Aunt May in the MC2

Peter’s dear Aunt May is perhaps one of the most well-known supporting characters in all of comics, but her depictions and characterisation is inconsistent. However, in the MC2, the senior May Parker is well served despite the obvious problem of her being long-dead. Let us take a look at Peter Parker’s real mum today: Aunt May in the MC2.

 

Aunt May aka May Parker (nee Reilly) first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, though some will point out a ‘prototype’ Aunt May (and Uncle Ben) in Strange Tales #97 some six months earlier. As for her MC2 debut, we first meet Aunt May when her namesake, May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl is accidentally sent back in time by the dimension-hopping villain Spyral. While in the past, Mayday heads to her family home with the intention of enlisting her father’s help to get back to her own time. Instead, she is greeted by her great Aunt and the two discuss Peter over a cuppa. When Mayday learns Aunt May is about to give up trying to get Peter and Mary Jane to meet, she encourages her not to give up and to do what she thinks is right. Probably a good thing May didn’t give up (Spider-Girl #10).

 

After encountering the original Spider-Slayer, her own father as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch, Mayday returns to Parker Family Residence in Forest Hills to again try and find her father. Instead, Mayday is greeted by May and -much to her surprise- Liz Allan, Betty Brant and her own mother, Mary Jane Watson. True to form, we see both Liz and Betty’s thought’s and they are not pleased to see another female looking for Peter Meanwhile, Mary Jane’s thoughts are not depicted and she appears comfortable and confident in this situation, greeting Mayday politely in a singsong voice. It is a minor note but one that fits well into the 60’s depiction of Mary Jane. Anyway, sorry for the tangent. Mayday leaves the Parker Family Home, chatting with Mary Jane and that is the last we see of Aunt May during this time-travel story (Spider-Girl #11).

 

 Temporary wheelchair user Mary Jane invokes Peter’s Aunt May when explaining to Mayday how she learned the importance of staying true to yourself no matter how many obstacles get in your path. Mary Jane also mentions that Mayday never met Aunt May because she died before Mayday was born, a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #400 (Spider-Girl #42).

 

May’s death in Amazing Spider-Man #400 is confirmed in the letters page of Spider-Girl #47 where a fan writes in to point out that the character had been revealed alive after Mayday’s birth, referencing the (frankly terrible) retcon seen in the Main Marvel Universe Spider-Man titles during ‘The Final Chapter’ arc where it was revealed that the May who died had actually been a ‘genetically altered’ (read: not a clone) actress giving her final and best performance. The response to the letter clarifies that ‘in Mayday’s universe, Aunt May really passed away for real that first time.’

 

 

Ben Reilly had heard that May Parker was dying, which prompted him to return to New York, as seen in flashbacks narrated by Peter to his daughter. It is also noted that May’s maiden name Reilly was used by Ben when coming up with his own name (Spider-Girl #44). May’s maiden surname was first revealed in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #4, a story dedicated to telling some of her past history.

 

After falling prey to the machinations of Misery and being trapped in a strange nightmarish hallucination which culminated in Mayday transforming into a monstrous giant Girl-Spider, shrinking to the size of a spider and being washed out of a water spout. About to give up, Mayday is told she is no quitter by a voice emanating from a glowing light. The voice tells her she is a lot tougher than she thinks and that she will always have the strength of mind and character to live, fight and win. Mayday realizes she recognizes the person now and feeling reinvigorated, is able to break free from Misery’s Grief Machine and win the day. A few hours later, Mayday searches through Peter’s old photos until she finds the one she’s looking for: Peter’s Aunt May, Mayday’s namesake and guardian angel. Mayday says that her great-aunt is just the kind of woman she hopes to become someday (Spider-Girl #90).

Over in the Mr and Mrs Spider-Man stories, we see a flashback to the day Peter was turned over by his parents, Richard and Mary Parker to his Aunt May and Uncle Ben as a very young boy. His parents would never return, dying shortly afterwards in a plane crash (Amazing Spider-Man Family #2).

 

May’s role of guardian angel persists into the final arc of the Amazing Spider-Girl series, ‘Maybreak’ which opens with Mayday in an apparent coma following an explosion. Inside Mayday’s troubled mind, May appears as a young woman with blonde hair and tells her their fates have always been entwined even if Mayday doesn’t recognize her. May sagely informs Mayday about Norman Osborn’s kidnapping and cloning plot and Kaine’s rescue of her when she was a baby. May directs Mayday to a cave wherein she encounters ‘the beast;’ a larger-than-life version of Spider-Girl. While fighting herself, Mayday is warned of danger by May just as Araña appears and offers help. May’s warnings go unheeded, and Mayday accepts the offer only for her body to be taken over by Araña (Amazing Spider-Girl #25).

