Warning: Spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #68 Ahead!Everyone knows that Spider-Man must live by his Uncle Ben's famous ethos, or innocent people will die. But when he forsakes his principles in a moment of weakness, this time it's Aunt May who pays the ultimate price - and once again, it's Spider-Man's fault.

Forced by Dr. Doom to be Earth's champion against the Eight Scions of Cyttorak, Spider-Man's spirit has been broken by constantly dying and being resurrected endlessly throughout the challenge. In a preview for Justina Ireland and Andrea Broccardo's The Amazing Spider-Man #68, the X-Men are forced to face Cyttorak's champion instead - but Aunt May and the F.E.A.S.T. center have already become collateral damage.

The blame is laid directly at Spider-Man's feet. As one of Cytorrak's previous champions declares, "You refused the call of Cyttorak and rejected your responsibility as champion," echoing Uncle Ben's words about responsibility all those years ago.

Spider-Man's Neglect Has Killed Aunt May - Just Like Uncle Ben

The Amazing Spider-Man #68 by Justina Ireland, Andrea Broccardo, Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz

In the Eight Deaths of Spider-Man arc, Spider-Man's trials against the aforementioned Scions of Cytorrak have resulted in him dying in increasingly painful ways, only to be resurrected each time. His breaking point comes in Amazing Spider-Man #65 by Joe Kelly and CAFU, after he is forced to experience the deaths of over three million innocent lives, including those of his friends and family; this is enough to plunge Spider-Man into a deep depression, pushing away all those close to him after having fully embraced nihilism in the wake of death's indiscriminate inevitability.

It's a stark reminder that Spider-Man's selfish attitude in his early days was directly responsible for getting his uncle killed at the hands of the mugger Spider-Man refused to apprehend.

The problem, of course, is that not shirking from responsibility is the linchpin of everything Spider-Man. The phrase "with great power, there must also come great responsibility" isn't just part of Spider-Man's lore because it's something his Uncle Ben said; it's a stark reminder that Spider-Man's selfish attitude in his early days was directly responsible for getting his uncle killed at the hands of the mugger Spider-Man refused to apprehend. Although the phrase has been repeated so often that it's almost become a joke, it remains Spider-Man's defining principle: when Spider-Man abandons his responsibilities, innocent people die.

Spider-Man Must Once More Learn A Painful Lesson About Responsibility

Page from The Amazing Spider-Man #66 by Justina Ireland, Andrea Broccardo, Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega, and Joe Caramagna

The bitter, bitter irony here is that Aunt May's death in Spider-Man #68 directly mirrors how Uncle Ben died. Just as before, Spider-Man refuses to apprehend injustice; just as before, as a direct consequence, one of his parental figures dies. The fact that it's Aunt May makes this twist even more brutal, as it means that Spider-Man has now effectively killed both of the people who raised him due to neglect. While the circumstances may be different, as Ben's death was a result of arrogance and May's due to apathy, both the central principle and the blame remain the same.

It's highly unlikely that May's death will stick. This sequence may prove to be just a dream, or Spider-Man's newfound mastery of the mystic arts may allow him to bend time to undo his mistake - the possibilities are endless. However this situation plays out, though, the fact remains that Spider-Man has allowed Aunt May to die in the exact same way as Uncle Ben, all because he once more abandoned his uncle's guiding words.

The Amazing Spider-Man #68 is available Feburary 19th, 2025 from Marvel Comics.