Warning! This article contains spoilers for Amazing Fantasy #5

One of the most defining moments in Spider-Man’s life was the death of his Uncle Ben, the man who acted as Peter Parker’s father and taught him what it means to be a hero. After Spider-Man dies and is taken to a mystical land of the dead, he is forced to relive the death of his uncle while he is fighting an evil being whose goal was to lay waste to the land of the living. 

In Amazing Fantasy #5 by Kaare Andrews, a number of heroes including Captain America, Black Widow, and Spider-Man have died in different points of their respective pasts and ended up in a realm of the dead. In this realm, an entity known as the Red King is working to cross over to the physical world to find the magical spells he needs to overrun the Earth with the dead. The Avengers fight to stop the Red King, and in the process they are met with an evil sorcerer who not only fights against the team physically, but mentally as well. 

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During the battle, Spider-Man runs up to the villain and screams a question at his face, asking the being who he is. In response, the villain says that he is Peter Parker, then changes his face to look exactly like Peter. The sorcerer then sends Spider-Man through time to the night Uncle Ben was killed, goading him to stop the violent crime and save his uncle. While he debates it, Spider-Man can’t alter the past as the repercussions of saving his uncle could have been astronomically negative, the biggest indication of that being the villain’s push for Peter to stop the murder. Since Peter decides not to save Uncle Ben in the past, he is forced to watch him die and relives his greatest trauma. 

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After Uncle Ben is shot, Spider-Man realizes that he isn’t actually back in time but in an amazing fantasy of the traumatic event. Just because it wasn’t real, however, doesn’t mean it didn’t feel real to Peter. Spider-Man approached his dying uncle and held him in his arms, saying goodbye to him one last time before, once again, losing him forever. 

That moment in Amazing Fantasy #5, while ultimately fake, was incredibly powerful for Peter. Spider-Man learned that, while his Uncle’s death was tragic, his death is honored every day Peter decides to be a hero and live the way Uncle Ben taught him. Spider-Man was just forced to relive his greatest trauma and became more reassured as a hero because of it.

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