This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home
In Peter Parker’s (Spider-Man) rich comic book lore, one figure towers above the rest as constant inspiration: his late uncle, Benjamin Parker. Peter was raised by Uncle Ben and his Aunt May in lieu of his parents’ deaths. Uncle Ben is the character who bestows the saying “With great power comes great responsibility” onto young Peter Parker. However, Peter realizes the gravity of the phrase too late, and is unable to save Uncle Ben’s life.
Uncle Ben’s death is the motivating factor that propels Peter Parker to truly become the Spider-Man that everyone knows and loves. He is always fighting for the ‘little guy,’ seemingly facing impossible odds to ensure that New York remains safe from the clutches of bank robbers and supervillains alike.
However, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), audiences never get to meet Uncle Ben. In fact, audiences are introduced to Spider-Man about six months after he has started donning the red and blue ‘underoos.’ So why did Marvel Studios choose to forgo a character that is constantly referenced in the comics, and who played a prominent role in the past two iterations of Spider-Man? There are actually a few plausible reasons.
Peter Parker Lives in a World Thriving with Superheroes
The previous two iterations of Spider-Man are not in interconnected universes, like the way the MCU is designed. Those versions of Spider-Man were essentially on their own to conduct superheroics and face the consequences. This is not true for the MCU’s Peter Parker. He must have been a middle-schooler during the Battle of New York that took place during The Avengers in 2012. So superheroes had gone public years before he was bitten by a radioactive spider.
Uncle Ben’s mantra, “With great power comes great responsibility” must have seemed already apparent to young Peter Parker. When a god commands thunder and lightning over the skies of Manhattan and a hulking world-breaker takes on an alien armada head-on, such phrases would only pale in light of these actions.
Tony Stark’s Tutelage
If one hero loomed largest for young Peter Parker, that hero would have to be Tony Stark (Iron Man). The ‘self-made’ man who redirected a nuclear warhead from New York City using nothing but the advanced Iron Man suit of armor he had made. Tony Stark is also the man who figured out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man during the events of Captain America: Civil War. He also gave Peter a significantly upgraded set of costumes and technology. For all intents and purposes, Tony was Peter’s superhero tutor and mentor.
In the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter tries to save the Staten Island Ferry from sinking after a brief battle with the Vulture and his henchmen. When Peter fails, Tony has to swoop in and save the day. Because of Peter’s recklessness during the battle, Tony demands Peter give him the Stark-tech Spider-Man suit. Peter replies that he needs the suit, to which Tony quips that if he cannot be Spider-Man without the suit, then he does not deserve the suit. He may as well have said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Tony Stark’s Death
Tony Stark’s on-screen death served as the de-facto death of Uncle Ben for the MCU’s Peter Parker. Tony sacrificed himself to save the universe while all of the Avengers were fighting Thanos and his invading horde in the events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
Tony had been Peter’s mentor and tutor. He had also taught Peter how to be a superhero. Many of the feats Peter was able to pull off as Spider-Man were in part thanks to Tony Stark. With Peter consoling the dying man moments before he passed, it was clear that Tony’s death was the MCU’s ‘Uncle Ben’ moment.
Peter’s Peers
MJ and Ned are crucial characters for the MCU’s Peter Parker. Ned is Peter’s tech wizard, best friend, and confidant. MJ is Peter’s crush and, eventually, his girlfriend.
The pairing of MJ and Ned help keep Peter grounded. They are his high school peers and his closest friends, something that previous iterations of Peter Parker were sorely missing. They help him on his adventures as Spider-Man, but more importantly, are a reminder for Peter of exactly why he is Spider-Man.
Aunt May
The MCU’s Aunt May plays a more outsized role than her previous iterations did. She is younger than she is usually portrayed, and perhaps that is why she seems as if she can take care of herself to a certain degree.
Moments before her tragic and untimely death in Spider-Man: No Way Home, she reminds Peter of Uncle Ben’s mantra at a time when Peter is about at his wit’s end. The words, “With great power comes great responsibility” combined with her death hit Peter extremely hard, and serve as another ‘Uncle Ben’ moment for a Peter Parker who has already lost so much at this point.
While it might have been a nice touch to have Uncle Ben in the MCU, perhaps Marvel did not want to trod over such freshly trodden ground from previous iterations of Spider-Man. After all, the MCU is a place that was teeming with superheroes years before Spider-Man was on the scene. Peter Parker probably did not need much of a push to become the fan-favorite hero he was always destined to be.