When it came time to reboot Spider-Man for the MCU, Marvel Studios decided against retelling Peter Parker's origin story. Bizarrely, even in the wake of Captain America: Civil War, two Avengers movies, and an entire solo trilogy, we still don't know how the teenager got his powers or what the deal is with his Uncle Ben.
Those aren't pieces of the puzzle we necessarily need at this stage, but getting them would certainly help create a clearer picture of who this web-slinger is.
Talking to Sean O'Connell for his new book, With Great Power (via The Direct), Civil War scribe Christopher Markus weighed in on whether he knows what Spidey's origin story is in the MCU. "I mean, I think he was bitten by a radioactive spider on a field trip," the writer said. "We never talked about that either, but I think that’s what happened."
Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home director Jon Watts also chimed in, explaining why he was actually pleased to move past the hero's origin to deal with the fallout of getting those spectacular superpowers would have on Peter.
"It was just so nice to skip past it and just deal with more with the repercussions," the filmmaker said, "and just explore it from the perspective of someone else finding out about it and having a lot of questions."
It's certainly been an interesting journey for Spider-Man in the MCU, and he's now in a place where we can see a version of the character who is more in line with his comic book counterpart. The belief is that Tom Holland plans to reprise the role for a solo movie that would be released in 2024, while rumoured plot details suggest The Kingpin and Daredevil will come into play.
At this stage, Marvel Studios may never explore the wall-crawler's origin story, but there's always a chance it could be revisited in flashbacks (assuming they're relevant to the story being told).
How do you think the MCU's Spidey gained his powers?