20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Marvel
18. Uncle Ben Didn't Originally Say "With Great Power..."
“With great power comes great responsibility.” It’s perhaps the most famous phrase from all of comics. It’s also perhaps the most misquoted phrase in all of comics.
Though the line has always been popular, it became a pop culture staple when famously uttered by the dying Uncle Ben in the live-action Spider-Man movie. Over the years, the quote has been retroactively attributed to Uncle Ben, but in fact, no one spoke the line at all, it appeared in a text box.
Uttered by an unseen narrator in Amazing Fantasy #15, the exact line reads “And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power must also come–great responsibility!”
The line undeniably works better from Ben, giving it more meaning and importance. It’s absolutely a good thing that Marvel changed this, but all the same, it’s interesting to know that this famous moment in comics came about from a retcon.