Dan Slott, the acclaimed writer of many Spider-Man comics, revealed that Aunt May was nearly cut from the PlayStation 4 game.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Slott said that developer Insomniac Games initially intended to leave Aunt May out of Marvel's Spider-Man due to her wrinkles. "They were telling me the reality of it; according to them, old characters - wrinkly characters - to make them look good and realistic, it takes a big amount of work. Equal to what they could use to create five other characters," said Slott.
While Peter Parker's aunt would have been physically absent from the game, her presence would have still been felt. Slott continued, "They wanted Aunt May to just be a voice on the answering machine or over the phone. In a very early version, they didn't want Aunt May to even be an NPC." Slott was able to convince the development team to include Aunt May by pointing out that the Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation of the character, played by Marisa Tomei, didn't feature an abundance of wrinkles. Slott concluded by saying that while Aunt May was an early point of conflict for the team, he's pleased that she made it into the game as a significant character.
Released in 2018, Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man was praised by both critics and fans of the character. The story focuses on Peter Parker, who's been operating as Spider-Man for several years, as he attempts to combat a power vacuum in New York City following the arrest of Wilson Fisk AKA The Kingpin. Aunt May, played by Nancy Linari, appears throughout the game to provide Perter with sage advice while attempting to keep the local homeless shelter above water.
A sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man is currently in development and is expected to release in 2023. The recently revealed teaser trailer confirms that both Peter Parker and Miles Morales will appear in the game, while Kraven the Hunter and Venom are set up to be the main antagonists.
If you want to see how much effort went into animating Aunt May, you can pick up Marvel's Spider-Man on PlayStation 4. There's a next-gen upgrade for the game available on PlayStation 5, albeit with a slightly different look for Peter Parker.
Source: GamesRadar+