I feel like I have to say this because I’ve been on a Spider-Man fanfic binge where Peter tells others about or mentions Uncle Ben because he’s literally nowhere in the MCU (except for the briefcase, I know) and I’ve seen a lot of people say one thing that I just don’t understand. It’s usually fanfics about Tony or anyone learning about Ben’s death and comforting Peter, but I don’t think people understand
Ben’s death was Peter’s fault
(Btw, I’m gonna base the rest of this post off the movies. What happened in the comics is slightly different. Still Pete’s fault, but a little different)
Sure, not directly, but indirectly, YES, it was Peter’s fault Ben was shot. In the fics Ive read it’s always the people comforting Peter, saying it wasn’t his fault, and it always strikes a nerve for some odd reason. The whole point of Ben’s death was that it WAS Peter’s fault! Because Peter looked the other way, because Peter didn’t use his powers to stop the criminal, Uncle Ben died. Uncle Ben’s death is the REASON Peter Parker became the Spider-Man we know, because the person who he used to be didn’t think he was obligated to use his powers to save those who he could save.
It’s a statement in every Spider-Man movie. A statement everyone knows. It’s been changed, sneered at, made fun of, but by God, is it important:
With great power, comes great responsibility
If you have the power to stop something from happening, if you have the ability to stop evil from happening, and you don’t, and then something evil happens, it happens because of you.
That might sound familiar because that’s basically what Peter said in Civil War. That’s Peter saying that Ben’s death happened because of him. It was his fault.
“But Peter didn’t know that the criminal was gonna shoot Ben. He had every right to be mad!”
You’re right. Peter didn’t know that guy was gonna shoot Ben. And yes, he was allowed to be mad. If what happened to me happened to him then ya, I’d let the robber go too. I’d be pissed, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was still his fault. Peter didn’t know the criminal was going to shoot Ben, but he did know he was a criminal, and he knew what he was capable of because the police officer called out for him to stop the guy. He had every right to be mad, but that doesn’t mean what he did was justified. He could have taken that guy down with literally a flick of his finger. “All [he] hadda do was trip him, or hold him just for a minute!” (Amazing fantasy #15)
But he chose not to
If you take Peter out of the equation(in the movies at least), Ben wouldn’t have been out looking for Peter, and the criminal wouldn’t have shot him.
But in the comics, if Peter didn’t have a chance to stop the criminal, Uncle Ben still would have been shot. Some of the blame just wouldn’t be on Peter’s shoulders.
But Peter did have a chance to stop the criminal
He had a chance to take him down, but he didn’t. He didn’t think of the consequences. And that’s why Unlce Ben’s death is so monumental to Peter’s story. To Spider-Man.
Peter saves people because he couldn’t save Ben. He saves people because if he didn’t, if he chose to not be Spider-Man, if he chose to not use the powers he was given to stop the things he could, then their deaths would be on him. Every person he saves, every life he protects, is one less orphan or grieving parent; one less widow or widower:
One less Spider-Man or Uncle Ben
Thank you for coming to my TED talk
(Btw in the comics Peter literally says multiple times it’s his fault but I digress)