Aunt May Profile

Real Name:

Aunt May Parker

Location:

New York

First Appearance:

Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)

Created By:

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Powers:

Aunt May has no super powers. She has been a source of strength to Peter throughout his life, giving him guidance and wisdom. She has often been in the crossfire of Spider-Man’s villains and has handled herself admirably when needed to.

Team Affiliations:

She is not affiliated with any team but continues to support Peter Parker as his role in Spider-Man.

Currently Seen In:

Amazing Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man

Interesting Fact:

At one time in her life, she had a romantic relationship with one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies, Doctor Otto Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus.

Origin:

May and Ben Parker became parents late in life. When Peter Parker’s mother and father died, it was May and Ben that took him in. At first a little leery of the young boy, May finally became charmed with him and became like a parent to him.

Things took a turn for the worst in one of the most memorable moments in comic book history. Young Peter Parker had gained powers from a radioactive spider bite, gaining the abilities of a spider. He first used those powers for greed, earning money and fame. When he could have stopped a robber at a TV station, he opted not to stop him. Days later, he came home to find his Uncle Ben killed. He tracked the killer to a nearby warehouse and found it to be the same robber he could have stopped earlier.

For Aunt May, the loss was devastating, but through this time, with a young nephew to care for, her true inner strength was revealed. Aunt May pressed forward, unbeknown to her that her adopted son was really the masked superhero Spider-Man. She doted on him, making sure he had everything he needed, putting the energy from her husband’s death into taking care of young Peter Parker.

Aunt May has had many adventures being the adoptive mother of Spider-Man. Many times her life became in danger, when villains attacked Spider-Man and Aunt May was near or while the two would be out and about, and Spider-Man was needed. Peter often felt conflicted with leaving his frail Aunt behind while he went and saved the day, and this was a theme throughout much of the Spider-Man series.

One of the more famous stories about Aunt May involve Doctor Octopus. For a while the two developed a relationship and Peter had to keep his mouth shut about one of his most dangerous enemies. Fortunately for Peter, the two ended the relationship.

Another story had Aunt May being kidnapped and replaced by an aged and genetically altered actress. The storyline was panned by many fans and many felt that the whole storyline didn’t bring much to the character of Aunt May. It wasn’t until later when J. Michael Strazynski came aboard that balance was restored when Aunt May discovered Peter lying in his bed, exhausted after a battle with his Spider-Man costume lying on the floor. They later had a talk about it, with Aunt may confronting Peter about the fact that he was Spider-Man and had lied to her all this time. The two have come to a truce about this, vowing to have a more honest and open relationship. The result is that Aunt May has become one of Peter’s and Spider-Man’s greatest supporters.

Now, after Marvel’s Civil War where superheroes have been forced to register with the government, making wanted men out of America’s superheroes, Aunt May is on the lamb with Peter and Mary Jane. When a sniper took a shot at Peter, he hit Aunt May instead. Her future now seems uncertain. Regardless, Aunt May has been a huge part of the Spider-Man comic books and is one of the icons of the Marvel Universe. She will continue to be a large part of what makes the Spider-Man comics great.