Spider-Man: No Way Home screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommer discussed Uncle Ben’s involvement in the MCU after some of the film’s reveals. Spoilers for No Way Home below.
During the final act of No Way Home, we finally see the famous line “with great power comes great responsibility”, but this time spoken by Aunt May instead of Uncle Ben. This has Marvel fans wondering if this universe even has an Uncle Ben, because all we’ve really seen of him are his initials on a suitcase in Far From Home.
The screenwriters of No Way Home Chris McKenna and Erik Sommer spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on some of the twists and turns of No Way Home, including the scene with Aunt May. When asked about it, the two end up discussing how Uncle Ben factors in Peter’s life compared to other versions of the character.
Sommers said, “This iteration of Spider-Man didn’t start out telling the story of losing Uncle Ben. We started in a different place with Peter. Those words are so tied to Uncle Ben. that there didn’t seem to be a natural reason. We didn’t even necessarily think “Oh, we have to do it in this one”. As the story started to develop, and we got to places with May, we realized, ‘It’s going to be Peter’s Uncle Ben’, and the words are going to come out.”
McKenna continued, “You jump over it, but it leaves so many questions and gaps. Some people ask, ‘Oh, is Uncle Ben dead? Was he guilty? Do we lose that gravity as part of this character? I think that’s something we’ve always discussed. “What’s wrong with his Uncle Ben? Is it full parity – is it one for one? Is it absolutely the same?” We started thinking, “Well, maybe he’s not. Maybe his mentor is May and she instilled this thing in him.”
The main takeaway from Sommers and McKenna is that “I hope you start to see that this is a different Peter Parker. They are all different. They have different backgrounds. They had different backgrounds”.
Read more
About the Author