The Spider-Man storylines Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon have gone out of their way to feature a deluge of new or obscure versions of the classic Marvel superhero. Many new incarnations of the hero have been introduced who have different origins and identities to the original Peter Parker, including many of his friends and family.
However, one of the kindest versions of the hero might be Spider-Ma'am, a version of the Spider-Man who is actually Peter's aunt, May Parker. Now, CBR is looking back at the classic origins of the character and her eventual role in the future of the Marvel Universe.
WHO IS SPIDER-MA'AM?
Spider-Ma'am first appeared in What If? #23 as a back-up story by Steve Skeates & Alan Kupperberg. In this reality, May Parker realized that her nephew had forgotten his lunch on the fateful day he was to be bitten by a radioactive spider. Rushing to bring him the bag, May ended up in the lab and became the one bitten instead. Heading home after discovering her new agility and strength, May fashioned herself a costume with the intention of making some fast cash.
But things took a turn when the small-level villain Leap-Frog went on a crime spree. Seeing the incident on television, May sprung into action with her new costume, going by the name of Spider-Ma'am. She was able to apprehend the villain thanks to a sticky bread dough she turned into makeshift web-shooters, giving her the ability to tie him up, swing around through the city and cushion any accidental fall. But she terrified her nephew with her abilities, and eventually (in an inverse of the classic Spider-Man formula) decided that she would have to hide her identity from her family to keep them from discovering the truth and having a panic attack.
Team Spider-Ma'am
Eventually, her identity was exposed during the events of Spider-Verse. When the misfit Inheritor Karn came to kill May and claim her totem lifeforce, she offered up her life to protect her family. However, a band of heroes from the Spider-Army arrived to protect her. They were eventually able to win Karn over to their side and took him back to the Spider-Verse war. Although May wasn't dragged into that conflict, her identity was exposed to her family in the process.
Rather than condemning her though, Peter and Ben Parker began to work as her support team. Thanks to Peter's inventions, Spider-Ma'am soon had a fully operational web-shooter of her own. One of her first major opponents was the Vulture. The battle was hard-fought, but thanks in part to Peter's inventions and the moral support of Ben, May was able to make quick work of the super-villain and hand-deliver him to the police. This suggests that Spider-Ma'am will be more open to working directly with the authorities than her nephew ever was.
SPIDER-MA'AM IN SPIDER-GEDDON
Spider-Ma'am may have been able to avoid most of Spider-Verse, but she was one of the heroes recruited to help in the follow-up story, Spider-Geddon. She ends up being part of the final offensive that helps the Spider heroes take the advantage away from the Inheritors. She helps win the final battle against the Inheritors family and helps her fellow Spider-Totems finally defeat their enemies. Once the Spiders win, she ends up playing perhaps the most important role after their victory.
After the Superior Spider-Man reveals his plans to revert the Inheritors to infancy and raise them correctly, May volunteers to take the family of infants into her home. She promises to raise them right, keeping them from becoming the villains they might otherwise become. The other Spider heroes, even the ones who'd suggested killing the infants, all agree that May is the only one who could raise the formerly villainous family right. This means that Spider-Ma'am might be responsible for a heroic incarnation of the Inheritors, which could become some of the strongest heroes in the multiverse.
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