May Parker has lived a surprisingly long life, given the amount of danger that secretly being Spider-Man's aunt can bring. Over the course of the last nearly 60 years, the character has been threatened with death numerous times -- and even seemed to meet it more than once. But every time, May just ends up surviving and coming back.
Here are the most notable times Marvel teased the "final" death of Aunt May, only to reverse course.
The Amazing Spider-Man #200
For a period of time, May Parker lived in the Restwell Nursing Home. There, she made a number of friends and lived a simple life. However, at the conclusion of The Amazing Spider-Man #195, Spider-Man receives a telegram from the nursing home doctor, Dr. Rinehart, informing him that May has died of a heart attack. Rinehart even appears to show May's body to Peter, which has already been loaded into a coffin.
In Peter's grief, he ignores his Spider-Sense. What he doesn't realize is the Spider-Sense is accurate and Doctor Rinehart is actually Mysterio in disguise, running a scam at the retirement home. It's eventually revealed Mysterio even has a partner in crime: The Burglar who shot and killed Ben Parker.
It's revealed the Burglar came to the Parker house looking for mafia money that was left behind before the Parkers bought the place. Mysterio decides to work with the Burglar to draw information about the treasure out of an unwitting May, but Peter's constant visiting makes it harder to interrogate May without anyone noticing, so they fake her death to force Peter away. After Mysterio is defeated, the Burglar tries to use May as a hostage to force Peter to reveal the truth about the treasure. Spider-Man confronts him and even reveals his secret identity to the Burglar, terrifying the criminal so much he has a heart attack and dies. May is taken to a local hospital to recover from the ordeal.
The Clone Saga
During the early 1990s, May Parker grew increasingly ill. Her deteriorating health led her to fall into a coma, which was enough to bring Ben Reilly back to New York City and inadvertently set off the second Clone Saga. In The Amazing Spider-Man #400, she wakes up and even seems be healthy once again. She has one last week with Peter (even revealing that she knows the truth of his secret identity as Spider-Man), before collapsing. Peter is able to rush her home to her bed, where May says she can feel herself slipping away. Peter stays by her side until she passes away in the middle of the night.
She remains dead for a period of time, during which Peter and Mary-Jane have a daughter named after May who is declared stillborn -- but secretly stolen away by agents of Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin. While fighting the villain, Peter goes in search of a "May" that Osborn had captured. Believing it to be his daughter, Peter is shocked to find his Aunt May instead.
It turns out Norman had used Miles Warren's DNA-modifying technology to turn an actress into an exact copy of May Parker, who died in May's place while he held May captive and she recovered from her sickness. Norman even told the woman Peter's secret identity to help make the entire situation even more tragic for Peter. Afterwards, Peter is able to bring May back into his life -- completely unaware of his secret identity.
One More Day
May Parker eventually learns the truth about Peter's secret identity on her own and makes her peace with it. She even tries to help him at times, especially during the period where Spider-Man belongs to the Avengers. During the early days of Civil War, Spider-Man is convinced by Iron Man to fully ally with his side, and even reveal his identity to the world.
After Spider-Man switches sides, however, he and his family are forced to go on the run. While attempting to flee New York City, an assassin for the Kingpin is able to track down the Parkers and take a shot at Peter. However, his Spider-Sense keeps him out of the line of fire. Unfortunately, the shot instead strikes May, who quickly falls into a coma.
On the brink of death, Spider-Man isn't able to find any other way to restore his aunt to full health. Instead, it's the demonic Mephisto who brings her back. Luring Peter and Mary-Jane into a conversation on another plane, Mephisto offers to restore May's health on the condition that the marriage between Peter and Mary-Jane is essentially nullified from the timeline. Mary-Jane and Peter reluctantly agree to the deal, with Mary-Jane even sweetening the pot by making Mephisto agree to erase the memory of Peter's identity as Spider-Man from the world and leave him alone for the rest of his days. Mephisto accepts and the universe is altered as a result. This leads to the restoration May Parker, as well as other dead people such as Harry Osborn.
KEEP READING: Marvel Adds Another Tragic Dimension To Gwen Stacy's Infamous Death