In terms of iconic catchphrases, few heroes can hold a candle to Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man. After all, “With great power comes great responsibility” is one of the most well-known saying in comic book media. But just because Peter Parker’s lifelong motto is iconic doesn’t make it infallible.
Power and responsibility are concepts that Spider-Man confronts every time he puts on the mask. But his own life lessons haven’t always played well with his fellow heroes. And when he tries to mentor Hope Summers during the Avengers vs. X-Men event, the young mutant messiah has her own opinions on Uncle Ben’s classic catchphrase.
New Avengers #27 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato tasks Spider-Man with taking the young Hope Summers under his wing and training her to take down Cyclops and the rest of the Phoenix Five. Like her father, Cable, Hope is notoriously bullish and doesn’t have the easiest time. And when Spider-Man breaks off a bit of that Uncle Ben wisdom by telling her that “with great power comes great responsibility,” she doesn’t immediately take it seriously. Hope even goes so far as to reply, “He’d say this, what? Over breakfast?” And while this may seem like a fun jab skewering the classic line, Spider-Man’s confirmation that Ben really did “sometimes” say it over breakfast totally changes its context.
Spider-Man’s Power and Peter Parker’s Responsibility
While the themes of power and responsibility are inherent to the Spider-Man identity, this interaction also highlights how integral they are to Peter Parker. Even before Parker became the world-famous wall-crawler, his uncle never stopped reiterating how important these ideals were. Ben didn’t necessarily know that Peter Parker would grow up to become Spider-Man, but he had faith that he would end up being someone important, and he wanted to make sure he was prepared to bear the weight of that responsibility.
Jokes aside, Spidey’s words clearly have an effect on Hope, but she’s not wrong to admit that such a serious moral imperative is a bit much to put on a skinny kid from Queens. After all, Ben never saw Peter become the hero he was destined to be – but he still thought that this was a lesson Peter needed to learn. Ultimately, he was correct, and the fact that it managed to get through to Peter speaks volumes to the power of the statement.
Power and responsibility may be central to Spider-Man’s mantra, but they mean just as much to Peter Parker. There’s no way that Uncle Ben could have expected his nephew to become a world-famous hero, but he had more than enough faith to know Peter would change the world somehow. “With great power comes great responsibility” may not be the lightest breakfast conversation, but for Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man, it was just what he needed to hear.
