MCU Spider-Man Movie Fail: Auntie Might Be Worse Than Uncle Ben
Aunt May accompanied Peter in the MCU's Spider-Man movies, but the universe let her down even worse than the absent Uncle Ben -- here's why and how.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe brought in new versions of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Peter Parker (Tom Holland), leaving Uncle Ben out, but the MCU's Spider-Man movies finally let May Aunt is more of a failure than Uncle Ben. After a long wait, Spider-Man finally joins the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, and now three solo adventures have begun, the most recent not only of the MCU's multiverse but of Peter's personal life and his journey as a superhero have had a huge impact.
"Spider-Man: No Return" sees Peter Parker and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) inadvertently opening the door to the multiverse while he battles villains from past Spider-Man movies brought tragedy to his life. During a fight with the Green Goblin (William Dafoe), who stabbed May with the Goblin Gilder and deployed a pumpkin bomb before leaving, but the first hit May was seriously injured. Peter saw Aunt May die, and while that was a truly heartbreaking moment, it continued the poor treatment of Aunt May by the MCU, disappointing her even worse than Uncle Ben.
How The MCU's Spider-Man Failed Uncle Ben
MCU decides to approach Spider-Man story differently Sam Raimi and Mark Webber starred in the Spider-Man trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man films, respectively. Instead of exploring the character's origin story and showing him being bitten by a spider, after which he gained superhuman strength and spider-like abilities, the MCU introduced a Peter who was already familiar with his new powers and decided to become a vigilante Parker/Superhero. As a result, the MCU skipped one of the most tragic parts of Peter's story, which is featured in both Remy's and Webber's universes: the death of Uncle Ben, a pivotal moment in Peter's journey as Spider-Man.
Not only does Uncle Ben not appear in the MCU's Spider-Man movies (not even in photos), but he's never mentioned. The closest reference to Uncle Ben's existence is an Easter egg in Spider-Man: Far From Home, in which Peter is seen packing a suitcase with the initials "BFP," which stands for "Benjamin Franklin Parker". As a result, nothing is known about Uncle Ben other than the obvious — he married May at some point and they raised Peter together — though the MCU has understandably chosen to stay away from Showing Uncle Ben's death, the MCU's avoidance of mentioning him is unfair to the character, his legacy, and his role in Spider-Man's journey. To make matters worse, "Homeless" has a dying Aunt May delivering Uncle Ben's famous "with great power comes great responsibility" line, leaving him completely out of the loop.
No Way Home Made The MCU's Aunt May Failure Worse Than Uncle Ben
Even though Uncle Ben isn't featured or mentioned in the MCU's Spider-Man movies, that doesn't mean they haven't let Aunt May down, and her role in the Spider-Man stories is a bigger failure than ignoring Uncle Ben. Aunt May, who doesn't play a major role in the MCU, accidentally learns that her nephew is Spider-Man because she saw him in a Spider-Man suit in his room. The interaction between May and Peter was featured but not really explored in Spider-Man: Homecoming, after which her role was greatly reduced to almost no cameos, and in Avengers: Endgame. At the end of The War, Peter accompanies Peter to Tony Stark's funeral, then becomes a member of the Salvation Army while also becoming the love object of Happy Hogan.
No Way Home actually gave May a bigger role, showing her defense after Peter's revelation identity and do everything possible to keep him safe. Once the gates of the multiverse were opened, Peter had to deal with all the villains from other universes, and May helped her nephew while he was researching the cure for the bad guys, and she even stepped up to avoid the cure's destruction and get ready to fight the Green Goblin to save her nephew. It all ended abruptly with her death, and apparently, one movie wasn't enough to make up for the MCU's past wrongs with Aunt May. The biggest mistake was not exploring her relationship with Peter (as Remy did with May's version, having her tell the story of her past and showing her struggles after Ben's death) and just treating her as Make jokes, be happy as a romantic interest, and just pass off as "cool, young auntie."
Spider-Man 4 Will Struggle To Fix Its Aunt May & Uncle Ben Mistakes
At the end of Spider-Man: No Return, Peter is completely alone, as the solution to his multiverse chaos is a spell that makes everyone forget about him. Peter was last seen restarting in a new (very small) apartment and making a new suit while Missing his friends and of course Aunt May. May's death will certainly help shape Peter's journey in Spider-Man 4, where she will end up taking on the role of Uncle Ben in past Spider-Man films, her last words and her sacrifices propelling Spider-Man to be a better hero . However, this won't fix the MCU's May and Ben Uncle mistakes, as it can no longer explore their relationship with Peter and develop their characters - in Ben Uncle's case, May is now gone too, and the MCU never mentions He, now begins to admit that his existence is meaningless.
