May Parker

Spider-Man 3: Movie Prequel *(flashbacks)*Spider-Man 3: The Black *(flashbacks)*

### **Book**

*Spider-Man (novel)*
*Spider-Man 2 (novel)*
*Spider-Man 3 (novel)*

## Actors/Actresses

### **Voiced by**

Rosemary Harris

*"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."*
―May Parker to Peter Parker[src]
**May Parker** is the widow of the late Ben Parker and Peter Parker's aunt.

## Biography

### Early Life

#### Meeting Ben Parker

May Reilly met Ben Parker at some point in her life and fell in love with him. Ben would propose to May, but she declined as it would be too quick, so Ben decided to take their time slowly and continued their relationship. One day, May and Ben went to a beach on a beautiful day and they swimmed over to a nearby island, found a spot and looked up in the sky. Ben asked May to close her eyes and she did, then he said open them as he held a ring in front of her, which May thought it was the sun, and accepted his proposal this time.

Ben and May had been married for 50 years and lived a happy life together. May loved Ben so fiercely as she found him to be the most responsible man she ever known.

#### Raising Peter Parker

In 1984, May's nephew Peter Parker was born to Ben's brother, Richard Parker and sister-in law, Mary Parker. Four years later, Peter was sent to live with May and Ben after his parents were killed in a plane crash overseas. May consoled Peter and gave him a book so he could write to his parents spirits, which enabled him to cope with the loss of them. When time passed, both May and Ben raised Peter like a son, as they didn't have children, and Peter would look up to them as if they were his parents.

In 1990, May was with Peter outside their residence when the Watson family moved next door to them. When Peter saw a beautiful redheaded girl exited her family's car, he fell in love with her and asked May if that was an "angel". The redheaded girl introduced herself as Mary Jane Watson and became friends with Peter. However, Mary Jane's family was different compared to the Parkers as her father was an alcoholic and frequently tormented both Mary Jane and her mother, Madeline, which were overheard by May and her family. During her time, May would meet and befriend Harry Osborn, the son of Oscorp CEO, Norman Osborn.

### Peter's High School

Years later in 2002, Peter went on a school field trip to Columbia University where he was bitten by a genetically engineered super spider that would change his life forever. While May was preparing their dinner, she comforted Ben after the loss of his previous job and became worried for Peter when he returned home, feeling ill. The next day, Peter recovered and found he was late for school. May knocked on his door and asked if he was alright, Peter replied he was fine as he saw his body was metamorphosised into a muscular shape. May told him he was going to be late for his school bus and told him to hurry.

May would later become suspicious over Peter's behavior when he was practising his spider powers. She heard something break in Peter's room and wondered what was going on, but Peter covered it up as he was excersing and not dressed, not wanting her to see a ton of spider webs he made in his room.

#### Ben Parker's Death

One day, May was knitting when Peter was heading to the library, where he was actually going to a wrestling arena to earn some money so he could buy a car to impress Mary Jane. Ben offered to drive Peter there and May watched them leave. Later that evening, Peter returned without Ben as he was shot by a carjacker and a grieving May embraced with Peter over the loss of her husband.

#### Peter's Graduation

When Peter reached his high school graduation with a science award and diploma, May expressed how proud she was of him. Later, May found Peter in his bedroom as he missed Ben so much, which May said she missed him too, but he was there to see him graduate. Peter expressed how much he regretted lashing out on him when his uncle tried to tell him something important, May replied Ben would be so proud of him and he would never be disappointed in him and the man he would grow into.

### Green Goblin's Rampage

#### Thanksgiving Dinner

During Thanksgiving, when Peter moved 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. She would wonder where Peter would be as he better had that cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Peter, as Spider-Man, returned to his apartment by web-swinging and unintentionally made a noise, which May wondered if he was there. Just as May, followed by Norman and Harry, were about to enter Peter's room, Peter still in his Spider-Man suit, couldn't risk exposing his identity, hid on the ceiling, causing May to think there was no one in the room.

