- “You have a gift. You have power. And with great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
- ―May to Peter Parker[src]
Maybelle "May" Parker is a character from Marvel Comics. May is Peter Parker's aunt and the widow of Ben Parker. She became the sole legal guardian of Peter after the deaths of his parents and her husband, who was shot by a crook that Peter did not stop. She is often seen as a mother figure to Peter and cares deeply for him, making it difficult for Peter to hide the fact that he's Spider-Man.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, May initially attempts to dissuade Peter from engaging criminals. After she discovers her nephew's double-life as Spider-Man, she grows supportive of his vigilantism, and becomes one of Peter's most valued allies since. May acts as Peter's moral compass, helping to guide him towards a life of selflessness through a mantra of responsibility; something she affirmed to him even when all seemed hopeless, thanks to the Green Goblin.
Aunt May was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Background
Physical Appearance
May has long brown hair and hair skin.
Early Years
As a teenager, May was quite rebellious to the point where she would sneak out of her house at night and get arrested. Sometime later, May met Ben Parker, whom she went onto marry and when her nephew Peter was young, his parents Richard and Mary Parker died, which meant he was now in the care of May and Ben, but Ben would die at the hands of a thief when Peter was 15 years old, which meant May raised Peter on her own, treating him like her biological son.
Appearances
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Captain America: Civil War
In Civil War, she is visited by Tony Stark, who is looking to recruit Peter under the pretense of a grant. In a post-credits scene, she tends to Peter's injuries, unaware of his dual identity.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Aunt May also appears in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where she acts as a major source in Peter's life. After Ned Leeds finds out that Peter is Spider-Man, he tries to get the hero to reveal his identity to May, but Peter is reluctant because it could put May in danger and it would be too much for her since she recently lost her husband Uncle Ben. May and Peter go out for dinner that evening and she tells him to run the other way if any attacks approach, unaware he is the hero who stops them. May later takes Ned and Peter to Liz Toomes' house for her party and tries to convince Peter to have fun, while also telling him about the changes his body is going through, which makes Peter feel uncomfortable.
May finds out her nephew is Spider-Man.
When Peter is supposed to be in the hotel room in Washington, May finds out that Peter left and is informed on the matter. After the attack on the Washington monument, Peter's trip is cancelled and May brings him home. May later finds that Peter has escaped his room at night and becomes incredibly anxious for her nephew, calling five police stations before he makes it home safe. Peter tries to ensure May that he is okay as she expresses her concern. When Peter tries to justify his recent actions, May tells him she knows that he left the hotel room in Washington and that he sneaks out of the apartment every night. Worried, May begs Peter to tell her the truth about why he has been acting weird. Not wanting to tell his aunt he is Spider-Man, Peter tells May he lost the Stark internship, and she comforts him.
Sometime later, May helps Peter get ready for his date with Liz for the homecoming dance and drops him off at her house, giving Peter advice on how to greet Toomes. A while later, after Liz leaves New York, Peter is given back his Spider-Man suit by Tony Stark and puts it on, which May sees, discovering her nephew is the famous masked hero. Over the next two years, May would become supportive of Peter's duties as Spider-Man.
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
May with her resurrected nephew
In 2018, May is one of the victims of Thanos' snap, along with her nephew and half of the universe. Five years later, May is resurrected along with 50% of the universe, along with her nephew, whom she reunites with, thanks to Smart Hulk. May blips back in her apartment only to find it is now occupied by another family, who think May is either a ghost or a mistress. One week later, May attends Tony Stark's funeral after he gave his life erasing Thanos from existence. The Parker's soon find a new apartment to live in around this time.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
May and Spider-Man at F.E.A.S.T
May returns in this film as a major character and is revealed to be working for F.E.A.S.T to support those people who have been displaced by the blip, for the last 8 months. It is also revealed she and Peter have had to move apartments due to people moving into it during the five years she was dusted. May is shown to be very supportive of Peter's time as Spider-Man, as well as his growing crush on classmate Michelle Jones. During her nephew's European trip, May forms a romantic relationship Happy Hogan, who later reveals he is in love with her. May packs Peter's Spider-Man suit just in case and learns of the attacks that are happening by Mysterio throughout Europe. Peter has Ned tell May that Peter will be spending time with his family in Berlin so he can confront Mysterio. After Mysterio's death, Peter returns to the states with his classmates, where he reunites with May, who is just glad he is safe.
