Uncle Ben

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 have encountered Peter previously, but Peter did not bother 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.

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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.