Aunt May

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
May Parker
)

Aunt May
Aunt May by Joe Quinones
Art by Joe Quinones
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAs Aunt May: Strange Tales #97 (January 1962)
As May Parker: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
Steve Ditko (artist)
In-story information
Full nameMaybelle Parker-Jameson (née Reilly)
SpeciesHuman
Place of originBrooklyn, New York
Team affiliationsParker Industries
Supporting character ofSpider-Man
Notable aliasesAunt May, May Reilly, May Fitzgerald, Golden Oldie, May Morgan

Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (

née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), the character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko
, playing an influential role in the Spider-Man comic books.

May is the

mother figure, although throughout most of Spider-Man's history, she has not known of his secret life and considered Spider-Man frightening. In modern renditions, May has been known to support the hero and in rare cases is aware that he is her nephew or at least suspecting his identity as Peter. Later in life, she marries J. Jonah "Jay" Jameson Sr., the estranged father of Peter's boss and Spider-Man's harshest critic J. Jonah Jameson
, making him her step-son and by extension Peter's step-cousin (and self-declared step-brother); much to Jameson's discomfort.

Since May's conception, the character has appeared in several media adaptations of Spider-Man, often playing a supporting role. May was portrayed by

.

Fictional character biography

May Parker (née Reilly) was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 5.[1] After the death of her brother-in-law and his wife, May and her husband Ben Parker took in their only nephew, Peter, and raised him at their home at 20 Ingram Street, Forest Hills, Queens.[2] She remained an important influence in Peter's life even during college as she was the only family he had left. Her continued belief that Peter was still the fragile boy he had been before he gained his powers could be frustrating at times.

In the early years of his superhero career, Peter feared for May's well-being and the fatal shock that he believed would end her life if she ever learned about his dual identity as Spider-Man. Consequently, Peter often felt anguish over dealing with major crises while his aunt needed nearly constant care. This conflict took on an unusual turn when May became sweethearts with his enemy, Otto Octavius (also known as Doctor Octopus), and Peter struggled to deal with his enemy's schemes while not hurting his aunt.

During a period of convalescence at a nursing home, May met wheelchair user Nathan Lubensky. Gradually, May and Nathan fell in love with each other.[3] She invited Nathan into her Forest Hills home after converting it into a boarding house, and the couple were briefly engaged. However, May's heart was broken when Nathan suffered a fatal heart attack while protecting her from being taken hostage by Adrian Toomes, the costumed villain known as the Vulture.[4] Some time thereafter, a guilt-stricken Toomes confronted May, begging her to forgive him for his role in Nathan's death. (Ironically, Nathan had befriended Toomes when the two briefly resided at the same nursing home). May refused to do so, stating that only God could provide the villain with the redemption he was seeking.[5]

As part of a plan by Peter's arch-foe

Mister Fantastic was able to disable the device without removing it, saving the world and May, who apparently retained no memory of her time in captivity. May finally learned about her nephew's secret life when she walked into his room after he had sustained a serious beating from the villain Morlun,[7]
the two later talking about May's discovery as May came to accept her nephew's real life.

When Spider-Man joins the

Chameleon, but outwits the villain by feeding him Ambien-filled oatmeal-raisin cookies.[9]

When Peter changes his mind about the

the Kingpin tries to kill Peter, but hits May instead.[10] Peter takes May to a hospital[11] where she lapses into a coma and is likely to die. However, Aunt May receives a radioactive blood transfusion from Peter, which he hoped would save her life due to his mutated healing factor.[12]

The demon

Mephisto offers to restore May's health in exchange for erasing Peter's marriage from history, and Peter and Mary Jane agree. May lives, and Spider-Man's identity is once again a secret.[13][14]

At the beginning of Brand New Day, May is doing volunteer work for a homeless shelter, run by Martin Li, the supervillain crime boss Mister Negative.[15] At this point, her knowledge of Peter being Spider-Man was erased. During her work at the shelter, she met John Jonah "Jay" Jameson (the father of J. Jonah Jameson) and started a relationship with him.[16] The following issue, Peter caught the two of them in bed.[17] However, he approved of this relationship, mainly because Jay supports Spider-Man, who had previously saved his life,[17] and saw through Norman Osborn as a thug who holds nothing but contempt for the people.[18]

Jay walked with May in Central Park and asked her to marry him, and May accepted.[19] Despite Doctor Octopus' subconscious efforts to halt his former fiancé's wedding plans, May and Jay were reluctantly wedded by New York Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, who expressed displeasure at Peter calling them stepbrothers (due to May being his adoptive mother).[20]

Aunt May has several blood relatives that are still alive, including a sister named Jan. May's first cousins Sam and Julia are the children of her uncle Bill and his wife Claudia. Peter was attracted to Julia's daughter Alexa.[21] The Reilly family is currently staying in May's house.

