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Uncle Ben
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
In-story information
Full name	Benjamin Parker
Supporting character of	Spider-Man

Benjamin "Ben" Parker, usually called Uncle Ben, was a supporting character in the Marvel Universe’s Spider-Man stories. He was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko.

Parker was the uncle and adoptive father of Peter Parker, Spider-Man’s alter ego. His death at the hands of a burglar that Spider-Man declined to pursue earlier forever propelled Spider-Man into the role of superhero. It was only in the movie Spider-Man 3 that the Sandman was the same crook who killed Uncle Ben. In the comics, the criminal's first name was never revealed, and his last name (Carradine) wasn't given to him until 1996—fifteen years after his final appearance, when Spider-Man confronted him again.^{[citation needed]} The crook, referred to as The Burglar in Spidey lore, died in that issue (Amazing Spider-Man #200 [vol 1], Jan. 1980). The Burglar acted alone in the Spider-Man origin story (Amazing Fantasy #15, August 1962), not as an accomplice of Flint Marko (The Sandman), as the movie portrays.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Notability

Uncle Ben was notable as one of the few Comic book deaths that stuck (along with Gwen Stacy). He was a member of the "Big Three", referring also to Jason Todd and Bucky whose notable deaths, along with Ben's, gave way 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". In fact, if one includes the Ultimate Marvel rebooted continuity, where Gwen Stacy died and returned, Uncle Ben is the only one to have stayed dead across all major continuities.

There have been examples of Uncle Ben remaining alive, 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.

A storyline in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has suggested that Ben may be alive. This Ben, however, was actually from an alternate timeline where Aunt May died in a random accident, leaving him to raise Peter. This alternate Ben came to the 616 reality as part of a plot devised by the Hobgoblin of 2211 to defeat the Spider-Men of different eras. Here he met the 616 version of May Parker, still alive. Confronting her, he ended up in a fight with Jarvis, with whom she at the time has a relationship with. Lacking direction, Ben wandered into an alleyway where he encountered a shadowy figure who told him that any action he takes would simply create another universe where he took the opposite action, so he might as well do what felt good. After this Hobgoblin was erased from history by a Retcon Bomb of her own invention, the Spider-Man of 2211 met with what he presumed to be the same Ben Parker to take him back to his own timeline. In a surprise twist, deciding he rather wanted to "stick around for a while", this Ben Parker shot this future Spider-Man. At the same time, another Ben Parker was shown dead in the alley, meaning one Ben Parker had killed the other and taken his place.

It was revealed that the Ben Parker who had died in the alleyway was the Uncle Ben of the alternate reality, while the Ben Parker who killed Spider-Man 2211 was, in fact, the Chameleon of 2211; the Chameleon had attempted to convince Ben to resort to murder, but Spider-Man correctly guessed that there were no circumstances under which Ben would do such a thing.

[edit] Fictional character biography

Ben Parker was born in Brooklyn, New York. He has had some military training and was once a singer in a band. He had known his future wife May Reilly since their high school days, but she in turn was naively interested in a boy who was involved in criminal activities. When he came to her one night and proposed to her on the spot, Ben was there to expose him as a murderer, and to comfort the heart-broken May when the boy was arrested. Their relationship evolved into love, and they enjoyed a happily married life. When Ben's much younger brother, Richard Parker, and his wife Mary were killed in a plane crash, Ben and May took in their orphaned son Peter and raised him as their own.

Ben was very protective of Peter, going as far as fighting some of the bullies that tormented young Parker. Peter became friends with Charlie Weiderman in high school, a teen even more unpopular than he was. However, Charlie often provoked the trouble with the other teens. One day, he was chased to the Parker home by a group of bullies, lead by Flash Thompson and Ben intervened. Ben told them that if they wanted Charlie, they would have to go through him. Flash tried to, but was surprised Ben's army training. As soon as the bullies were gone, he told the boy that he wasn't welcome at the house or with Peter.

In high school, a radioactive spider bite gave Peter superhuman powers. Creating the costumed identity of Spider-Man for himself, Peter sought first to exploit his newfound powers as a masked wrestler and then as a television star. Coming from a television appearance, Spider-Man saw a burglar^[1] being chased by a security guard. The guard called for Spider-Man to stop the thief, but the nascent Spidey refused on the grounds that catching criminals was not his job. The robber got away.