What If...?
Aunt May is mentioned in the fifth episode, "What If... Zombies!?", by Peter who says he has lost her along with Uncle Ben, Tony and Happy, which implies that she died and became a zombie, although she was never seen.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
- “Unless you have some real, specific charges to throw at us, legally, you can't hold us here.”
- ―May Parker to Agent Cleary
May is questioned by Agent Cleary.
Minutes after Peter's identity reveal as Spider-Man, May and Happy have broken up and are discussing their split as they hear Peter and MJ in his room. Happy opens the door, where he and May believe they are about to have sex, much to the teenagers' embarrassment and May starts to close the door before formerly introducing herself to her nephew's new girlfriend. Trying to change the subject, Peter tries to talk to May and Happy about why they broke up until they see on the news that helicopters are surrounding their apartment building. Later that evening, May answers the door to find the DODC's head detective Agent Cleary here to arrest Peter. May tries to get them to leave, but they search the apartment for any clues that Peter killed Mysterio. May, Peter, MJ and Ned Leeds are all taken into custody to be questioned about their relationships with the Avenger and May demands that she sees Peter immediately after Cleary tricks May into admitting she is supportive of Peter's time as Spider-Man.
May and Happy speak to Matt Murdock
May and Peter contact Matt Murdock as Peter's lawyer on the case, who manages to get the police to drop the charges held against him. Grateful, May thanks Murdock, but concludes she and Peter will need a safer place to live after somebody throws a brick through the apartment window, defending Myserio.
Over the next few months, Peter and May are residing at Happy Hogan's condo where they are awaiting letters from the college's Peter applied too, especially M.I.T and May later comes into the room with the final letter from M.I.T, where Peter finds out he has been rejected from it because of his situation against Mysterio, as well as both Ned and MJ since they are associated with Peter.
- “Look around you, this is what we do. We help people.”
- ―May to Peter Parker
May with Max Dillon and Norman Osborn
In November[3], Peter accidentally causes a multiversal crisis where he brings every villain from different universes who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man into this one. Norman Osborn meets May at her charity F.E.A.S.T, whom offers to help the traveller as he is confused as to where he is since his son doesn't exist in this world, and their home is owned by someone else. Peter becomes anxious for May's safety as he knows about Osborn's alter-ego the Green Goblin, thinking she is in danger. After believing Osborn is crazy, May tries to convince Peter to help their visitor, but he is reluctant, saying its not his problem. Disappointed in her nephew, May tells Peter that helping people is what they do at F.E.A.S.T, and Peter soon agrees to return Osborn and the other villains back to their own universes and cure them.
- “I just have to catch my breath.”
- ―May's last words.
May standing up to the Green Goblin
On November 13th[3]May and Peter return to Happy's condo with the villains in hopes to cure them and return them to their respective worlds, with their fates changed so they should go back without dying, fighting their versions of Spider-Man. After Peter is able to cure Doctor Octopus, he is in the middle of curing Electro when the Green Goblin takes over Osborn's mind, which Peter can sense and May comes down to ask what is wrong. Peter tells May to run as the Goblin starts to attack him and the other villains escape. May quickly tries to exit as her nephew fights the ruthless villain and they cause serious damage to the apartment complex. May is forced to run down the stairs as Electro's powers have fried the elevator system and she finds herself outside, face to face with the Goblin as he has Spider-Man by chokehold, ready to make the final blow. Struggling to breathe, Peter tells May to run for her safety but she stands her ground, ready to fight him to protect her nephew. However, the Goblin delivers the final blow by throwing one of his Pumpkin Bombs, which destroys the complex and sends his glider into May, which impales her in the waist.
