{"id":942028,"date":"2026-05-06T17:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942028\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T17:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:52:18","slug":"avengers-directors-say-tom-hollands-spider-man-isnt-responsible-for-uncle-bens-death-in-the-mcu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942028\/","title":{"rendered":"Avengers Directors Say Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Isn’t Responsible for Uncle Ben’s Death in the MCU"},"content":{"rendered":"

The directors of Captain America: Civil War<\/a> and the last two Avengers films have addressed Uncle Ben\u2019s influence on Tom Holland\u2019s version of Spider-Man<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Tom Holland was introduced as the MCU\u2019s Spider-Man, there was a conscious decision not to repeat the character’s well-trodden origin story. That story had been told twice within the span of a decade, so fans were intimately familiar with how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man. When he\u2019s introduced in Captain America: Civil War, Peter has already been Spidey for about six months and Uncle Ben isn\u2019t in the picture. However, as time has gone on, many have questioned whether or not Uncle Ben existed or had any notable impact on Peter Parker at all\u2026 and it seems like we have an answer now.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CBR<\/a> for Civil War\u2019s 10th anniversary<\/a>, the Russo Brothers were asked if Peter Parker was responsible for the death of Uncle Ben. According to the directors, Peter isn\u2019t responsible.<\/p>\n

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Cast and Characters: Who’s Confirmed for the MCU Sequel?\"Spider-Man:<\/p>\n

“Spider-Man was one of my favorite characters growing up, if not my favorite,” said Joe Russo. “And what I related to was this idea of a kid with incredible responsibility, right? And I think you could manifest that responsibility through accidental death, right? And feeling the pressure, and the sense of loss in your life in a way that would keep the spirit that we wanted.<\/p>\n

“[But] what Tom Holland is as an actor, if he blamed himself for his Uncle Ben’s death, I think he becomes a very different character. So in our minds, no, he wasn’t responsible for Uncle Ben’s death. That would have been a different interpretation. A more intense interpretation of the character.”<\/p>\n

It remains unclear exactly what happened to Uncle Ben in the MCU. There\u2019s an off-handed mention of an \u201caccidental death,\u201d but what does that really mean? Was Uncle Ben killed in a car accident? Did he accidentally fall to his death from a great height? Was Peter involved at all? Who knows! Nevertheless, the comments have raised some eyebrows from fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so backwards,\u201d said one user on X<\/a>. \u201cHim not being responsible for his uncle\u2019s death is the different interpretation. Him being responsible for his Uncle\u2019s Death is the ENTIRE POINT of his origin.\u201d “James Gunn says that Bruce Wayne’s family died in a car accident, not by being shot in Crime Alley,\u201d said another user<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Historically, Uncle Ben\u2019s death is a result of Peter failing to act as Spider-Man. In the comics and previous live-action films, Peter neglects to stop a gun-wielding thief, feeling like it\u2019s not his responsibility. As a result of his inaction, the thief ends up encountering Ben and shoots him. <\/p>\n

From there on out, Peter vows to use his powers with great responsibility and ensure others won\u2019t be harmed because of his negligence. Even in Civil War, Peter\u2019s first scene has him telling Tony Stark that he became Spider-Man because bad things happen if he doesn\u2019t act. <\/p>\n

The MCU\u2019s Uncle Ben is never explicitly referenced in the films. His initials are on a suitcase in Spider-Man: Far From Home<\/a>, but that\u2019s as far as things go. The mere idea of his death seems to loom across the films, but is never directly addressed. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Aunt May\u2019s death seemed to serve as the motivation for Peter Parker to always do the right thing as Spider-Man, as she delivers Ben\u2019s iconic quote before dying: \u201cwith great power, there must also come great responsibility.\u201d The other Peter Parkers in the film reference their Uncle Bens<\/a> once they hear this quote repeated by Tom Holland\u2019s Peter, but Holland\u2019s Peter doesn\u2019t really react to the name. <\/p>\n

Maybe the upcoming film Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/a> will canonize what happened to Uncle Ben or offer a more direct reference to him. Maybe it will continue to be vague. We\u2019ll just have to wait and see.<\/p>\n

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The directors of Captain America: Civil War and the last two Avengers films have addressed Uncle Ben\u2019s influence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-942028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116528909342964957","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}