Spider-Man would not be the hero he is today were it not for his doting aunt, May Parker. May has been a staple of the Spider-Man franchise since the character first debuted way back in the '60s. Stan Lee really hit it out of the park not just with his greatest creation in Peter Parker, but also with the Spider-Man side characters like Aunt May.
Writers of the Spider-Man comics seem completely unwilling to let the elderly character die off. That seems to be the case because of how amazing a character she continues to be all these decades later. That being said, there are some alternate versions of Aunt May that are not quite as spectacular. Here are the five best versions of Aunt May in Spider-Man comics and the five worst.
10 Best: The Lady Spider
During the Spider-Verse storyline, the Peter Parker of the mainstream Marvel continuity was introduced to a plethora of alternate reality spider-characters that were all a sort of cracked-mirror version of himself. One of these was a young May Reilly (Reilly being May's maiden name) who had taken up the mantle of the Lady Spider.
This superhero May used some steampunk-esque technology to create a four-armed apparatus that allowed her to climb walls and move around at high speeds. Between those arms and her web-shooters, this May became quite the formidable superhero.
9 Worst: Cosmic Golden Oldie
There are other versions of Aunt May that have also become powerful superheroes. In this case, however, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. This additional alternate version of May went on to serve as Galactus' herald and became known as the Golden Oldie.
Now if you happen to believe that things couldn't possibly get more ridiculous, that's where you're wrong. Galactus, the world eater, sends Aunt May on a quest to find planets for him to eat. Instead, she gives him some twinkies which turn out to do just the trick.
8 Best: MCU
With the introduction of Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe came all sorts of wacky and interesting changes to the character's story. One of the biggest of these changes was how the MCU handled Aunt May.
In the comic books, Aunt May seems like more of a grandma than an aunt. In these movies, actress Marisa Tomei much better reflects an age-appropriate aunt as well as an attitude that matches her younger energy.
7 Worst: Amazing Spider-Man Aunt May
Sally Fields portrayed a much tougher version of Aunt May in the Andrew Garfield led The Amazing Spider-Man films. While her performances are by no means bad in and of themselves, this version of Aunt May doesn't capture what is truly special about the character.
At the center of any true to character, Aunt May needs to have a good dose of warm-heartedness. While Sally Fields' Aunt May wasn't exactly cold per se, she definitely didn't capture this part of the classic Aunt May character.
6 Best: Raimi Trilogy
No cinematic Aunt May has been more perfect and true to the character than the Rosemary Harris version of the character from the Sam Raimi trilogy. Harris brought that warm-heartedness to the role that was missing in Sally Fields' performance.
Harris also captured the doting, elderly maternal personality that fans of the Spider-Man comics from back in the '60s were used to. Along with that, she managed to show quite a bit of wisdom as Peter's mother-figure as well, which helped improve the quality of the story.
5 Worst: The Invincible Golden Oldie
In yet another embarrassingly weird alternate reality comic book, Aunt May becomes the superhero known as the Golden Oldie. This time, however, she isn't a cosmically powered herald of Galactus.
In this What If? comic, Aunt May dons the Iron Man armor. Yet again taking the name Golden Oldie, she uses this new weapon in her fight against crime. There are few images more cringeworthy in Marvel comics than an elderly Aunt May trying to play the superhero.
4 Best: Ultimate
The Ultimate May seemed to have a little more personality than traditional interpretations of the character. Nevertheless, she still stayed true to everything that made Aunt May so special in the original Amazing Spider-Man comic books.
In the Ultimate universe, all of the Marvel characters were updated to better fit the 21st century. Aunt May was no exception when it came to those "updates." The writers chose to make her a bit younger, and a bit more relatable, which greatly helped her character. Many of these choices actually influenced the mainstream Aunt May's portrayal over time.
3 Worst: Ant May
This may be one of the most laughable versions of Aunt May in existence. A play on words, this version of the character, Ant May, is actually an ant.
Ant May's nephew is Peter the Spider who was eventually bitten by a radioactive pig and turned into Spider-Ham. Her husband is Uncle Bee.
2 Best: 616
Nothing beats the original. The very best Aunt May, to this day, is still the very first ever version of the character created by Stan Lee. Very few characters from back in the 1960s have stood the test of time as well as she has.
This Aunt May is the warmhearted, morally upstanding, strong yet gentle maternal figure that helps guide Peter on his journey to being a good superhero and a great man. Without her, Spider-Man just wouldn't be the same.
1 Worst: Carnage May
In more recent comics, a new, twisted and evil version of Aunt May has been introduced. This Aunt May is a horrific looking supervillain that has been taken over by the Carnage symbiote.
She isn't the only evil one in the family. Uncle Ben of this reality appears to be a bloodthirsty nihilist and their nephew Peter uses his scientific knowledge to help the trio do many terrible things.