Spider-Man is perhaps one of the most adapted Marvel characters of all time, particularly when it comes to on-screen adaptations. In the early 2000s, that included Sam Raimi’s trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, as well as multiple Spider-Man TV shows. Not long after, Andrew Garfield brought Spider-Man to life in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. And then, of course, came Tom Holland’s depiction of Spider-Man in multiple MCU movies.
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Most recently, however, Prime offered audiences a brand-new project centered on Spider-Man with Spider-Noir, a unique show starring Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly/Spider-Man that gave viewers the opportunity to choose between full color viewing versus a black-and-white version, among other unexpected elements. In addition to those changes, Spider-Noir made one other innovative decision as well, this one involving Spider-Man’s most iconic line.
Spider-Noir Just Changed Spider-Man’s Famous Line…Again
Equally as famous as the title of “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is the line, traditionally but not always delivered by Uncle Ben around the time of his death, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Although that was a mainstay of the Spider-Man story, both in terms of who typically said it and also in terms of the wording with which it was most often said, that line has already been altered once on screen.
Prior to Spider-Noir, this line was somewhat changed in the most recent MCU Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home. In that movie, it is Aunt May, rather than Uncle Ben (who doesn’t play a role in the MCU movies), who says the line to Peter. The wording was also slightly different than the typical line, with Aunt May specifically saying, “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
That wasn’t a seriously drastic alteration from the standard line, and it is actually a wording that aligns with earlier comics, but it did nevertheless get some pushback from fans. Now, Marvel has done it again in Spider-Noir, by implying that it was Ben’s late significant other, Ruby, who told him that with great power comes great responsibility, as opposed to Uncle Ben, Aunt May, or another mentor saying it.
Does Marvel Need To Make Changes To The Franchise’s Most Iconic Elements?
As the MCU continues to find its way in a brand-new era, which hasn’t always been the smoothest of roads, these adjustments to Spider-Man’s iconic line raise questions about whether Marvel needs to make changes to some of the franchise’s most famous lines, character arcs, costumes, etc. in order to seem interesting and innovative to audiences.
This is, in fact, perhaps the struggle of all franchises that are built on stories and characters with significant histories and deeply embedded nostalgia. Of course, Marvel has already been navigating this for decades, but this feels like a pivotal moment for the franchise, as it tries to prove that the future is still bright. Hopefully, that won’t mean overdoing it when it comes to adapting and moving forward (be that specifically within the MCU or in Marvel more broadly).
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