Uncle Ben’s Second Death Ruins Spider-Man’s Origin

Warning! Spoilers for Amazing Fantasy #4 ahead!

The second death of Uncle Ben in Marvel’s Amazing Fantasy is a dramatic departure from his first, with deathbed advice that could ruin the reputation of the man whose original parting wisdom transformed Peter Parker into Spider-Man. Leading up to his second death, Uncle Ben has been anything but the kind, selfless soul whose memory serves as the webslinger’s moral compass, cheapening one of the best-known relationships and origin stories in popular culture. His motivations have been selfish and his conversations with a teenaged Parker, who finds himself sharing a fantasy world with Ben after being killed in his own timeline, have been bereft of their familiar overtones of responsibility and service. This scenario goes beyond merely removing the finality of Uncle Ben’s first death, but also ruins the concept of the man so beloved by Peter.

This controversial and villainous twist for Uncle Ben is enabled by his presence on the otherworldly island that Parker is transported in Amazing Fantasy alongside a young version of Black Widow, a WWII-era Captain America, and a young version of Storm. Each of these heroes from the outside world aligns with one of the island’s warring factions. As Uncle Ben is already entrenched in a clan of dragon-riders, Peter Parker naturally tries to appeal to this side via the man who served as his father figure, asking him to stop the senseless violence.

It is his response to this appeal that makes it clear Peter is interacting with a very different Uncle Ben, who throws him to the ground and prompts a dragon to unleash a horrifying blast that threatens his life. Throughout the Amazing Fantasy series of 2021, Ben Parker has shown a single-minded obsession to return to Aunt May at all costs. He has chastised Peter for becoming a superhero and he is willing to harm anyone, including his own nephew, in his mission to return to May. In Amazing Fantasy #4 by Kaare Andrews and Brian Reber, there is a brutal, yet predictable result to his servitude, as King Ren kills him so that he may rise in an army of the undead. He also leaves Ben with the bitter pill that Aunt May will also die and become a member of a rotting undead army. Ben, in his death throes, admits that anger and resentment have been guiding him, imploring Peter to abandon the guilt and sense of larger responsibility that motivates him, which is more tempting that one might think.

These actions are so unlike the Uncle Ben that has lived in the memory of Spider-Man and his fans since Peter Parker first donned the webs. It is important to remember that the famous line “with great power comes great responsibility” was uttered with no knowledge that Peter had superpowers. Instead, it was a reminder to his nephew of how one should handle everyday choices and responsibilities. The Uncle Ben of the modern Amazing Fantasy miniseries has not lived up to his own motto. His responsibility to Peter was abandoned in his nephew’s hour of need and his choice to serve untrustworthy people in a desperate quest to return to May has shown a selfishness that is shocking. Though Peter Parker made a deal with the devil to save May, he did so in a way that toed the line between selfless and selfish, which is missing here.

Without Uncle Ben’s original death, there would be no Spider-Man, as this was the tragedy that caused one of Marvel’s greatest heroes to swing into action. This glimpse of a Ben Parker who has been granted second life and falls short of his own ideals has presented Peter with an interesting choice, granting him permission to wallow in resentment. Peter Parker instead handles Uncle Ben’s death like a weight lifted from his shoulders, immediately feeling renewed and proving that Spider-Man has been irreversibly shaped by his uncle’s memory, even when it is Ben himself who mars it.