May's death.
In the aftermath, May is laying on the ground in severe pain when Peter comes over to her and helps her up. They embrace each other and she tells him she is okay. Peter tells May that he starts to regret his decision on not sending the villains back when he had the chance, and she reassures him that he did the right thing as they would have died. Peter and May start to walk again when she tells him that "with great power, comes great responsibility", but before she can do anything else, May collapses much to Peter's worry. Peter asks May what happened and asks if she is okay. May says she just needs to catch her breath as Peter tells her he is right beside her and it's just the two of them. May asks Peter if he is okay as he looks at her in horror, noticing she is bleeding out and cries out for an ambulance to come and help. May asks what's wrong and Peter, crying, tries to assure her in her final moments that everything is okay and so is she. May lets out one tear as she doesn't look at Peter when he asks her too. Peter starts to panic that May isn't responding to him and realises she has passed away. Crying, Peter kisses May's head and apologises to her as he is forced to flee when the DODC start firing at him and Happy sees what has happened, before telling Peter he needs to leave the area. Happy is arrested and Peter flies off, leaving May's corpse behind in the rubble.
Heartbroken over losing May, Peter escapes to the high school roof, in distraught and mourning the loss of his only family member that was left. MJ and Ned find Peter on the roof and comfort him as he cries into his girlfriend's arms and she introduces him to alternate variants. The older Peter's try to console their younger counterpart with May's loss and start to tell him they know what he is going through before he stops them. 616 Peter tells his older selves that in her last moments, May told him that "with great power, comes great responsibility", much to the shock of his oldest counterpart, who finishes the quote for him. Peter asks his oldest self how he knows that quote, to which both versions of Peter tell him that Uncle Ben said it to each of them the day their respective Ben's died. The oldest variant tells his youngest self that he thinks May didn't die for nothing.
In the final battle, Peter-One - this world's Peter - vows to kill the Green Goblin once and for all as revenge for killing May, telling the ruthless villain that he wasn't too weak to send him home to die, but would rather kill him himself as a way to avenge his aunt. However, before Peter can deliver the final blow with the Goblin's glider, Peter 2 - the oldest counterpart - manages to restrain his youngest self and prevent him from doing something he may regret later on. The Goblin is then defeated as Peter 1 injects the finished cure and Norman returns to his true self, horrified at what he has done. When Osborn asks Peter what he has done, he refuses to answer, not telling him he killed May.
One month later, in December, Peter is seen at May's grave after getting Doctor Strange to cast a spell across the world that makes everyone forget who Peter Parker is, so no one can know he is Spider-Man. Peter lays some fresh flowers on May's grave as he is approached by Happy, who doesn't know who this teenager is. Happy and Peter mourn May together and he asks the young man how he knew May. Not revealing his relation, Peter tells Happy that he knew May through Spider-Man, which Happy agrees upon. Peter then leaves the graveyard as Happy mourns her some more. Peter continues his life as Spider-Man, with his identity intact and with May's words of wisdom in mind.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Aunt May will return in this show, set in 2015, when her nephew first starts out as Spider-Man and years before her death in 2024. This is also months before May finds out about Peter's duel identity.
Marvel Animation
Ultimate Spider-Man
Aunt May is a recurring character in the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series, voiced by Misty Lee.
Like her Ultimate comic book counterpart, this version of Aunt May is considerably younger and less frail than her traditional portrayal. She is shown to be involved in various hobbies such as yoga and cooking classes, which allowed Peter to sneak out of the house without arousing suspicion. In "Attack of the Beetle", she was asked out to dinner by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (who Nick Fury assigned to be the acting principal of Peter's school). Near the end of Season 3, she reveals she has always known that Peter was Spider-Man, but despite her knowledge, she thinks that nothing has changed between them.
Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel
Though she does not appear in this crossover, Spider-Man mentions her in the title sequence by playfully complaining, "Aunt May, Phineas and Ferb are making a crossover!"
Spidey and His Amazing Friends
Aunt May appears, modeled after her MCU incarnation. She is shown to partake in various hobbies and accommodates Peter and his friends Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy. As with previous incarnations, she is unaware of Peter's double life as Spider-Man.
Trivia
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of May is the third portrayal of the character in Marvel's cinematic history. May was previously portrayed by Rosemary Harris and Sally Field in Sony's two Spider-Man film series. She was also voiced by Lily Tomlin in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
- Marisa Tomei has previously acted alongside Robert Downey Jr. in the films Only You and Chaplin. This may possibly be the reason why Tony Stark is attracted to her, as a call back to the former.
- Tomei's casting, at her early 50s, was criticized as fans believed she was too young and attractive to play Aunt May. Kevin Feige has stated that being in her 50s makes her realistically old enough to be Peter's aunt, as most of her incarnations are depicted as elderly.
- Nancy Linari reprises her role as Aunt May in the non-Disney related 2018 Spider-Man video game.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming marks the first time in a Spider-Man film that Aunt May finds out Peter Parker is Spider-Man.
- Originally, after the release of Avengers: Infinity War, directors Joe and Anthony Russo claimed that May survived Thanos's snap. However, Spider-Man: Far From Home instead reveals that May was disintegrated by Thanos.
- The casting crew for Captain America: Civil War wanted Aunt May to be younger as they didn't think it was right for Peter Parker to have an elderly aunt when he was just a teenager.
- Although she and Ben are not physically seen, May can be heard in Iron Man 2 during the Stark Expo battle. Not long before Iron Man saves a young Peter Parker, May and Ben are heard shouting Peter's name. While it is possible the people shouting his name could be his parents, both of Peter's parents are known to have died before 2010 and Iron Man 2 takes place in 2009.
- She wasn't a fan of Tony Stark at the time of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home reveals that May has been working at F.E.A.S.T since returning from the blip, something that Aunt May from the Insomniac 2018 game also did. This is a reference to her comic book counterpart who was first seen working there during the "Brand New Day" event.
- Coincidentally, the death of that game's Aunt May is also connected to Norman Osborn; while the MCU version is killed by the Goblin himself, the Insomniac version dies to the Devil's Breath virus, which was created by Oscorp on Osborn's orders.
- Both versions of Aunt May even have the quote, "When you help someone, you help everyone," emblazoned on their tombstones.
- May says "with great power, there must also come great responsibility" in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is usually said by Ben Parker. Aunt May has been described as the MCU version of Uncle Ben.
- Marisa Tomei said she would like to reprise the role as May Parker via the Multiverse.[4]
- According to co-writer Jonathan M. Goldstein, Aunt May had a boyfriend in an early draft of the script for Spider-Man: Homecoming: "We loved the idea of a cool aunt. In an early draft we actually even had her dating a guy, and part of her relationship with Peter was this inappropriate frankness."[5]
- According to the official Marvel Studios timeline, May died on November 13, 2024.[3] This makes her the second MCU character to die in that year, the first is T'Challa who died six months earlier.
Gallery
External links
References
- ↑ "Spider-Man: Freshman Year Who's Who - Daredevil, Doctor Strange and More | Comic-Con 2022". IGN (July 23, 2022).
- ↑ "‘No Way Home’ and the Tragedy of Spider-Man". The Hollywood Reporter (December 29, 2021).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Marvel Studios' The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline
- ↑ "Marisa Tomei Teases Plans for Aunt May's Future After Spider-Man: No Way Home". The Direct (March 20, 2022).
- ↑ Spider-Man: Homecoming writers answer some burning questions
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