Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben returns from the grave to deliver a vital message in these dark political times

Everyone knows Uncle Ben’s motto: “With great power comes great responsibility”. But the Spider-Verse is a big place and there’s an awful lot of Uncle Bens out there (all, sadly, doomed). Right now, one Ben Parker is lighting up social media with a very different — and extremely relevant — motto.

Over on the Marvel True Facts Instagram, attention has been drawn to Ben Parker in the Spider-Man: Noir universe, who has a moral code that’s clearly resonating strongly in these dark times of Trump and Musk: “If those in power can’t be trusted, it’s the responsibility of the people to remove them.”

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Let’s give a little context on the Noir universe. Most people will be familiar with the Nicolas Cage-voiced monochrome brooder from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but Spider-Man Noir (or Spider-Noir) debuted in 2009 in a self-titled limited run by writers David Hine and Fabrice Sapolsky, and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico.

Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, Spider-Man Noir reimagines the classic Spidey story with a political twist. Ben and May Parker are left-wing radicals fighting for workers’ rights, and Peter defines himself as a socialist working for the greater good. Uncle Ben’s community organizing sees him fall foul of shady business Norman Osborn, resulting in his kidnapping and brutal murder. From there it’s a hop, skip, and a web-swing to Peter getting Spidey-powers and honoring Uncle Ben by eradicating corruption with his fists and bullets.

Replies to the are evenly split between the political camps. Those on the left are cheerleading Ben’s anti-corruption stance, seeing clear parallels to the tenets of the United States Constitution and the current inhabitants of the White House. Meanwhile, MAGA types are spluttering mad about left-wing politics in comic books, having apparently missed the point of much of what Marvel has published over the last 60 years.

It remains to be seen how much of Spider-Man Noir‘s politics will make it into the upcoming live-action TV adaptation Spider-Noir. Intended as part of Sony’s extraordinarily wonky SSU, the show sees Nicolas Cage graduating from voicing the character to donning the costume before the cameras.

First look at Nicolas Cage Spider-Noir suit for the Spider-Man Noir. My body is ready! #SpiderMan pic.twitter.com/UKAqI7ok2Y

— John Flickinger (@theFLICKpick) October 25, 2024

The show’s synopsis says it’s about “an aging, down on his luck private investigator grapples with his past life as the only superhero in 1930s New York City”, which means we’ll see the Noir Spidey at the end of his career, though presumably there’ll be an explanation of how he received his powers and his motivation for fighting crime. The only other casting of note is Brendan Gleeson as a mob boss, presumably in a villainous role.

I’m hoping for something similar to HBO’s incredible The Penguin, throwing us into a more morally complex situation than we’re used to in comic books. However, I’m a little skeptical they’ve got the guts to include Noir Uncle Ben’s motto. Spider-Noir is being produced by Amazon MGM for Prime Video, and we doubt Jeff Bezos is eager to have his company even obliquely criticize the Trump administration. Then again, they do air The Boys, so who knows?