Easily one of the best parts of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben – while Cliff Robertson certainly made the part his own in Sam Raimi‘s rendition of the character, Sheen took the role in a different direction and brought the tougher, somewhat-fumbling sort of love that a man might give when suddenly thrust into the role of a father.
We all know that part of this reboot’s whole deal is the “Untold Story,” something that was much advertised but subsequently and unceremoniously dropped for much of the final product. The sequel looks all set to finally explore that further with the more formal inclusion of the Osborn family (and thereby Oscorp/the work of Peter Parker’s father), but a point of note is that Aunt May and Uncle Ben seemed to know a great deal more than they let on al throughout THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
And now it appears possible that some of that knowledge might come to light in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, as Sheen recently revealed that “They’ve called me back, I don’t know what the part is gonna be, but I’m going to be ‘Uncle Ben’ once again in Spider-Man next year. We shoot it in February.” It’s possible that the part is merely a flashback to his death, but considering Sheen’s skill I’m hoping that it’s something more. At the end of the day though, the simple fact of the matter is that I was sorry to see Sheen go. And I’m happy to have him back, whatever the reason.
That being said, we may not know for a (comparatively) long while yet – THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 isn’t scheduled to hit cinemas until May 2nd, 2014.