvel's comic line was broken into five separate groups each with its own editor-in-chief. Bob Budiansky became editor-in-chief on the Spider-Man line. By then, the writers had established a new villain, Kaine. To prove that he was dangerous, the writers had him killing classic Spider-Man foes, including Doctor Octopus, with his corpse shown to rule out any possibility that he would return. However, Kaine soon became another reoccurring character of unexplained origin and purpose, like Judas Traveller and the Scrier, whose roles would not be revealed for quite some time. Then, the creative staff brought back the Jackal, the original culprit of the clones. He was used as a plot device to explain the "clone degeneration" and also set up the possibility he was part of a greater plan by Judas Traveller and Scrier. In this plot developed by J.M. DeMatteis, and part written by Todd DeZago and Howard Mackie, Jackal gave readers doubt and suspicion by stating that Peter was the clone, followed by a reverse statement, and then assessing them as both being clones of an original; because of this, the story was considered convoluted. In a 2008 interview, Glenn Greenberg recalled "It only made sense, from a dramatic standpoint. It was this story that kicked off what would become an increasingly tiresome stream of clones, lies upon lies, fake-outs, and convoluted twists and turns." At this point, the creative staff, seemingly without strict direction, inserted a lot of open plot points waiting to be resolved, such as Ben Reilly worrying about "degeneration" of his body due to cloning, why Kaine was protecting Spider-Man but preying on Ben Reilly, why Ben and Spider-Man shared dreams, why Kaine was foreseeing Mary Jane's death, who the mysterious new character Seward Trainer was as well as the identity of the "Third Peter Parker", a.k.a. Spidercide. With a plethora of writers and editors, the storyline was initiated throughout all the regular