When Peter later returned home, he was informed that his beloved Uncle Ben had been killed by a burglar. Outraged, he donned his Spider-Man costume and captured the man only to realize to his horror that it was the same burglar whom he could have effortlessly captured earlier at the studio. As a result, Peter considered himself morally responsible for Ben's death and resolved to fight crime as a superhero — realizing that with great power comes great responsibility — and vowing never to let another innocent person come to harm if he could help it.

The burglar, a man called Carradine, had gone to the Parker residence to look for a stash of money that had been hidden in the house years earlier by mobsters (unaware that the money had already been devoured by silverfish). Ben had confronted the burglar, who panicked and shot him. Telling May that he loved her, Ben died in her arms.

May later revealed that she felt responsible for the tragedy, as she and Ben had argued a little while before the burglar arrived. She felt that if they had not had the argument, Ben would not have been where he was when confronting the burglar.

Ben Parker's death was truly avenged when the burglar, Carradine, returned for the money once more, threatening Aunt May. Carradine died from a heart attack upon beholding his old nemesis Spider-Man once again and learning that Spider-Man was Peter Parker.

In Amazing Spider-Man Family #7, May tells Peter of her memory stories, when she meets Ben.

During the Dark Reign storyline, Uncle Ben made an appearance in the Underworld as one of the dead people at the trial of Zeus.^[2]

[edit] Other versions

[edit] Bullet Points

In this alternate reality, a young Ben Parker is working as a military policeman. He is assigned to security for Doctor Erskine, a scientist for the Captain America program. An assassination attempt on Erskine succeeds, killing Ben in the process. Later on, May still attempts to raise Peter on her own, but without the influence of Ben, Peter grows up to be angry, cynical and mean-spirited.

[edit] Marvel Noir

Ben Parker is a social activist who was murdered by Norman Osborne's enforcers. He had previously been a decorated veteran of World War I, but he did not take pride in his service, believing that no just cause was fought for. His nephew Peter dons his old aviator uniform and wields his service revolver during his activities as Spider-Man.^[3]

[edit] Ultimate Ben Parker

Ben Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man differs slightly from the original Ben Parker. In the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, Ben Parker is younger than his original counterpart. He is also a former hippie who wears his hair in a ponytail and teaches Peter to be nonviolent. Parker also reminisces about the period he lived on a commune in the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man.

[edit] "With great power comes great responsibility"

The often-quoted Spider-Man theme of "with great power comes great responsibility" is widely attributed to Uncle Ben. However, this was not initially true. In Amazing Fantasy #15, the phrase appears in a narrative caption in the comic's last panel, not as spoken dialogue. In fact, Ben has only two lines in the entire comic.

However, later stories and flashbacks that took place when Ben was still alive retroactively made the phrase one of Ben's many homilies he would lecture Peter with. Recent reinterpretations of Spider-Man, such as the Spider-Man movie and the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, depict Ben as saying this phrase to Peter while he is still alive, in their last conversation. Both the aforementioned adaptations also had Peter lash out at Ben just after he says it, and both also mention his father. Also, in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, when the player speaks with Spider-Man, they attempt to say the phrase to him, only for him to interrupt them.

[edit] In other media

[edit] Television

• Uncle Ben appears in the Spider-Man episode "The Origin of Spider-Man."

• Uncle Ben is mentioned a lot in the Spider-Man TV series. In "Arsenic and Aunt May," Chameleon (after meeting the relative of the Burglar that shot Uncle Ben) escapes from prison and poses as a medium while using technology to make Aunt May see the ghost of Uncle Ben.

• Uncle Ben appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "Along Came Spidey" voiced by John Stephenson. He is featured in Spider-Man's flashback of his origin.

