One of the many aspects that made Spider-Man: Homecoming so refreshing was that it strayed away from the origin story millions of fans have already seen portrayed on the big screen twice. We already know about how Peter Parker was bitten by a spider that gave him special abilities and we also know about how the tragic death of Uncle Ben motivates him to be the hero he’s destined to be.
The character of Ben Parker has been portrayed by two legendary actors. In the Sam Raimi trilogy, Academy Award-winner Cliff Robertson portrayed Uncle Ben to Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker. In Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, Martin Sheen was in the same role to Andrew Garfield’s version of the webhead.
As for Tom Holland, when we first meet Peter in Captain America: Civil War, he already had his powers for six months prior to when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) recruits him. We see that Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is his sole guardian, with Uncle Ben obviously absent.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, there is no direct mention to Uncle Ben but his death is hinted at when Peter alerts Ned (Jacob Batalon) that Aunt May should not know about Peter’s secret given that she has been through a lot and her knowing his secret would add more stress to her life.
Holland recently spoke to BBC Radio 1 to promote the film. During the interview, he expresses that he would like to see one of his Spidey predecessors play Uncle Ben – perhaps in flashbacks:
“I kinda want Tobey Maguire to play Uncle Ben, I think that’d be super funny, but I don’t think he’ll do it.”
As of the publishing of this article, Maguire is 42 while Tomei is 52. Holland’s Peter is 15 in the film, and if Maguire were to play Uncle Ben his age would work well with that idea.
The idea of Maguire stepping into the same shoes as Robertson and Sheen would be hilarious, and would also serve as a nice tribute to his iteration of the webhead. But at the same time, Sony and Marvel are definitely trying to leave Maguire and Garfield’s take on the character behind in favor of the new direction for Holland.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is in theaters now.
Source: BBC Radio 1
