‘The Amazing Spider-Man’s Martin Sheen Reflects on Playing Uncle Ben

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Martin Sheen is a highly respected actor with a career spanning decades, earning him a Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards, as well as four Screen Actors Guild Awards. While he’s famous for roles like Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now and President Bartlet in The West Wing, he also fondly remembers playing Uncle Ben in The Amazing Spider-Man alongside Andrew Garfield – a role that unexpectedly became particularly meaningful to him given his many other achievements.

I was listening to Josh Horowitz’s podcast, Happy Sad Confused, and they were talking to Martin Sheen about The Amazing Spider-Man from 2012. They asked him if he understood how much his character, Uncle Ben, meant to people – you know, with that whole ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ thing. He said he honestly had no clue how important Uncle Ben was to comic book fans until he started seeing how audiences reacted to the movie. It wasn’t really until years later, when people would laugh and applaud him for playing the role, that it really hit him just how much of an impact that character had on people.

I honestly had no idea what people were talking about. I don’t really watch big blockbuster movies. I’d never seen Spider-Man or Superman, so please excuse my ignorance! I saw Star Wars a long time ago, maybe six or eight years ago. I much prefer serious dramas and movies focused on acting. Fantasy films just haven’t ever really appealed to me. A couple of years ago, I was speaking at a university graduation in Los Angeles, and the person introducing me mentioned all sorts of things – like West Wing, Badlands, and Apocalypse Now. But the audience really reacted when he mentioned Spider-Man, cheering for Uncle Ben. It was then I realized just how different my perspective was from everyone else’s, and I thought, ‘Wow, what kind of world is this?’

Uncle Ben Is Crucial to Spider-Man


Sony Pictures Releasing

Uncle Ben is a central figure in the Spider-Man story, providing Peter Parker with a strong sense of right and wrong, even when he’s fighting crime as a superhero. Several actors have played Uncle Ben, including Cliff Robertson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and Adam Scott in the recent Madame Web film, alongside many voice actors over the years. While Sheen’s portrayal, like others, ended tragically in The Amazing Spider-Man, his performance resonated with fans.

Although Uncle Ben is a crucial figure in Spider-Man’s story, he hasn’t actually appeared in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies, even in flashbacks. The next film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, coming out July 31, 2026, as part of Phase 6 of the MCU, will essentially be a fresh start for Holland’s Peter Parker. It aims for a more emotionally powerful and realistic portrayal of the hero, and will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Because of this new beginning, many fans are hoping Uncle Ben might finally appear in a flashback or be directly referenced in the story, as Peter Parker seems to need guidance more than ever.

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2025-11-02 14:47