Aunt May

Aunt May
Aunt May by Joe Quinones
Art by Joe Quinones
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAs Aunt May: Strange Tales #97 (January 1962)
As May Parker: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
Steve Ditko (artist)
In-story information
Full nameMaybelle Parker-Jameson (née Reilly)
SpeciesHuman
Place of originBrooklyn, New York
Team affiliationsParker Industries
Supporting character ofSpider-Man
Notable aliasesAunt May, May Reilly, May Fitzgerald, Golden Oldie, May Morgan

Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly 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, playing 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 nurturing and supportive of Peter as a mother figure, 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 is aware that he is her nephew or at least suspecting his identity as Peter. 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.