No Way Home Finally Confirmed Uncle Ben Never Mattered In The MCU (2024)

Warning: Contains SPOILERS forSpider-Man: No Way Home

Uncle Ben's absence in the MCU was finally explained by the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which featured a twist on the classic Peter Parker origin story.It was unclear for a long time whether Uncle Ben even existed within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he wasn't mentioned at all in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, or Spider-Man: Far From Home. Homecoming featured a deleted scene that saw Peter name-drop him, and a briefcase with the initials "BP" was used by Peter during his European vacation in Far From Home.However, after No Way Home'sscreenwriters clarified whereUncle Ben fits into the MCU, it became apparent that Marvel's most famous father figure never really mattered at all.

Unlike in Sam Raimi's Spider-Mantrilogy and Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man duology, viewers were never given the opportunity to see Peter Parker's origin story in the MCU. He was already Spider-Man when he was recruited by Tony Stark during the events of Civil War. As such, many wondered if his origin was the same as it was in the other Spider-Man films and whether he was responsible for letting Uncle Ben die. It was also unclear whether Peter had been told "with great power, comes great responsibility", as it was traditionally through Ben's death that Peter learned this lesson.

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Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed that Uncle Ben never mattered in the MCU, and that the final chapter of theHome trilogy was actually the culmination of Peter's origin story. The use of Aunt May ashis mentor figure in this movie effectively erased Ben's role from the continuity, as she served as Peter's moral compass and the guardian who taught him the lesson about responsibility. The film even gave her a more active role in convincing Spider-Man to try to help the Green Goblin, who would ironically go on to kill her.

However, Peter's first appearance in Civil War did suggest that he may have had a similar lesson before. When asked by Tony Stark why he wanted to be a superhero, he said that "when you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen - they happen because of you". Whilst this was by no means a repetition of "with great power, comes great responsibility", it was clear that Peter had already been taught about morality. Some assumed this meant that Ben must've previously taught him this lesson. However, Far From Home and No Way Home expanded May's character, and consistently showed her urging Peter to do good. It was therefore apparent that she had been this positive presence in his life, not Ben.

The screenwriters'reveal that No Way Home was meant as the culmination of Peter's origin and Aunt May's death was analogous for Bens' also seemingly confirmed that Ben never mattered in the MCU. To separate itself from the Raimi and Webb films, Jon Watts' Spider-Man trilogy instead saw May take the Uncle Ben role in Peter's life. Peter was even directly responsible for her death, as his request to Doctor Strange started off the events that led to the Green Goblin coming to his universe. No Way Home, therefore,made it apparent that Ben was never referenced in the MCU because he didn't need to be. Peter had new mentors in Iron Man, Mysterio, and Doctor Strange, who all taught him something about being a hero (even Beck taught him what not to be), even though they weren't the right people to teach him about morality. Instead, it was May who ultimately took on the role of Uncle Ben and died so that the MCU Peter Parker could finallylearn what it meant to be a hero.

Despite a handful of allusions that confirmed the existence of Uncle Ben in the MCU, Spider-Man:No Way Home proved that he never mattered. Watts clearly intended for Aunt May to take on the tragic role as Peter's moral compass and the mentor figurewhoultimately transformed him into Spider-Man. In a sense, Marissa Tomei's Aunt May took on both roles in Peter's life,which was a refreshing change after two film series which bothexclusively used Ben as part of his origin.

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