One of the oldest fan-casting ideas for the MCU version of Spider-Man is the concept of Tobey Maguire playing Uncle Ben. Given that Aunt May has been aged down with Marisa Tomei, many people thought it would be great to have the original cinematic web-slinger return to play Peter Parker’s beloved father figure this time around. As it happens, though, Marvel has so far decided to eliminate the Uncle Ben character completely. But it’s possible that he could appear in the films to come.
You can’t have missed all the talk recently pointing to Maguire and Andrew Garfield potentially returning as their Spideys for a live-action Spider-Verse team-up with Tom Holland. Something that’s being discussed is that the actors could come back for multiple appearances. And in the case of Maguire, insider Daniel Richtman has now shared an intriguing new detail on his Patreon page, telling us that Sony may also want the actor to portray Holland’s Uncle Ben as well.
He claims that Maguire being the MCU’s take on the character will be addressed as soon as he turns up as the Raimi-verse Spidey. Apparently, when Holland’s Peter Parker meets him, he’ll at first assume it’s his uncle and will call him Ben, before discovering that it’s actually an alternate version of himself from a different universe. Presumably, this would then leave the door open for Maguire to turn up for flashbacks as Ben.
“They want Tobey to also play Uncle Ben, meaning when Tom sees Tobey’s version of Peter Parker, he’ll think he’s Ben at first and call him that,” says Richtman.
If this did happen, Holland himself would no doubt love it, as he’s previously talked about how he thinks Maguire should play his Uncle Ben. It would also be in keeping with the meta casting choices in the MCU Spider-Man movies so far – Donald Glover as Miles Morales’ uncle, for instance, after he once campaigned to play Miles. But remember, this is just a rumor for now and there’s no confirmation that Tobey Maguire has even signed on yet to return to the world of Marvel.
In any case, as Spider-Man 3 continues principal photography, before its arrival in theaters next December, expect more news to come pouring in.
