Summary
- Spider-Man's MCU origin story is darker than in the comics, with the MCU skipping Uncle Ben's death but adding more tragedy by taking everything from him.
- The MCU references Uncle Ben subtly, with his death being a key moment in Spider-Man's development as a superhero.
- Spider-Man's journey in the MCU has left him isolated and alone, with the losses of Tony Stark, Aunt May, and others shaping his superhero life.
Spider-Man has one of the most tragic and well-known origin stories in Marvel history, but the one that the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave him is way darker than the one in Marvel Comics. Spider-Man is one of the most popular and beloved heroes from Marvel Comics, and his popularity has grown even more with each movie adaptation. Spider-Man’s inclusion in the MCU has allowed Marvel to expand his story in ways that past versions couldn’t, but ing the MCU also meant making some big changes to his well-known origin story, but the MCU ended up making it way darker.
After a long wait and a couple of obstacles due to the rights to the character, Spider-Man finally made his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, where he was recruited by Tony Stark to his side of the battle. The MCU, then, skipped Spider-Man’s traditional origin story, but it still gave him one, though much later and a lot darker than the one everyone knows so well. Spider-Man has been through a lot of trauma in just six movies so far, which makes for a much more dramatic and tragic origin story than the one in Marvel Comics, and the MCU didn’t even have to show Uncle Ben’s death to make it darker.
Spider-Man's Marvel Comics Origin Killed Uncle Ben
Peter Parker’s story was already sad before he became Spider-Man, as his parents died when he was very young. Peter was raised by Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and they lived in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. By the time his story in Marvel Comics began, Peter was attending Midtown High School, where he wasn’t exactly the most popular student. Peter was socially awkward and accident-prone, so much so that one day, at a science exhibit, he was bitten by a radioactive spider. This granted him heightened athletic abilities, the agility and proportionate strength of a spider, and the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings, and with a gadget to fire adhesive webbing developed by him, Peter Parker became Spider-Man.
However, Peter didn’t exactly have a superhero mentality when he started as Spider-Man, and he became a novelty television star. One day, Peter blithely ignored a chance to stop a thief from fleeing the scene, and his indifference had tragic consequences in his life, as this criminal ended up robbing and killing Uncle Ben. Spider-Man tracked and subdued the killer, and he understood the famous line “with great power there must also come great responsibility”, which was later attributed to Uncle Ben as advice to Peter.
Uncle Ben’s death was what Peter needed to understand what being a superhero is truly about, and it’s a moment that both Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies adapted to the big screen, but the MCU left it aside and gave Spider-Man an even darker origin.
Spider-Man's MCU Origin Took Everything From Him
By the time Tom Holland’s Spider-Man made his MCU debut, he had already been fighting crime in Queens, so much so that there were videos on YouTube of him swinging between buildings, which caught the attention of Tony Stark. This allowed the MCU to skip showing the tragedy of Uncle Ben’s death, which had already been adapted twice, but that also gave Marvel the chance to add more tragedy to Spider-Man’s origin, and it did so by taking everything from him.
Everyone Who Had To Die For Spider-Man's MCU Origin
The MCU didn’t show Uncle Ben’s death (nor has it shown him at all, not even in photos), but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t exist in this universe. Ben Parker died sometime before Spider-Man’s MCU debut, and though he has never been mentioned, there have been subtle references to him, such as May wearing her wedding ring around her neck and Peter using a briefcase with his uncle’s initials in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Even though it wasn’t shown, Uncle Ben’s death was key in Spider-Man’s development as a superhero, but that was only the first of more tragedies that would further shape Peter’s superhero persona.
After meeting in Civil War, Tony Stark became Peter’s mentor, friend, and father figure, providing him with high-tech suits and gadgets and guiding him through his superhero journey. Unfortunately, Tony Stark died in Avengers: Endgame after sacrificing himself to save the universe, and it took Peter a long time to process Tony’s death. Spider-Man went through another, bigger tragedy in Spider-Man: No Way Home when Aunt May died after being stabbed by Green Goblin with the Goblin Glider and died in Peter’s arms.
Spider-Man's MCU Origin Left Him Isolated & Alone
All of the above losses, along with other events in his MCU history so far, have left Spider-Man isolated and alone, and thus have been key in the development of Peter’s superhero life. By the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter has already had his first crush (Liz Toomes) move across the country after her father (Adrian Toomes a.k.a. Vulture) turned out to be a villain, was deceived, framed, and exposed by Quentin Beck/Mysterio, was targeted by right-wing new media, and now absolutely no one re him – not even his girlfriend (MJ), best friend (Ned Leeds), or Happy Hogan, the only person who truly understood his loss as he also lost Tony and Aunt May.
Tony’s death left Spider-Man vulnerable to Mysterio’s deceit but showed him that he can be a hero on his own and doesn’t need to live up to anyone’s legacy. May’s death triggered a darker side of Peter, but now that he’s completely alone, it’s to be seen how this will shape Spider-Man and his future actions in the MCU – and, hopefully, he won’t have to go through any more losses.