Upon her return from her honeymoon, she stops by the FEAST offices, only to accidentally walk in on Martin Li, along with

Lizard, tries talking to Aunt May, looking for someone to help give him hope after seeing the death of Curt Connors' humanity. She still continues to act like a bad-tempered teenager and at first, rebuffs him. However, after seeing Peter clearly suffering mentally, she feels guilty and undergoes an intense mind battle, breaking the corruption, and is shown simply sitting next to Peter.[23]

Prior to the events of

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel, May and Jay became part of the Parker Industries's foundation, a charity focused on providing help for the less fortunate and raise the quality of life wherever it could be possible.[28] However, her husband Jay had coughed up blood and collapsed.[29] Aunt May is heartbroken after her husband Jay had later died in the hospital.[30] Aunt May, Peter and J. Jonah Jameson held a moment of silence.[31]

After Peter Parker had his doctorate revoked for "copying" Doctor Octopus' thesis and getting fired from the Daily Bugle, May confronted her nephew about his actions. While stating that he should take responsibility for his actions, May leaves stating that Uncle Ben should have raised him better.[32] Shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed with cancer and does not tell Peter to avoid overwhelming him.[33]

Other versions

Original appearance

Lee and Ditko introduced a character named "Aunt May" alongside "Uncle Ben" in the June 1962 issue of Strange Tales #97, four months before her Amazing Fantasy debut. In the story "Goodbye to Linda Brown", the characters are given no surname. They care for a young woman named Linda Brown who develops a sleepwalking habit, just like May and Ben used to have. When Linda sleepwalks to the sea in her wheelchair, she becomes a mermaid.[34][35] These characters have never been established in-universe to be the same May and Ben that appear in Spider-Man [36]

Golden Oldie

May Parker was transformed by

Hostess snack cake advertising campaign, was part of Marvel's "Assistant Editors Month" series of humorous issues.[37]

May also appeared as "Golden Oldie" (this time an Iron Man parody) as well as "The Astonishing Aunt Ant" and "Auntie Freeze" in an issue of What If?.[38]

MC2

In the alternate timeline known as MC2, May Parker's death in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 was valid. It was May who died in this continuum, rather than an actress.[39] Peter's daughter, May "Mayday" Parker, was named for her. Mayday became the super-heroine Spider-Girl and met the original May when she found herself displaced in time, although Mayday makes no attempt to explain who she really was.[40]

When Spider-Girl was trapped in an illusion by her enemy, Misery, she was given encouragement from a familiar spirit. She recognised the spirit as being Aunt May.[41]

In the final arc of Amazing Spider-Girl, Aunt May acts a spiritual advisor to May to help her grandniece reclaim her identity and save Peter from Norman Osborn. In this form, she initially appears as a younger version of herself, which prevents May from recognizing her. However, May finally figures it out when she sees Aunt May through her father's eyes.[42]

Spider-Man: Life Story

In this continuity, the characters age naturally after Peter Parker became Spider-Man in 1962. Sometime before 1977, May married Otto Octavius, but she later divorced him due to his anger management problems. In the 1980s, Mary Jane struggles to take care of May as she shows early signs of dementia around the time Mary Jane and Peter's twins are born. It puts a further rift in Peter and Mary Jane's marriage as Peter refuses to put her in a senior's home while Mary Jane is sick of being the sole caretaker of May and their children. Mary Jane later leaves Peter and takes the twins with her as Peter looks after May. May later dies sometime before 1995. When Otto attempts to destroy Peter's mind in 2019, Peter uses a memory of May to convince Otto to stop fighting Spider-Man and accept his life's limitations. The conjured memory version of May has one final talk with Peter before he saves the world from Doctor Doom's reign at the cost of his life.[43]

Spider-Verse

During the "Spider-Verse" storyline, there are different versions of Aunt May that are featured:

Spider-Geddon

During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, an unidentified Earth has a Hispanic version of May who is unaware that her husband and nephew have spider powers after a blood transfusion saved Uncle Ben's life.[51]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows

In this Secret Wars Warzone, when Peter is captured by Regent and his life is flashing before his eyes, one of his memories was him standing in front of Aunt May's open casket at her funeral, confirming that she died sometime before the events of the comic.

