Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: The Easter Egg That Has Me Questioning Uncle Ben’s Fate

Disney Plus’ new animated series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, takes a bold approach to Peter Parker’s backstory. For one, his spider powers originated from a mysterious interdimensional spider that appeared from a portal conjured by Doctor Strange. Another significant change is his high school BFF, Nico Minoru, a goth queen. And while this version of Peter Parker is slightly MCU adjacent, with a super-rich mentor figure to finance his spider-activities, it’s Norman Osborn instead of Tony Stark.

Theories Abound

With these creative liberties, the possibilities are endless. And I have one big theory that might just shake the foundations of the Spider-Man story: I don’t think Uncle Ben is dead.

Uncle Ben’s Mysterious Disappearance

In the typical Spider-Man narrative, Uncle Ben’s death serves as a catalyst for Peter’s journey. However, in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, his absence is hinted at before Peter gets bitten by the spider. Moreover, in the first two episodes, no one explicitly states that Uncle Ben is dead. May and Peter simply mention that he’s “not around.” This ambiguity has me wondering why the showrunners chose not to explicitly confirm his demise.

The Usual Uncle Ben Storyline

We’ve seen Uncle Ben die many times in movies and TV shows, always to illustrate Peter’s moral awakening. It’s a tired trope, and I’m not convinced we need to see it again. His absence, however, is jarring, especially when everyone’s talking around what happened to him. I get that it would be clunky for Peter to mention his uncle’s death in detail, but the deliberate ambiguity is puzzling.

Theories Galore

So, what happened to Uncle Ben? Did he leave May? Is he in a secret family in the New Jersey suburbs? Was he kidnapped or disappeared in a super-powered incident? Perhaps he’s in jail or got a job that relocated him to a different borough. The possibilities are endless, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for any further Ben mentions that confirm or deny my theory.

Conclusion

We’re only two episodes into the show, but the vagueness around Uncle Ben has me hooked. I’ll be eagerly waiting to see how this mystery unfolds. In the meantime, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is now streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday.