It's an integral part of Spider-Man's origin. Peter Parker selfishly opts not to stop a criminal, and that crook later shoots and kills the boy's beloved Uncle Ben. Through that difficult ordeal, Peter learns that with great power comes great responsibility. But what about this NEW Spider-Man, being played by Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? He has an Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), but no Uncle Ben. Spider-Man: Homecoming skips the normal origin beats of Peter's journey, starting at a moment in Spidey's past where he already has powers, and has been using them for a short amount of time. But when I got time with Marvel President Kevin Feige, I asked him if this new Peter is responsible for Ben's death, and he told me:
The truth is, we want audiences to bring their own... let them fill in those blanks right now. They've seen the other films. They've read comics. They can fill that in. That was a very purposeful decision we made to not retread that ground. There are little things that are said here and there that people can read into. What the specific facts are in the past, we don't... we haven't revealed yet.
Marvel President Kevin Feige and Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal sat with CinemaBlend at a recent press event in New York City for Spider-Man: Homecoming. And we spoke about the various changes and alterations they are making to Spidey now that he's swinging into the MCU. For example, Homecoming is a very grounded Spidey adventure, being set in Queens and the outer boroughs of New York, never setting foot in Manhattan, where Spidey ruled in the five previous Sony movies. And we don't have to sit through his origin again. Peter has powers when this movie starts. His history is his history, and we jump from there.
What I like about that Kevin Feige's answer is that they may save that reveal for a later story point. We know that Spider-Man: Homecoming will spin off a Spidey sequel, due in theaters in July 2019. And this will be the first movie in what might be known as Marvel's Phase Four.
But Homecoming, already, feels more deeply personal and connected to Peter Parker than the previous five Spidey movies. And I can see Marvel making a connection to Ben in an MCU movie down the road. For the moment, that story gap is being left up to the audience to decide. Like, how we all decided that little boy from Iron Man 2 was really Peter Parker this whole time.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theaters on July 7. For more information on all of the Upcoming Marvel Movies, click those words.