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe Aunt May is based on writer Brian Michael Bendis' mother.[52] This version of the character is a strong and independent woman in her late forties or early fifties, significantly younger than her original Marvel Universe counterpart. She is the biological sister of Mary Parker, and wife to Ben Parker.[53]

Peter reveals his secret identity to May after he finds Gwen Stacy's clone at her old house, resulting in May evicting Peter from her home, as she despises Spider-Man. This coincides with the appearance of a man who appears to be Richard Parker, Peter's father.

Carnage. May then suffers a heart attack. She is rescued from dying by Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four,[56] reconciles with Peter and accepts his life as Spider-Man, though she is not at all fond of his costume.[57] Peter later explains to May why he became Spider-Man, and May tells him that Ben would be proud of him for doing so.[58] Aunt May is by Peter's side when he dies following a battle with the Green Goblin.[59]

Although angry at the Ultimates for belittling Peter's accomplishments in life when attending her nephew's funeral, May is nevertheless comforted when she met some of the people that Peter had saved during his career as Spider-Man, one little girl even offering her a comforting hug as thanks for raising the man who saved her. After the funeral, May and Gwen decide to take up Tony Stark's offer to set themselves up for a new life in France.[60]

However, following the emergence of

a new Spider-Man, May and Gwen return to New York. Though Captain America threatens to arrest Miles' parents and expose his secret to them unless he retires the Spider-Man identity, May and Gwen are more supportive of Miles, and May gives him Peter's old web-shooters, along with the formula for the web-fluid, encouraging him to carry on Peter's legacy.[61]

During the Spider-Men miniseries, May and Gwen are back in the United States, presumably to oversee the selling of the Parker Residence and to finish Gwen's term at Midtown High. They encounter someone wearing a red-and-blue Spider-Man costume and believe he is a lunatic who is disrespecting Peter's memory. They become angry and threaten to call the police. When the person unmasks himself, they are stunned beyond belief to see the older, more mature Peter Parker, from the Marvel 616 universe.[62] She initially is unconvinced that this Peter is who he says he is, but both she and Gwen later realize he is being truthful when he knows Uncle Ben's admonishment about power and responsibility. May is greatly moved at realizing that she has now been given the chance for closure that she had missed when her Peter died, and concludes that she had made the right choices concerning her nephew, before the adult Peter is returned to his universe.[63]

When Green Goblin escapes custody after S.H.I.E.L.D. was shut down, he arrives at the front yard of Aunt May's house and confronts Miles.[64] Aunt May and Gwen are inside watching the television where the battle of Miles and Green Goblin was being broadcast. Soon, a very much alive Peter emerges to aid Miles in the fight, to the surprise of Aunt May and Gwen. Green Goblin flees at his arrival and the two Spider-Men depart. Gwen is unsure of the identity of the original Spider-Man, but Aunt May assures her that his motives show that it is him.[65] Later, Aunt May and Gwen walk over to Mary Jane's house and overhear Peter's unknown resurrection. Aunt May sprints over and joyfully reunites with her nephew.[66] After the two Spider-Men defeat Green Goblin, Peter tells Aunt May that he intends to go on a quest to find out the truth of his mystery resurrection.[67]

