Ben Parker is Peter Parker's late uncle, and a major character in the Spider-Man franchise.
Background[]
Publication history[]
Uncle Ben first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) and was killed in the very same issue. Although his history as a supporting character was very brief, Uncle Ben is an overshadowing figure in Spider-Man's life, often appearing in flashbacks.
Notability of death[]
The murder of Uncle Ben is notable as one of the few comic book deaths that has never been reversed in terms of official continuity. He was a member of the "Big Three", referring also to Jason Todd (an associate of Batman) and Bucky (an associate of Captain America) whose notable deaths, along with Ben's, gave rise to the phrase: "No one in comics stays dead except for Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben". Later, the revivals of both Bucky and Jason in 2005 led to the amendment, "No one in comics stays dead except Uncle Ben". The violent killing of Uncle Ben, done by a common street criminal, also shares multiple similarities to the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, the parents of Batman, which sometimes is included in the saying.[1]
There have been examples of Uncle Ben remaining alive in alternative timelines, including stories featured in Marvel's What If (one of which he forces Peter to unmask in front of J. Jonah Jameson), and a storyline of the 1994 Spider-Man animated series featured a universe where Uncle Ben had never died, and Peter Parker became a successful industrialist, having never really bothered to use his powers responsibly as everything always seemed to work out for him. This fact is used to defeat the rampaging Spider-Carnage by exposing him to the one person he will trust and listen to: the Uncle Ben of that reality.[volume & issue needed]
A story-line in the official series Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man seemingly suggested that Ben may be alive. This Ben, however, was actually from a parallel universe where Aunt May died in a random accident, leaving him to raise Peter. This alternate Ben came to the planet Earth of regular Marvel comics (the 616 reality) as part of an evil plan devised by the Hobgoblin of 2211 to defeat the Spider-Men of different eras.[volume & issue needed]
During the Clone Conspiracy storyline, when Peter's clone Ben Reilly (who had taken Uncle Ben's first name, along with Aunt May's last, to differentiate himself from Peter) used the Jackal's technology to revive several of Peter's old enemies and allies, he offered to bring Uncle Ben back to life while trying to win Peter to his point of view.[2] Although tempted at the offer, Peter concluded that the reason Reilly had not brought Uncle Ben back on his own was that he knew that Uncle Ben would disapprove of Reilly's actions, as his plan would see everyone on Earth granted immortality, while dependent on him to supply the medication needed to stabilize their cloned bodies.[3]
Appearances[]
Spider-Man[]
Probably born in 1933 or 34, as he mentions he is 68 years of age in the first film (which is presumably set in 2002, the year it was released), Uncle Ben and Aunt May take care of their nephew, Peter Parker in the absence of his parents for unknown reasons. Ben and May married in August of an unknown year (most likely in the 1950's), and they would've celebrated 50 years of marriage had he lived to the next August after the events of the third film. An electrician by trade, he acted as a father figure for Peter through his upbringing. One night Ben drives Peter to the library and talks with Peter about his changing behavior. Losing his temper during Ben's speech, Peter tells him to stop pretending like he's his father. Later that night, Ben is apparently shot by a carjacker, Dennis Carradine, who Peter refused to stop when cheated out of his money by the man Carradine robbed. Peter is haunted by the fact that he could have stopped Carradine and saved his uncle.
Spider-Man 2[]
Ben appears briefly in a vision Peter has when contemplating giving up his duties as Spider-Man.
Spider-Man 3[]
Ben appears in visions Peter has imagining his death at the hands of Flint Marko, as well as in a flashback Flint has while telling Peter what really happened that night.
