Uncle Ben - Definition and Overview

Benjamin "Uncle Ben" Parker is a fictional supporting character in the Marvel Universe published by Marvel Comics and an important figure in the Spider-Man titles.

He and his wife, May, took in their nephew, Peter, after the death of his parents and raised him well.

Ben was eventually murdered by a criminal that turned out to have encountered Peter previously, but Peter did not bother to stop him when he had the chance. Peter considered himself responsible for Uncle Ben's death and as a result, resolved to fight crime as a superhero as part of his vow to always take his responsibilities seriously. It was from Uncle Ben that Peter heard what became the famous Spider-man motto: "with great power, comes great responsibility".

In the successful film adaptation released in 2002, Uncle Ben was played by Cliff Robertson.

Uncle Ben was also the name of a legendary, Texas-based, African-American rice-grower, who became a by-word for good-quality rice, and was immortalised in the Mars food brand Uncle Ben's.