Avengers Directors Have A Controversial Take On Spider-Man’s MCU Origin Story – SlashFilm

Exactly 10 years ago, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker officially made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in “Captain America: Civil War” and all was right once again among comic book fans. Here was the perfect opportunity to hit the reset button for the franchise’s flagship character and get back to his Spider-Man roots: a high-schooler living in a world bursting with superheroes who unabashedly lives by the code of “With great power comes great responsibility.” By most accounts, it was a pitch-perfect arrival.

But a funny thing happened on the way to that momentous meeting with Tony Stark, which changed the course of the MCU forever. Over the years, fans slowly began to raise doubts about a key missing element in Spidey’s origin — namely, any mention whatsoever of a certain Uncle Ben and his tragic death that motivates Peter to use his powers for good. In “Civil War,” this is vaguely alluded to and quickly brushed away; then, Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May ended up taking on the Uncle Ben role in the “Spider-Man trilogy that followed, oddly enough. Whatever the case may be, it would appear that Peter’s guilt over Uncle Ben’s death — traditionally the most important part of his origin — is a non-factor in the MCU.

A decade later, one of the directors behind “Civil War” is finally addressing why this is the case. In an interview with CBR, Joe Russo explained, “Spider-Man was one of my favorite characters growing up, if not my favorite. And what I related to was this idea of a kid with incredible responsibility. And I think you could manifest that responsibility through accidental death. And feeling the pressure, and the sense of loss in your life in a way that would keep the spirit that we wanted.”

There’s a reason why Spider-Man fans remain the most passionate circle of Marvel’s overall audience. They know that the ol’ Parker luck isn’t just an empty maxim, but the character’s most defining trait. Despite boasting some of the coolest powers in the entire legendarium, a revolving door of impossibly good-looking girlfriends, and the thrill of being New York City’s quintessential superhero on top of it all (with respect to our dour, demon-horned buddy Daredevil in Hell’s Kitchen), nobody’s ever happy until Peter Parker is absolutely miserable.

That’s something that the Russo Brothers, who have “Avengers: Doomsday” next on their docket, apparently decided to do away with in “Captain America: Civil War.” While the upcoming “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” sure seems to be putting poor Peter through the wringer, the “Civil War” creative team opted for a softer landing spot for his MCU debut. By his own account, Joe Russo admitted that he and his brother Anthony abide by a bit of head canon that’s certain to prove controversial among the diehards. According to the director, a darker and more tragic backstory (even one only accounting for Peter’s inner turmoil) simply wouldn’t have fit their version of the character:

“[But] what Tom Holland is as an actor, if [Peter] blamed himself for his Uncle Ben’s death, I think he becomes a very different character. So, in our minds, no, he wasn’t responsible for Uncle Ben’s death. That would have been a different interpretation. A more intense interpretation of the character.”

While I tend to give filmmakers tons of leeway in how they choose to interpret fictional characters, this one’s a head-scratcher. I prefer my Spidey to be wracked with guilt, thank you very much. Do you agree?