Spider-Man No Way Home: The Curious Case of MCU Uncle Ben

The Marvel Cinematic Universe decided to take a different approach to the introduction of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler, with the previous two Sony series diving into Peter Parker’s origin, but with Spider-Man’s adventures alongside the Avengers, the latest films in the MCU have decided to not retell his origin and thus, left Uncle Ben on the curb. With the arrival of Spider-Man: No Way Home, more questions have arisen with regards to the status of Uncle Ben and what better time than now to piece together clues regarding Peter’s lost relative.

Warning! If you have yet to see Spider-Man: No Way Home, be forewarned that we’ll be diving into serious spoiler territory with this article, so turn back now if you’ve yet to see the movie.

Spider-Man: No Way Home takes the opportunity to give us the legendary line of “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,” but with a major twist as a dying Aunt May delivers it to Peter rather than Uncle Ben. While Ben’s status has been referenced a number of times in the series, there are a few glaring moments in this winter blockbuster that left us scratching our heads. Easter Eggs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe revolving around Uncle Ben however include lines from Captain America: Civil War, in which Peter details why he puts on the mask to Tony Stark as trying to stop “bad things from happening to good people,” along with Spider-Man: Far From Home in which Peter alludes to the tragedy that May has been through. 

While these Easter Eggs don’t necessarily point to Uncle Ben’s existence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are two others that point strongly to him having some influence on Peter’s life. We once again have to swing back to Spider-Man: Far From Home, in which Peter travels to Europe carrying luggage with the initial for his uncle, Benjamin Franklin Parker. On top of this, the most direct reference to Uncle Ben took place in the animated What If? series in which our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man mentions his uncle by name when recounting the people in his life that he’s lost. Though Ben exists, his role in Peter’s life in the MCU might be far different from what we’ve come to know.

The glaring issues that are raised for Uncle Ben’s status during Spider-Man: No Way Home is defined by two big moments, the first being in which the Peter Parkers played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield have a chat with Tom Holland’s Spidey. Discussing the loss they felt when they lost their respective Bens, Tom makes no mention of his Uncle, which could be attributed to the fact that he’s still grappling with May’s death. Perhaps the biggest question mark comes in the form of the cemetery scene in which Peter visits May’s grave and Ben’s tombstone is nowhere to be found. As it stands, Ben hasn’t had much of a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it will be interesting to see if he might get more of a mention in the future of the wall-crawler on screen. 

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, did May and Ben split up before he died? Is it possible that the What If? series saw Ben die but he’s potentially alive in the main universe to appear in a world where everyone has forgotten that Peter Parker exists? Let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Marvel.