Since it had already been told on the big screen twice before, the MCU’s Spider-Man story skipped his origin story. So, audiences never got to see Tom Holland’s Peter Parker get bitten by a radioactive spider, discover his powers, or connect with Uncle Ben before his untimely ing. The MCU might not have its own version of Uncle Ben, but Spidey has been guided by an abundance of mentors and father figures in his place.
Some of these mentors have provided the that Peter needed, like Aunt May and Tony Stark, while others have been short with him, like Talos and Stephen Strange, or even deceitful and manipulative, like Mysterio. Holland’s Spider-Man has even been mentored by two multiversal variants of himself, played by a returning Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Mysterio
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mysterio only acts as a mentor to Peter in order to get what he wants. He manipulates Peter with lies, claiming to be a superhero from another universe. In a twist that everyone saw coming, the iconic villain turns out to be the villain of the movie. This version of Quentin Beck is a disgruntled ex-Stark Industries employee who wants revenge against his late former boss.
He pretends to be a caring father figure as part of his master plan to lure Peter into trusting him with the E.D.I.T.H. tech. Mysterio’s reign of terror doesn’t even end with his death, as he reveals Spidey’s secret identity to the world from beyond the grave. He’s easily the worst mentor Spidey had in the MCU.
Talos (As Nick Fury)
Nick Fury seemingly replaced Tony Stark as Peter’s Avenger-connected father figure in Far From Home, but his uncharacteristic behavior turned out to be a result of Fury not really being Fury. The post-credits scene reveals that Fury has been Talos in disguise the whole time. Throughout the movie, the disguised Talos is hilariously short with Spidey: “B***h, please, you’ve been to space!”
The Skrull isn’t really interested in being a mentor; he just wants to use Spidey for his superpowers. He ignores Peter’s wishes to take a summer off from being a superhero and reroutes his school trip to deal with the phony threat posed by the Elementals.
Stephen Strange
After going into space and fighting Thanos by his side, Peter Parker forged a powerful bond with Stephen Strange. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, when his secret identity is revealed to the world, Peter asks Strange to erase everyone’s memories of his existence. Strange wasn’t the best mentor to Peter – he could’ve explained the spell a little better – but he always had Peter’s best interests at heart.
There’s plenty of tension between the two when the spell goes horribly wrong, but it culminates in a heartwarming farewell when Spidey steps up and accepts responsibility. In a callback to an earlier scene, Strange tells Peter, “Call me Stephen.”
Happy Hogan
At the beginning of Spidey’s MCU tenure, Happy Hogan was the middleman between Peter and Tony. Peter left Happy constant voicemails about his crimefighting antics, wondering when he’d be called up for his next Avengers mission. Happy was initially irritated by Peter, understandably. But over the years, Happy evolved into one of Spidey’s most trusted confidants. He was still grumpy, but he grew to genuinely care about Peter.
Even after Strange’s spell brainwashed Happy to forget who Peter is, he kept dispensing valuable advice. At Aunt May’s graveside, Happy bumps into Peter (who he doesn’t recognize) and inadvertently inspires him to keep up his vigilante crusade as Spider-Man.
Peter-Three
The final act of Spider-Man: No Way Home put a unique twist on the Marvel mentor formula, as Spidey is mentored by two multiversal variants of himself. When Ned and MJ are trying to find Peter, they accidentally open portals to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s familiar Spider-Men. With more crimefighting experience than Holland’s Spidey, Peter-Two and Peter-Three are able to offer timely wisdom to their younger counterpart.
While Peter-Two is a slightly better mentor, reiterating Uncle Ben’s dying words and preventing Holland’s Spider-Man from becoming a killer, Peter-Three shares the vital lessons he learned from his darkest days. After failing to save Gwen Stacy, he got rageful and stopped pulling his punches, and he doesn’t want to see Peter-One go down the same path.
Tony Stark
From the moment he recruited Spidey to help out in the battle over the Sokovia Accords, Tony Stark was essentially the Uncle Ben of the MCU. In lieu of Ben having a role in the MCU, Tony was the father figure whose untimely death inspired Peter to step up, accept the great responsibility that came with his great power, and become a true hero.
Tony taking Ben’s place as Peter’s father figure was somewhat controversial among diehard Marvel fans – with some dubbing the MCU’s Spidey “Iron Lad” – but this father-son relationship worked beautifully within the sprawling ensemble of this cinematic universe.
Peter-Two
Peter-Three provides Peter-One with the wisdom he gained from allowing Gwen’s death to turn him into an antihero, but Peter-Two is the best mentor in No Way Home. When an enraged Peter-One is mercilessly beating the Green Goblin in retaliation for killing Aunt May, he picks up the Goblin’s glider, ready to impale him with it. Just as Peter-One is about to kill the Goblin, Peter-Two jumps in and grabs the glider out of his hands.
With nothing more than a poignant look, Peter-Two saves Peter-One from making the worst mistake of his life. If he hadn’t stepped in, Spidey would’ve ed the point of no return and become a murderer, giving the Goblin exactly what he wanted.
Aunt May
Peter Parker’s greatest mentor across all Spider-Man media is Aunt May, who raised Peter after his parents died (and subsequently after his uncle, her husband, also died). The version of May played by Marisa Tomei in the MCU is both wholly unique, defined by her hilariously awkward mom jokes (“Saltwater or fresh? Because you’re an octopus...”), and true to her warm, caring personality from the comics.
Aunt May is one of the most loving mothers in all of superhero comics and the MCU brought that maternal love to life. In her heartbreaking final moments, Tomei’s May es on Uncle Ben’s dying wisdom to Holland’s Spidey, and even imparted some wise words of her own: “When you help someone, you help everyone.”
