Profile of Ben Parker on Famous Like Me

This article is about the Spider-Man comic book character. See also Uncle Ben's, a brand of rice and other foods.

Benjamin "Uncle Ben" Parker is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe published by Marvel Comics. He is an important figure in the history of the Spider-Man titles, and often appears in flashbacks. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, and was killed later that issue.

Biography

When Richard and Mary Parker were killed, Richard's older brother Ben and his wife, May, took in their orphaned son Peter and raised him.

Ben was eventually killed by a burglar; Peter subsequently captured the burglar, and was horrified to realize that it was the same burglar who he could have captured earlier that day, except that he had chosen to not get involved. As a result, Peter considered himself morally responsible for Ben's death, and resolved to fight crime as a superhero, vowing to always take his responsibilities seriously.

"With great power..." misconceptions

The often-quoted Spider-man theme of "with great power there must also come great responsibility" (typically misquoted as "with great power comes great responsibility") is widely attributed to Uncle Ben. This is a misconception.

The passage in question is not spoken by any character in Amazing Fantasy #15; rather, it appears in a narrative caption in the comic's last panel. Ben's only dialogue as a living character in an Earth-616 comic is "you are not fooling me, Petey! I know you are awake, and it is time for school!" and "don't fatten him too much, dear! I can hardly outwrestle him now!" (both page 2).

However, most recent adaptations have included scenes where Uncle Ben is lecturing Peter and says "with great power, comes great responsibility", most notably the Spider-Man movie and the Ultimate Spider-Man comic.

Notability

Uncle Ben was notable as one of the few comic book deaths that stuck. He is a member of the "Big Three", referring also to Jason Todd and Bucky, other characters whose revivals would negate major character motivation and development. In fact, if one includes the Ultimate Marvel rebooted continuity, Uncle Ben is the only one to have stayed dead across all major continuities. However, with both Jason Todd and Bucky returning recently, this leaves Uncle Ben as the only one.

Portrayal in media

In the successful film adaptation released in 2002, Uncle Ben was played by Cliff Robertson.

Franklin Richards's Uncle Ben

Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four often refers to Benjamin Grimm, the Thing, as "Uncle Ben". Interestingly, Franklin Richards's middle name is Benjamin—the same as the middle name of Peter Benjamin Parker, Spider-Man. This is not entirely coincidental; Ben Parker and the Thing are, respectively, the namesakes of Peter Parker and Franklin Richards.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Ben Parker