Justice League: Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben Gets a Nod in the Snyder Cut

The massively expanded director’s cut of Justice League features expanded stories for a number of characters, and entirely new characters who didn’t appear in the theatrical cut popping up in a few other scenes. There are Easter eggs a-plenty, much like in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Like that movie, it seems likely that fans will be sussing out the references, and their importance to Snyder’s aborted long-term plan for the DC Films universe, for months to come. But one Easter egg nobody saw coming appears during the scene where a just-resurrected Superman (Henry Cavill) is coming to grips with reality, and sparring with his soon-to-be teammates.

Because as he sends The Flash (Ezra Miller) flying up against the wall of heroes — a monument built in Metropolis to honor those who died during General Zod’s attack on Earth in Man of Steel — a very familiar name appears. The name, which did not make it into the theatrical cut of the movie, is that of a Marvel character.

Peter Parker’s uncle Ben, apparently, was among those honored on the Wall of Heroes. While the wall appeared in the theatrical cut of the movie — and The Flash was tossed up against it — the way that version was edited cut away from the scene just as The Flash fell. In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, fans get a few seconds of an unconscious Flash slumped against the wall, whereas in the theatrical version, his butt hits the ground and you don’t see him again until after Steppenwolf has the Mother Box.

While the name “Ben Parker” sounds just generic enough that it might be a coincidence, it’s more likely than not a wink and a nod, included either at Snyder’s request or by a mischievous designer. The irony, of course, is that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jon Watts has elected to omit Uncle Ben from his Spider-Man films, opting instead to focus on Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) as the father figure whose loss haunts Peter (Tom Holland). This was likely done in order to distance Spider-Man: Homecoming from the first installments in the previous two Spider-Man franchises…but there is some humor to Snyder and DC acknowledging the existence (and death) of Ben Parker before Marvel’s current Spider-Man movies did.

We aren’t sure what the significance, if any, of the other names on the wall might be. Feel free to chime in below if you know yourself!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is now available for fans to stream — all four hours of it — on HBO Max.