Martin Sheen has had a long and illustrious screen career, for which he has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, three Emmy Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He is perhaps best known for his memorable performances as Captain Benjamin L. Willard in Apocalypse now and President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet at The west wingalthough there are many more to his credit. In fact, there’s one role he didn’t realize would be so big in his long list of acting credits, and that was that of Ben Parker, aka Uncle Ben, in The Amazing Spider-Man opposite Andrew Garfield’s titular webslinger.
During a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s show Happy Sad Confused podcast, Sheen was asked about his experience on 2012 The Amazing Spider-Manespecially if he realized how iconic his character was for generations of young men and women. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. He claimed that he had no idea how important Uncle Ben was to comic book fans until he witnessed the public reaction to his character. It wasn’t until people “laughed and applauded” him in this role years later that he realized even more that his character had had a lasting impact on moviegoers. He recalled:
“I had no idea. I don’t see a lot of big tentpole movies. I had no idea. I had never seen Spiderman. I have never seen Superman. Forgive me. I saw Star Wars about six or eight years ago. I love theater and the actors who play it. The fantastic thing that never made a dent in me. A few years ago, I was giving the commencement speech at a university here in Los Angeles, and the person who introduced me very graciously talked about everything you’re talking about; West wing And Badlands And Apocalypse now. And only when he arrived Spiderman that the audience laughed and applauded [for] Uncle Ben. Oh my God, I thought, “What kind of universe do we live in?” »
Uncle Ben is crucial to Spider-Man
Uncle Ben is a crucial character in the Spiderman mythology, as it serves as a strong moral compass for Peter Parker, even in his superhero life. Sheen is one of several actors who brought the character to the screen; Cliff Robertson played him in the Sam Raimi film. Spiderman trilogy and Adam Scott played a younger version of the character in last year’s trilogy. Madame Webnot to mention the multiple voice actors who have taken on the role over the years. Sheen’s version of the character, like many other iterations, met an untimely fate in The Amazing Spider-Manbut his performance has endured with fans of the film.
In the MCU, the seriousness of Uncle Ben’s character is implied by minor references, although he does not make a physical appearance (in flashbacks or otherwise) in Tom Holland. Spiderman movies. The fourth film, Spider-Man: A Whole New Dayis scheduled to release on July 31, 2026, as part of Phase 6 of the MCU. It has been described as a soft reboot for Dutchman Peter Parker and his alter ego, opening a more emotionally resonant and grounded chapter for the superhero – one led by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton. Some fans have wondered whether “New Beginnings” might lend itself to Uncle Ben appearing in a flashback scene or, at least, a more explicit mention in the storyline, especially since it seems Parker may need a guiding force more than ever in the upcoming film.
- Release date
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July 3, 2012
- Runtime
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136 minutes
- Director
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Marc Webb
- Writers
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Alvin Sargent, James Vanderbilt, Steve Kloves, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
- Producers
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Avi Arad, Laura Ziskin, Matt Tolmach
