Although he was killed in the very same comic where the character made his debut, Uncle Ben remains to this day one of the most iconic comic book characters in Marvel's long and storied history. As the motivation for Peter Parker to become a heroic and responsible superhero, Ben's legacy remains strong at the heart of Marvel comics.
Since his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15, there have been many other alternate reality versions of Uncle Ben's character. Some of these new Uncle Ben's were amazing, while others were simply no good. Here are the five best versions of the Uncle Ben character and the five worst.
10 Best: Raimi Trilogy Uncle Ben
Cliff Robertson portrayed the classic Spidey character in Raimi's series of films. The late Robertson did an absolutely fantastic job of portraying the character. His performance will live on for many more generations to see, and this version of Uncle Ben captured the heart and soul of the original character.
The filmmakers behind the very first Spider-Man movie understood how important this would be in shaping Peter Parker's arc over the course of his trilogy of films.
9 Worst: Amazing Spider-Man Uncle Ben
After Sony decided to cancel the fourth installment to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film franchise, they quickly turned around and booted up a new Spidey franchise starring Andrew Garfield. Dubbed The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, these new movies gave audiences a whole new Uncle Ben.
Martin Sheen was by no means a bad Uncle Ben. Compared to Cliff Robertson, however, this new character was certainly lacking. It didn't help that he wasn't allowed to say the character's signature catchphrase out of the studio's fear that that would make him too much like the Raimi Ben.
8 Best: Widower Ben
In a very interesting What If? comic, it was actually Aunt May that got killed by the robber rather than Uncle Ben. This version of Peter Parker did not adjust as well as his mainstream universe counterpart.
Thanks to some stern talking to by this realities Uncle Ben, however, Peter was set straight and put on the path to become a great hero. This Ben knew Peter's identity and supported his crimefighting career in every way that Ben possibly could.
7 Worst: MCU Uncle Ben
In the MCU, audiences have yet to see any sort of flashbacks showing what this version of Uncle Ben was like. That being the case, the universe has nonetheless ruined the traditional, powerful purpose that the character usually serves.
Uncle Ben was meant to be the reason that Peter Parker decided to take up the responsibility of being a morally upstanding superhero. In the MCU, it seems as though this purpose was filled instead by Tony Stark after his sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame.
6 Best: Spider-Ben
In yet another alternate universe, Uncle Ben accompanied Peter on the field trip, where he was meant to be bitten by the radioactive spider. Instead, this time it was Uncle Ben that got bitten.
This Ben then became his reality's Spider-Man. Eventually, after a nuclear disaster, Ben spent the next few years in a bunker mourning the loss of his family. During the Spider-Verse event, he was summoned by the inspirational words of several alternate reality Spider-Men and took up the mantle in the name of all that is good once again.
5 Worst: The Parker Spider-Men
After a robber shot this particular Ben outside of a convenience store, this reality's Peter Parker took it upon himself to save his uncle. Just like in the mainstream, 616-universe, this Peter had already gained his spider-powers.
Through a blood-transfusion, Peter saved his uncle's life. In addition to that, he also gave his powers to Ben. The two then started fighting crime as a duo of Spider-Men, although both of them are much more violent and ruthless than traditional versions of the Spider-Man character, which is the main reason why this Uncle Ben is one of the worst.
4 Best: Ultimate Uncle Ben
In the Ultimate universe, many traditional tropes of mainstream Marvel characters were flipped on their heads. One of these was Uncle Ben. The Ultimate comics treated the character much differently, but in many ways just as effectively.
This Uncle Ben had the long hair of a hippy from the '60s. As it turns out, that's exactly what Ben was before finding his May and settling down. In the Ultimate comics, readers had a chance to get to know this Ben a little better before his death, making that demise all the sadder.
3 Worst: Serial Killer Accomplice
In the universe where Spider-Man eventually becomes known as the Ghost-Spider, Uncle Ben was still alive to aid his nephew in his crime-fighting career. They both shared the goal of protecting their universe, but the methods these two used in order to do so were quite despicable.
This duo lured alternate reality Spider-Men into their universe and murdered them so that this Spider-Man could absorb their powers. The Ben of this universe used the twisted phrase "with great power, son, comes a responsibility to stay powerful."
2 Best: 616
Nothing beats the tried and true original Ben Parker. The one that started it all, it is thanks to this Uncle Ben's comic book history that Spider-Man has remained one of the most iconic superheroes of all time to this day.
The origin story of Spider-Man, Amazing Fantasy #15, is, without a doubt, one of the greatest comic book/ superhero origin stories of all time. Much of that is due to this amazing and truly iconic paternal character. He was one of Stan Lee's greatest creations.
1 Worst: Uncle Ted
One of the vilest versions of Uncle Ben came in the form of Uncle Ted. In an alternate universe where Peter Parnel was the name of the kid bitten by the spider, this Peter's life didn't seem as nice as Parker's.
This Peter was beaten and abused by his uncle, Theodore Parnel. Instead of turning into a Spider-Man, Peter Parnel turned into a spider creature that fed on his human prey, starting with Uncle Ted himself.