Ben Parker

Spider-Man
In the Spider-Man film series, Ben Parker is played by Oscar-winner Cliff Robertson and his character remains relatively faithful to the comics, including his being shot by a criminal his nephew Peter failed to stop. (Although in the comics he was shot trying to defend May during a break in at their house and in the film he was shot during a carjacking). He appeared in the first film as a father figure for Peter. The amiable Uncle Ben is fired from his job as chief electrician for 35 years and worries about his nephew's strange behavior. His words of wisdom, "With great power comes great responsibility," inspires Peter to become Spider-Man. But Peter lashes out at him during this speech, telling him to stop acting like his father. Later that night, Ben is believed shot by the burglar whom Peter refused to stop when cheated out of his money. Peter and his aunt greatly mourn his passing. By the end of the film, Peter has accepted Ben as the father figure of his childhood.

Spider-Man 2
The second film features a sequence where Peter contemplates giving up his Spider-Man identity to Uncle Ben who, in the flashback, is a physical representation of the entity and ideology of Spider-Man, encouraging Peter to continue on as a superhero.

Spider-Man 3
Robertson returns in a flashback scene (as well as a dream sequence) in the third film. In the film, Captain George Stacy tells Peter and Aunt May of new evidence that suggests the thug Peter confronted in the first film was only an accomplice of Flint Marko, who was Uncle Ben's real killer; Peter then imagines Marko throwing Ben out of the car and gunning him down in cold blood. Robertson appears again at the end of the film during a more accurate flashback, as Marko explains to Peter that he only wanted Ben's car, but his partner's interference caused Marko to accidentally pull the trigger when Ben was trying to reason with him. Seeing the truth, Spider-Man forgives Marko just before he slips away.