 

Alongside the now human-sized Spider-Girl ‘monster,’ Mayday is guided through the transformed vista of her now Mall-like mindscape by May, where she glimpses her clone posing as her alongside her mother and brother. By working together with the Spider-Girl creature, Mayday is able to fend off an attack by Araña’s *ahem* ‘Mall Rats’. To breach the barrier of Araña’s  sanctum, May directs Mayday to work with Spider-Girl, in the process embracing her destiny and in doing so accepting the heavy burden of her responsibility. Having done so, Mayday awakens in Araña’s body instead of her own (Amazing Spider-Girl #26).

 

Remaining as a voice in Mayday’s head, May warns her that losing focus or becoming distracted could cause her to be cast back into the spirit world forever. Making a hasty exit, Mayday is encouraged to seek out someone she can trust by May and Mayday decides to try and contact her father. After saving a woman from a mugging, Mayday borrows her phone and, unable to reach him, she contacts Normie Osborn and tells him of her situation. Confronting someone dressed as Spider-Girl who turns out to be her clone, Mayday is warned by May to rein in her temper to avoid losing their bond to the physical realm only to collapse shortly afterwards and awaken back in her body with the Black Tarantula threatening to kill her (Amazing Spider-Girl #27).

 

With Black Tarantula believing Araña is still commandeering Spider-Girl’s body, May warns the younger Mayday he won’t listen to reason. After Mayday convinces him, May questions her association with a criminal like the Black Tarantula. Mayday returns home to check on her family, and learns that Peter is still missing, while May is moved to see Mary Jane and Benjy. Having teamed up with the Black Tarantula, Spider-Girl’s decision is challenged by May who tells her she was raised better by her parents. Upon encountering the Green Goblin attacking Kaine, May disapproves of Spider-Girl’s association with the latter before it is revealed that Norman Osborn has taken over Peter Parker’s body. May is shocked by the brutal beating the Goblin inflicts on Spider-Girl and she tells her she is in no condition to stop him. Called out for the lack of confidence by Spider-Girl, May apologizes and admitted she was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do, before the Green Goblin and Spider-Girl crash into the Parker’s Family Home only to discover the clone Mayday there also (Amazing Spider-Girl #28).

 

Now with three Mays in the mix along with an Osborn-possessed Peter Parker, spirit May advices Spider-Girl to get Mary Jane and Benjy to safety. When the Green Goblin attempts to play mind games with Spider-Girl, May tells her not to second-guess herself. When Araña offers her assistance again, May believes she is telling the truth and is surprised when the clone May is revealed as a symbiote before engulfing the Goblin. With Mayday leaping amongst them, May once again assumes the role of her spirit guide, this time within Peter Parker’s subconscious. May remarks that Peter remains haunted by past mistakes, battles and enemies and will be until his dying day, and that as a Parker he knows how to hide his pain. The two come upon Peter’s subconscious stronghold decorated in images of his family which reminds him why the world needs someone like Spider-Man. Finding the stronghold breached, May and Spider-Girl find Norman Osborn has Peter Parker at his mercy (Amazing Spider-Girl #29).

May suggests that Spider-Girl retreat but she refuses, insisting she must find a way to beat him here and now. Controlling the psychic realm around them, Norman plucks memories of Peter’s first official battle with the Goblin and adds the Enforcers before changing the location to the Night Gwen Stacy Died atop the Brooklyn Bridge. May remarks this is the site of Peter’s most traumatic loss from which he never truly recovered. Using training from her father, Mayday leaps down and saves memory-Gwen only to discover she’s actually the clone-symbiote hybrid May in disguise. May tells Norman they both belong in the past and helps by changing the scene to Mayday’s memories. When Norman appears to have the upper-hand once more, May implores Peter to join his strength with hers allowing him to aid his daughter and shift the balance. With the three of them having driven off Osborn with the help of Mayday’s clone, May appears as she would through Peter’s eyes and he recognizes her as his Aunt May. Together they drive out the spirit of Norman Osborn. As they do so May telling Peter how proud she and Uncle Ben are of the parents he and Mary Jane have become and that she was pleased to spend quality time with her grand-niece and meet her grand-nephew. May spirits concludes by telling Mayday she has a tongue on her but she is a fine young woman, a real Parker who’ll go far. With that, May’s spirit banishes Osborn and frees the others in a blinding flash of light (Amazing Spider-Girl #30).

 

Aunt May proves to be quite the influential character in the MC2; even though she remains dead her spirit lives on both through her family and her enduring spirit. I hope to someday put together another post involving May Parker and her impact and connections to the wider universe.

 

Until I figure out how an actress can be a perfect duplicate but not a clone of an elderly family member, and fool everyone by using very personal memories, I remain

 

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