Maybelle "May" Jameson (previously Parker, née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, frequently 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, and went on to play an influential role in the Spider-Man comic books.
May is the widow of Ben Parker and the paternal aunt by marriage of Peter Parker, who leads a secret life as Spider-Man. She is a supportive mother figure to Peter, 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 suspects or knows his true identity. 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 Rosemary Harris in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Sally Field in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man duology and Marisa Tomei in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. In the Spider-Verse franchise, the character was voiced by Lily Tomlin in Into the Spider-Verse and Elizabeth Perkins in Across the Spider-Verse.
Fictional character biography May Parker was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 5.The 2007 Free Comic Book Day edition of The Amazing Spider-Man. 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.A family named Parker lived at the address from 1974 to 2007, and received many letters from children to the superhero. 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 for him at times.
In the early years of his superhero career, Peter feared for May's well-being and worried shock could end her life if she ever learned of 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. She invited Nathan into her Forest Hills home after converting it into a boarding house, and the couple was 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.The Amazing Spider-Man #336 (Early August 1990) 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.Spectacular Spider-Man #186–188 (March–May 1992)
As part of a plan by Peter's arch-foe Norman Osborn, May was replaced by a "genetically altered actress" who impersonated her while May was held captive by villains until the actress died, Osborn returning May to Peter with a device planted inside her that would detonate a series of gene bombs if removed, decimating Earth. 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,The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #35, #38 the two later talking about May's discovery as May came to accept her nephew's real life.
When Spider-Man joins the Avengers, Peter, Aunt May, and Mary Jane Watson move into Stark Tower after May loses her house to a fire. During the Superhero Civil War, she and Mary Jane convince Peter to unmask himself in front of a press conference.Civil War #2 (w)Mark Millar (a)Steve McNiven Later, she is targeted by the Chameleon, but outwits him by feeding him cookies filled with Ambien.The Sensational Spider-Man #31
When Peter changes his mind about the Superhuman Registration Act, he moves his family from Stark Tower to a motel. An assassin hired by Kingpin tries to kill Peter, but hits May instead.The Amazing Spider-Man #538 (February 2007) Peter takes May to a hospitalThe Amazing Spider-Man #539 (March 2007) 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.The Amazing Spider-Man #541 (May 2007)
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.The Amazing Spider-Man #545 (November 2007)
At the beginning of Brand New Day, May is doing volunteer work for a homeless shelter named FEAST, run by Martin Li, the supervillain crime boss Mister Negative.The Amazing Spider-Man #552 (March 2008) 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.The Amazing Spider-Man #591 (April 2009) The following issue, Peter caught the two of them in bed.The Amazing Spider-Man #592 (April 2009) However, he approved of this relationship, mainly because Jay supports Spider-Man, who had previously saved his life, and saw through Norman Osborn as a thug who holds nothing but contempt for the people.The Amazing Spider-Man #595 (June 2009)
Jay walked with May in Central Park and asked her to marry him, and May accepted.The Amazing Spider-Man #597 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).The Amazing Spider-Man #600 (July 2009)
Upon her return from her honeymoon, she stops by the FEAST offices, only to accidentally walk in on Martin Li, along with Hammerhead, torturing one of Mr. Negative's Inner Demons. Trying to escape, Li touches her with his corrupting touch. She then returns to meet her husband and Peter. When Jay suggests going somewhere nice for dinner, Aunt May sarcastically proceeds to insult Peter over his fluctuating jobs and his dependence on them, culminating with calling her nephew "One damn big disappointment". A heartbroken Peter runs off.The Amazing Spider-Man #618 Peter returns, after a physically and mentally exhausting battle against the Lizard, tries talking to Aunt May, looking for someone to help give him hope after seeing the death of Curt Connors' humanity. She continues to be bad-tempered and at first, rebuffs him. However, after seeing Peter suffering mentally, she feels guilty and undergoes an intense mind battle, breaking the corruption, and is shown simply sitting next to Peter.The Amazing Spider-Man #633
Prior to the events of Spider-Island, after Martin Li's secret identity is exposed to the public, May and Jay formally announce their intention to leave New York for good, for their own safety, and move to Boston. Jay explains this was the result of all the recent major incidents towards them and their friends and family. They put May's old house up for sale and leave once the moving van is packed.The Amazing Spider-Man #665 After spending their last night in New York at Jay's apartment, the following day she and Jay head to an airport in New Jersey with Peter and Carlie and they say their goodbyes before flying off.The Amazing Spider-Man #666–667 Following the Ends of the Earth storyline, when May and Jay are returning home to New York on their private jet, the superhero Alpha uses his powers recklessly in his battle with Terminus, causing many aircraft to shut down. The Avengers rescue everybody and Spider-Man saves his May and Jay from Jameson's malfunctioning private jet just before it crashes. Later Peter arrives at the hospital to see that his Aunt May and Jay are okay, although she has sustained minor nerve damage to her leg that will require the use of a cane for the rest of her life.The Amazing Spider-Man #694 In The Superior Spider-Man storyline, Aunt May's leg is fully healed from operation and completion surgery with gratitude of Elias Wirtham.The Superior Spider-Man #24
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel, May and Jay became part of the Parker Industries foundation, a charity focused on providing help for the less fortunate.The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #4 However, her husband Jay had coughed up blood and collapsed.The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #15 Aunt May was heartbroken after Jay died in the hospital.The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #19
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.
Shortly afterwards, May was diagnosed with cancer. While she initially does not tell Peter to avoid overwhelming him,Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 she eventually relents.Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 Peter accompanies her to chemotherapy, and asks Stephen Strange if he can use his mystic powers to cure her, but he refuses. She decides to dedicate her remaining time to serving the homeless community, and reopens F.E.A.S.T.Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 An operation to cure her is successful.Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #14
When Peter is a coma due to his exposure to poison gas and radiation in a fight with the U-Foes, May enlists Otto Octavius to help her find a cure. Together, they track down the U-Foes and obtain samples from them. Octavius breaks down the components of the gas, allowing doctors to cure Peter.Amazing Spider-Man vol. 5 #80.BEY
After taking care of a homeless Ned Leeds, May decides to reopen F.E.A.S.T., where she eventually meets a elderly charity worker named Ric Bernal and moves in with him. When Peter is sent into space by the powerful villain Hellgate, his clone, Ben Reilly, takes over his personal life and cuts off communication with May. Peter returns and attempts to mend his relationship with her, though Ric remains distrustful of him.
She and other relatives of the Parker family are targeted by the serial killer torment in the "Death Spiral" storyline. During the attacks, a businessman named Mac Crane is targeted and Torment claims he and Spider-Man are cousins. Crane gets a blood test and discovers that he is May and Ben's son. May confirms that she and Ben attempted to have a child when they were younger and were told the baby was a stillborn, but he was taken away and adopted by a different family.
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