When Peter arrived, May greeted and thanked him for providing the cranberry sauce. May placed the turkey on the table and slapped Norman's hand when he attempted to eat some of the food and asked him if he would do the honors. May noticed a scratch mark on Peter's arm, which he covered as a clip from a bike messager, and May provided him the first aid kit. After Norman fled, everyone, including May heard what Norman said about MJ, which Harry argued and May called him out on it.

#### Ambush on May Parker

Shortly thereafter, when Norman learned of Spider-Man's true identity, his alter-ego, the Green Goblin, attacked May at her home while she was saying her prayers. Upon seeing the Green Goblin appearing on his glider, May was terrified by the Green Goblin's demonic appearance and was hospitalized after the Green Goblin injured her during the attack. May spent some time in the hospital recovering from the blast, with Peter keeping her some company, along with Mary Jane and Harry.

#### Hospitalised

Soon, May found Peter snoozing over his college work as he was keeping her company. May told him to go home as he needed rest and he added she was beautiful, which she thanked him for. May told him she overheard his conversation with Mary Jane earlier when she came to visit them and reminded him the time years ago when the Watsons moved in and he asked her if MJ was an angel. May's talk about Mary Jane made Peter wonder if she was alright and went to call her. After the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn's defeat, May recovered from the hospital and 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.

### Two Years Later

In 2004, Aunt May continued to keep her eye on Peter while having her own financial difficulties since the death of her husband, Ben. Eventually, the bank forced her to sell her house and live in a smaller apartment.

#### Held Hostage by Doc Ock at the Bank

Her opinion of Spider-Man was not high at the time, claiming "the less we see of him, the better." However, when May's visit to the bank with Peter was interrupted by a robbery perpetrated named Doctor Octopus, 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 onward, she believed that Spider-Man was good. It is 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 decided to give up his costumed persona.

#### Learning the Truth of Uncle Ben's Death

When Peter visits his aunt, May speaks fondly of Spider-Man which encourages him to resume his heroic activities. Later, she expresses that she feels that she caused Uncle Ben's death, prompting Peter to admit that he caused the death by not stopping the killer. May is understandably stunned and sad, but later thanks Peter and tells him that admitting the truth to her was a brave thing to do.

### Six Months Later

Six months later Peter informed Aunt May that he intended to ask Mary Jane to marry him after the two embraced. May then 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. She then elaborated to Peter how Uncle Ben proposed to her and that they would have been married for fifty years that August if Ben had not been killed. She then takes off her own engagement ring and told Peter to use it to propose to Mary Jane. May later went alongside Peter to the police station when Captain Stacy informed them that Flint Marko, 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.

#### Learning of Sandman's Apparent Death

Peter was at first shocked at his aunt's reaction for he expected Aunt May to be glad since The Sandman was Partnered with Bens Killer. 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). 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. Later, May was last seen by attended Harry Osborn's funeral.

## Facilities

* **Parker Residence** - May lived in the Parker residence in Forest Hills, Queens, New York with her husband, Ben and nephew, Peter. Following Ben's death, May was facing foreclosure on the house from the bank, which made her decide to move into a small apartment in the city.

* **May Parker's Apartment** - After moving out of her residence, May found a small apartment in the city and lived there ever since she moved. Her nephew came to visit her after he told her he was making plans to propose to Mary Jane and told him the story about how she and Ben got proposed.

## Relationships

### Family

* Ben Parker † - Husband
* Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Nephew

### Allies

* Mary Jane Watson - Friend
* Harry Osborn † - Friend
* Captain George Stacy

### Enemies

* Norman Osborn/Green Goblin † - Guest and Attempted Killer
* Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus † - Attempted Killer

## Trivia

* It was implied that in *Spider-Man 2* and *Spider-Man 3*, May would found out and knew that her nephew was Spider-Man after he saved her from Doctor Octopus and during the fight with Sandman.

## Behind the Scenes

* Before Rosemary Harris was cast as May Parker, Marion Ross were considered for the role.

## References

The Spider-Man Trilogy Wiki has a collection of images and media related to **May Parker**.

The Spider-Man Trilogy Wiki has a collection of quotes related to **May Parker**.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *Spider-Man 3*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 *Spider-Man*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Spider-Man 2*

## External Links

* May Parker on Marvel Database
* May Parker on Wikipedia