• In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, he was voiced by Brian Keith and by Christopher Daniel Barnes in an episode of the "Six Forgotten Warriors Saga". He appeared in the series as a spirit talking to Spider-Man whenever he was frustrated in his life as Spider-Man. The spirit of Uncle Ben first appeared in Mysterio's debut episode. Like in the comics, the second episode of the third season revealed that Ben was killed by a crook (Peter let go from a wrestling ring) whom he tried to stop the. This caused Peter to turn into Spider-Man and stop the crook. In the series finale of the show, when Spider-Man had to stop the evil Spider-Carnage- an insane version of Spider-Man who had merged with the Carnage symbiote- from destroying all reality, he managed to make contact with the Uncle Ben of an alternate reality where Peter Parker was a successful industrialist, realising that his counterpart in that reality had never failed or had any difficulties in his life- thus explaining his casual attitude towards his powers as opposed to that of his other counterparts-, and hence would have saved Uncle Ben. Thanks to Ben's influence, Spider-Carnage was convinced to stop what he was doing, but, unable to rid himself of the symbiote, he instead used the 'reality bomb' he had created to create a portal that would disintegrate whatever entered it, subsequently committing suicide by entering the portal to end the symbiote's threat once and for all. After Carnage's death, although they lived in different realities, Spider-Man and Ben hugged, with Ben saying that he was proud of his different-reality nephew, while Spider-Man assured Ben that he'll always have him in his heart.

• Uncle Ben appears in flashback in The Spectacular Spider-Man episode "Intervention" voiced by Edward Asner. This version is slightly younger than his comic counterpart. He was also the representation of Spider-Man's good side during that time he was possessed by the symbiote.

[edit] Films

• In the Spider-Man film series, Ben Parker is played by Oscar-winner Cliff Robertson and his character remains relatively faithful to the comics, including his being shot by a criminal his nephew Peter failed to stop. (Although in the comics he was shot trying to defend May during a break in at their house and in the film he was shot during a carjacking). He appeared in the first film as a father figure for Peter. The amiable Uncle Ben is fired from his job as chief electrician for 35 years and worries about his nephew's strange behavior. His words of wisdom, "With great power comes great responsibility," inspires Peter to become Spider-Man. But Peter lashes out at him during this speech, telling him to stop acting like his father. Later that night, Ben is believed shot by the burglar whom Peter refused to stop when cheated out of his money. Peter and his aunt greatly mourn his passing. By the end of the film, Peter has accepted Ben as the father figure of his childhood.

• The second film features a sequence where Peter contemplates giving up his Spider-Man identity to Uncle Ben who, in the flashback, is a physical representation of the entity and ideology of Spider-Man, encouraging Peter to continue on as a superhero.

• Robertson returns in a flashback scene (as well as a dream sequence) in the third film. In the film, Captain George Stacy tells Peter and Aunt May of new evidence that suggests the thug Peter confronted in the first film was only an accomplice of Flint Marko, who was Uncle Ben's real killer; Peter then imagines Marko throwing Ben out of the car and gunning him down in cold blood. Robertson appears again at the end of the film during a more accurate flashback, as Marko explains to Peter that he only wanted Ben's car, but his partner's interference caused Marko to accidentally pull the trigger when Ben was trying to reason with him. Seeing the truth, Spider-Man forgives Marko just before he slips away.

[edit] Franklin Richards' Uncle Ben

Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four often refers to Benjamin Grimm, the Thing, as "Uncle Ben". Franklin Richards and Peter Parker also have the same middle name, Benjamin, as the Thing and Ben Parker are their namesakes. Spider-Man is aware of this, and told Franklin, "Uncle Bens are always right."

[edit] The son of Spider-Man

In Amazing Spider-Man #500, Spider-Man falls through time, encountering all of his enemies from the past, and sees himself in the future. The future Peter Parker tells him that he should tell Mary Jane and their son that he loves them every day. "Our son is called Ben", he says, "but it would pretty much have to be, wouldn't it?" However, because of the way time-travel in the Marvel universe works, it should be noted that this is only a potential future, not necessarily a definite one.

[edit] Spider-Girl's Uncle Ben

Like her father, Spider-Girl also has an Uncle Ben. However, unlike her dad, May never knew her uncle: Ben Reilly, Spider-Man's clone. If Spider-Girl has any children in the future, they too would have an Uncle Ben - May's baby brother.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Uncle Ben at Marvel.com
• Uncle Ben's Profile at Spiderfan.org