I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.
„
~ Aunt May's advice to Peter
“
Uncle Ben meant the world to us. But he would not want us to live one second with revenge in our hearts. It's like a poison. It can - It can take you over. Before you know it, turn us into something ugly.
„
~ Aunt May voicing her disapproval of Peter exacting revenge on the man who killed her husband
“
You start by doing the hardest thing, you forgive yourself.
„
~ Aunt May tells Peter to forgive himself after ridding himself of the symbiote
“
Shame on you!
„
~ Aunt May attacking Doctor Octopus
May Parker, commonly known as Aunt May, is a major character in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, which is based from the Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series.
She was depicted as a housewife who's widowed by the events of the first film and was the one who encouraged Peter the most throughout the films with her words of wisdom as Uncle Ben had done before his death in the second movie even managing to make him try to return to his Spider-Man life after giving up the personal.
Born in the 1920s or 1930s, in her late 70s or early 80s, Aunt May and Uncle Ben take care of their nephew, Peter Parker for unknown reasons in the absence of his parents.
After Ben was shot and killed by a carjacker, Peter and May shared their grief for Uncle Ben. When Peter moves into an apartment with his friend Harry Osborn, Aunt May visited them for Thanksgiving dinner. She was not shy about reprimanding Harry's father, Norman for his rude and boorish behavior that day.
Shortly thereafter, when Norman learns of Spider-Man's true identity, he attacked May at her home while she was saying her prayers. May is terrified by The Green Goblin's daemonic appearance and is hospitalized after The Green Goblin injured her in the attack.
After the Goblin's defeat, May attended Norman's funeral alongside Peter, Mary Jane and Harry. Soon after that, she and Peter visited Ben's grave located elsewhere in the very same cemetery.
Spider-Man 2[]
Two years later, Aunt May continued to keep her eye on Peter while having her own financial difficulties since the death of her husband.
Eventually, the bank forced her to sell her house and live in a smaller apartment. Her opinion of Spider-Man was not high at the time, claiming "the less we see of him, the better."
However, May's visit to the bank with Peter, was interrupted by a robber named Doctor Octopus. Later, Octavius took her hostage and climbed up the side of a skyscraper with her.
She was rescued by Spider-Man and in return, she helped Spider-Man during the battle by batting Doctor Octopus' head with her umbrella. From that point onwards, she believed that Spider-Man was good. It's implied, but never stated that she may have deduced his secret identity as her nephew.
Later, Peter's powers began to wane because of a subconscious desire to live a normal life and he decided to give up his costumed personal. When Peter visits her, Aunt May speaks fondly of Spider-Man which encourages him to resume his heroic activities.
She later expresses that she feels she caused Uncle Ben's death, prompting Peter to admit that he felt he caused the death by not stopping the killer.
May is understandably stunned and sad, but later thanks Peter by telling him that admitting the truth to her was a brave thing to do.
Spider-Man 3[]
“
It's like a poison. It can take you over. Before you know it, turns us into something ugly.
„
~ Aunt May's lecture to her nephew Peter about not taking revenge.
Six months later, Peter informed Aunt May that he intended to ask Mary Jane to marry him which the two embraced.
Then, May told him that he needed to come up with a good way to instigate his proposal and that he needs to put his wife before himself, no matter what.
May elaborated to Peter how Uncle Ben proposed to her and that they would've been married for fifty years if Ben was here. So, she takes off her own engagement ring and told Peter to use it to propose to Mary Jane.
Later on, May went alongside Peter to the police station when Captain Stacy informed them that Flint Marko, Ben's "actual" killer, was still on the run.
Later, when Peter informed May about The Sandman's apparent demise at the hands of Spider-Man (under the influence of an alien symbiote), she delivered another speech which was more of a warning to Peter of the danger to oneself in seeking revenge.
Peter was at first shocked at his aunt's reaction for he expected Aunt May to be glad as The Sandman was the one who killed Uncle Ben which Peter soon realized that this is not the case and Aunt May says that Uncle Ben would never have wanted such revenge.
Much later, May talked to Peter in his apartment where he stated that he'd done terrible things (after separating from the symbiote suit that had caused him to hurt both Mary Jane and Harry). Aunt May responds that he must forgive himself, which she states is the hardest thing to do.
He tried to return her ring to her, but Aunt May says that she knows that he will find a way to put it right and gives it back. May later appears attending Harry Osborn's funeral.
Trivia[]
Aunt May begins to blame herself for Uncle Ben's death in the film, but in the second film's novelization, Peter wonders is it because Ben is haunting her as well, especially now he's given up Spider-Man. When he confesses his part in Uncle Ben's death, May tells him to leave instead of just getting up and going to her room in silence as she does in the film.
Rosemary Harris later appeared with Marisa Tomei, one of her successors as Aunt May Parker, in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007).
Rosemary Harris enjoyed doing her own stunts. Contrarily, Alfred Molina didn't because he claims he's not very good at them, and he doesn't like taking work away from real stuntmen.
Marion Ross was considered for the role of Aunt May.
Rosemary Harris is only six years younger than Jeff Donnell, who portrayed Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Man (1977).
Rosemary Harris later appeared with Marisa Tomei, one of her successors as Aunt May Parker, in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007).
Unlike her comic version, May doesn't hate nor is she afraid of Spider-Man. Because she knows that he's a true hero and it's unknown if she knows that her nephew is Spider-Man or not, though the second film and a scene of the third film highly imply that she does know.
According to some rumors, there were plans for Rosemary Harris to reprise her role as Aunt May in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, her inclusion was scrapped to avoid "excessive fan service". It's unknown whether May is still alive by the time that film takes place or not, as her nephew's comments to his MCU counterpart that he is sorry for what happened to his May could imply that his aunt has passed away and he knows what it feels to lose a loved one or not.
Out of all the villains of the trilogy, Green Goblin and Doc Ock either threatened or held Aunt May hostage, while Venom and Sandman did not.