In other media

Television

Film

Video games

See also

References

  1. ^ The 2007 Free Comic Book Day edition of The Amazing Spider-Man.
  2. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  3. .
  4. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #336 (Early August 1990)
  5. ^ Spectacular Spider-Man #186–188 (March–May 1992)
  6. .
  7. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #35, #38
  8. ^ Civil War #2 (w)Mark Millar (a)Steve McNiven
  9. ^ The Sensational Spider-Man #31
  10. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #538 (February 2007)
  11. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #539 (March 2007)
  12. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #541 (May 2007)
  13. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #545 (November 2007)
  14. ^ Colton, David (July 7, 2009). "Comic fans fume as Marvel erases Spidey-MJ marriage". USA Today. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
  15. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #552 (March 2008)
  16. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #591 (April 2009)
  17. ^ a b The Amazing Spider-Man #592 (April 2009)
  18. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #595 (June 2009)
  19. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #597
  20. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #600 (July 2009)
  21. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #36
  22. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #618
  23. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #633
  24. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #665
  25. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #666–667
  26. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #694
  27. ^ The Superior Spider-Man #24
  28. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #4
  29. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #15
  30. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #19
  31. ^ The Clone Conspiracy #1
  32. ^ Nick Spencer (w), Ryan Ottley (p), Cliff Rathburn (i), Laura Martin (col), Joe Caramagna (let), Nick Lowe and Kathleen Wisneski (ed). Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 5, no. 1 (July 11, 2018). United States: Marvel Comics.
  33. ^ Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1
  34. ^ Seifert, Mark (November 29, 2021). "Aunt May, Uncle Ben and the Prototypical Story of Strange Tales #97". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  35. ^ Stan Lee (w), Steve Ditko (a). "Goodbye to Linda Brown" Stange Tales, vol. 1, no. 97 (May 1962). Marvel. Retrieved on 2022-07-21.
  36. ^ Cronin, Brian (January 16, 2022). "Is Spider-Man Related to ... a Mermaid?". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  37. ^ Marvel Team-Up #137
  38. ^ What If? #34
  39. ^ Letter page response from Spider-Girl #47
  40. ^ Spider-Girl #10–11
  41. ^ Spider-Girl #90
  42. ^ Amazing Spider-Girl #30
  43. ^ Spider-Man: Life Story #2-6
  44. ^ Edge of Spider-Verse #5 (2014)
  45. ^ Edge of Spider-Geddon #2. Marvel Comics.
  46. ^ Spider-Verse Team-Up #1 (2014)
  47. ^ a b Spider-Verse #1 (2014)
  48. ^ What If #23
  49. ^ Spider-Verse Team-Up #3
  50. ^ Spider-Geddon #5. Marvel Comics.
  51. ^ Edge of Spider-Geddon #3. Marvel Comics.
  52. ^ Richards, Dave (September 30, 2011). "COMMENTARY TRACK: Bendis on "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" #2". Comic Book Resources.
  53. ^ Bendis, Brian Michael (w); Bagley, Mark (p). Ultimate Spider-Man #45. Marvel Comics.
  54. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #99
  55. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #100
  56. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #101
  57. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #105
  58. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #111
  59. ^ Bendis, Brian Michael (w), Bagley, Mark (p). Ultimate Spider-Man #160, Marvel Comics.
  60. ^ Ultimate Fallout #6
  61. ^ Bendis, Brian Michael (w), David Marquez (a). "Divided We Fall Part Two" Ultimate Spider-Man v2, #14 (November 2012), Marvel Comics
  62. ^ Spider-Men #3
  63. ^ Bendis, Brian Michael (w), Pichelli, Sara (p). Spider-Men #4, Marvel Comics.
  64. ^ Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #3
  65. ^ Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #4
  66. ^ Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #6
  67. ^ Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #7
  68. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Aunt May Voices (Spider-Man)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 17, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  69. ^ Holub, Christian (June 7, 2021). "Patrick Stump breaks down his theme song for new cartoon Spidey and His Amazing Friends". Entertainment Weekly.
  70. ^ "Marvel's Spidey and his Amazing Friends: Season 1 Fact Sheet". Disney Television Studios. Archived from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  71. ^ "'Captain America: Civil War' premiere: 5 things we learned". USA Today. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  72. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 7, 2016). "Zendaya Joins 'Spider-Man' Reboot". Variety. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  73. ^ Kroll, Justin (May 21, 2018). "Jake Gyllenhaal Eyed for Villain Role in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Sequel". Variety. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  74. ^ Marnell, Blair (November 6, 2020). "Tom Holland Confirms That Spider-Man 3 Has Started Filming". SuperHeroHype.
  75. ^ Nyrem, Erin (June 6, 2018). "'Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse' Casts Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali and Lily Tomlin". Variety. Archived from the original on June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  76. ^ Arrant, Chris (October 12, 2013). "NYCC 2013: Marvel Adds More Characters To LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES Game". Newsarama.

External links