Superhero 411: Aunt May

Today we're featuring one of the superheroes on the American Superhero Team and delve deeper into their history. In this article, we'll be looking at probably the oldest person on this list, Aunt May. Warning! Some Spoilers Ahead!


Aunt May

Real name: May Reilly Parker-Jameson
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962, Marvel Comics)
Creators: Stan Lee (writer) and Steve Ditko (artist)

Occupation: Housewife/Volunteer
Religion: Protestant

Operates in: New York/Boston

After the death of her brother-in-law and his wife, May and her husband Ben adopt their young son Peter and raise him in their home in Queens, New York, eventually becoming a surrogate mother to the boy after some hesitation. Years later, when Peter was in his teens, Ben was killed by a thief in a home robbery and money became tight. Peter wanted to help out as best he could, and eventually became a freelance photographer specializing in photos of superhero Spider-Man, which in reality was Peter himself, who had gained superpowers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. May did not know that Peter was Spider-Man, and was always trying to be protective of her "frail" nephew while considering Spider-Man a vigilante to be feared thanks to frequent smearing by the Daily Bugle, a newspaper that pays top dollar for Spider-Man pictures and Peter's almost exclusive customer. Peter feared to reveal his identity to Aunt May, believing that she would suffer from a fatal shock, and was constantly torn between superheroing and helping his Aunt. Because of this, Aunt May has frequently been drawn into conflicts between Spider-Man and supervillains, such as when the villain Doctor Otto Octavius attempted to court Aunt May when he thought Peter might be Spider-Man, nearly leading the two to be wed. Eventually Aunt May learns of Peter's secret and the two have a long discussion where they learn each is stronger that they had previously though. Aunt May is glad to learn the true reason behind her nephew's previously mysterious and flighty behavior, and finds a new purpose in defending Spider-Man from his detractors. Spider-Man later joined The Avengers, and when their house was destroyed by a supervillian, Aunt May, Peter and his wife Mary Jane moved into their headquarters, Stark Tower, where she keep even the most abrasive heroes like Wolverine in check and single handedly defeated the Chameleon when he attempted to infiltrate the tower by tricking him into eating Ambien-filled oatmeal-raisin cookies. When Peter revealed his secret identity to the world in support of the Superhuman Registration Act, he later changed his mind after seeing the true impact of the act and has to take Aunt May and Mary Jane into hiding. An assassin is able to locate them and tries to kill Peter, but misses and instead hits Aunt May. Peter does everything he can to save her, but finds nothing that works. The demon Mephisto appears and offers Peter an option, that he would alter reality to save her life and make everyone forget that Peter was Spider-Man, but at the cost of Peter and Mary Jane having never been married. Mary Jane and Peter agree to the deal, which changes reality to one where Aunt May is alive and well while being a frequent volunteer at a homeless shelter, where she meets John Jonah Jameson Sr, father of former Daily Bugle owner and now mayor J. Jonah Jameson, and begins a relationship with him. The two eventually wed and later move to Boston to distance themselves from the dangerous superhero activity in New York.

Because of Aunt May's large presence from the beginning in the Spider-Man mythos, she has become a stalwart of the franchise, being a frequent focus of storylines and has appeared in nearly every adaptation of the Spider-Man series. She has also been the source of frequent parody, especially by Marvel themselves, such as the time she became Golden Oldie and fought the planet-eating Galactus.