Marvel Finds Their Aunt May in Marisa Tomei

Fear not true believers! Marvel’s Spider-Man is starting to swing into being a respectable movie. Weeks after Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios named Tom Holland the new Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, it was announced today that Marisa Tomei will be joining Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Tomei will play the part of Peter’s aunt May. Aunt May is a pivotal part in the Spider Man mythos as she acts as Peter’s mother figure after the tragic loss of her husband Ben. After the loss of Uncle Ben, May cares for Peter through his transition as a promising high school genius to a web swinging superhero.

The news is a big retread for Tomei as she’s mostly seen in indie films, such as My Cousin Vinny and The Wrestler. It’s also a retread for Spider-Man films as Aunt May is usually portrayed to be much older. Rosemary Harris (87) and Sally Field (68) played the role in the previous films.

It makes sense for Marvel to make Aunt May younger as this version of Spider-Man is set to portray Peter Parker as a 16 year old. This is welcome change of pace for Tomei as she’s an Academy Award Winner with her biggest box office grab being Crazy, Stupid, Love in 2011.

Sony and Marvel agreed to bring Spider-Man in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in February. This means we will not only be seeing a new solo Spider-Man film, but also be seeing Spidy in Captain America: Civil War who plays an important part in the Civil War story. There’s still no word if Marisa Tomei will be joining Holland in Captain America: Civil War, but she will be making her appearance in Spider-Man’s stand alone film.

Marvel’s Spider-Man will be in theater in 3D and Imax on July 28th, 2017!

Excelsior!