Benjamin "Ben" Parker (typically known as Uncle Ben) is the late uncle of Peter Parker and the husband of May Parker. He is a kind, older man who was Peter's father figure as Peter's parents died when he was younger. He is tragically killed by a criminal that Peter didn't stop despite having the chance to do so. His death would teach Peter that with great power comes great responsibility, a philosophy that he took to heart when he chose to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.
Ben Parker was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Appearances
Marvel Animation
Ultimate Spider-Man
Spider-Man has referenced Uncle Ben's death a couple of times when talking about his morals. Ben appeared in the episode "Strange Days" where Nightmare tries to use the failure of Peter being unable to save his uncle's life against him, but it doesn't work. Peter's even grateful that he gets to see Ben again as his uncle encourages him to take the villain down. He was voiced by Greg Grunberg.
Spider-Man
Uncle Ben appears posthumously in this series, voiced by Patton Oswalt. Here, he is depicted as a budding scientist and a clock designer. In a flashback, it is revealed that he reimagined his "With great power comes great responsibility" quote as a scientific formula, which Peter regards as goofy.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Uncle Ben has not yet appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he has been alluded to.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Uncle Ben's death is indirectly alluded to by Peter, who mentions "everything that's happened with her (May)".
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter's suitcase has the initials "B.F.P." on it, implying that it was once Uncle Ben's.
In the animated series What If...?, in the episode "What If... Zombies!?", Peter mentions Ben by his name for the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the Amazing Spider-Man recall the deaths of their respective Uncle Ben's when concolling their younger counterpart over the recent death of Aunt May.
Trivia
- Ben has been portrayed by Cliff Robertson and Martin Sheen in the two Spider-Man film series made by Sony.
- Uncle Ben was Cliff Robertson's final role before his death.
- His name is a play on Benjamin Franklin.
- According to Tom Holland, if Uncle Ben did appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he wanted Ben to be played by Tobey Maguire, who also played Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.[citation needed]
- Ironically Tobey Maguire went on to reprise his role as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man from the Rami trilogy in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
- In an early script for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Aunt May mentions that Peter's wardrobe for the homecoming dance was Ben's clothes. However, it was cut out because it distracted from Peter's arc in the film, and the screenwriters didn't want Ben's death to be only mentioned in a throwaway line.[citation needed]
