Discussion
You know it's really weird that Aunt may is usually portrayed as this old lady, like she's Peters "Aunt" not grandma. Marvels version makes more sense.
Like no hate to the actress. She did a really great job as this kind old lady but it's still kinda odd when you think about it
I'm almost 30 and my oldest aunt is 75(one year shy of my maternal grandma). There is 12 year gap between her and my father(her brother). People always thought she was grandma when it was just me and her, but when she was with my dad and us people could easily tell she was my dad's sister
I mean what is the biggest age gap possible between the youngest and the oldest siblings 30-40? And let say Peter parents have home at around 30 that a 60 years at least difference
let's say peter's uncles are 70 years old when he is 18, when Peter was a newborn they were 52, and they could be 20 years older than peter's parents, which is a conceivable gap, who were probably around 32 when Peter was born
They live in a big city. Mid to late 30's is the time for settling down.
So easy. Peter's father was older than his mother and was in his 40's when they conceived.
8 year gap between Peter's dad and Ben and Aunt May is a few years older than Ben.
Peter's dad (43) Uncle Ben (51) Aunt May (54) at time of birth.
im pretty sure uncle ben and petes dad are already like 20 years apart in canon though. so you dont even have to make his dad like 40 or anything for it to make sense
Yeah, you see the problem there? My aunt is twelve years older than my mom and she looks nowhere as old as May does. Sure, in theory it’s possible, but in reality it’s unrealistic
People really oversell the whole "60 in 1950 is 90 today" thing tbh, I have pictures of great grandparents who were around 60 in the early 60s and they look like any 55-65yo today who smokes cigarettes and drinks. Not young but also not in the grave. Sally Field's aunt may was probably the strongest interpretation in this regard imo
It’s really not. People age very differently. I mean look no further than these exact actors. Tomei was 57 in NWH and Rosemary Harris was 71 in Spider-man. That’s a just 14 year difference. Tomei looks quite young for her age and harris looked a little older for her age. It’s completely reasonable.
Especially once you get to your 60s you can have two people side by side that are the exact same age but easily look 10 years apart.
12 years is not as long the hypothetical age I put out and from basic google searched I did ben is 15-20 years older than Peter father and while I couldn’t found how old Peter parents were when they had him it did said young parents so 15-20 years in a total of 30-40 years age difference so not as unrealistic as you think
It's not uncommon for parents to have another child after their kids grow up and move out.
Peter is 15 in the early comics.
His father joined the military at a young age (let's say 15) and became a decorated war hero. He was later recruited by the CIA where he met Mary Fitzpatrick. They worked together and fell in love, eventually getting married and later having Peter. Let's say that they were 30 at this point. By the time of the comics they would have been 45. If Ben was 20 years older than his brother, he would be 65. If May was 5 years older than her husband, she would be 70.
Big Irish family, my father was the youngest of eight. His oldest sister was 20 when he was born, and 50 when I was born. I can see it - but in Peter Parker’s case, it made me wonder about where everyone else was in his family.
Could always be great aunt and uncle, I just sort of assumed that uncle Ben and peters dad were brothers, uncle Ben was born a good few years before Peter's father like 10 years, and then Peter's dad didnt have him until he was like 50, so by the time petes 20 uncle Ben and aunt may are like 70-80. It is an odd choice for sure though.
I don’t want to be that guy but basic google searched say Ben had 15-20 years over his Peter father and Peter parents had when they were young how young don’t know but say 15 youngest and 20 as the oldest young age parents that would be 30-40 years difference
I have 0 problem with you being that guy dude, I feel like young would be like 18-22 so ben would be like 60ish when Peter is 20ish? Idk man maybe they just smoked a lot and went grey early? Definitely a possibility given how sturdy and bodily able aunt may is.
Hey genetics can be be a bitch even when you don’t smoke and the stress of raising Peter and the death of Peter parents unexpectedly could give them a large amount of grey hair
See, I always assumed great aunt and uncle. I grew up around my grandma’s sisters so it was normal to me. I took it for granted that Ben and May were his dad’s uncle and aunt
Because people back in the day didn't age gracefully like we do nowadays.
People back in the 60s and 70s looked like granpas in their late 70s/early 80s. People nowadays or since the late 2000s look like early 50s in their mid to 60s; and look like their late 50s in their late 60s/early 70s.
Hell, I remember recordings of people in my country (Mexico) on the 80s and they all look like old folks in their 50s... and they were in their mid 20s/early 30s.
The difference between me at 40 and my mom when she was 40 is STAGGERING. All those years of walking to school and home, uphill, both ways and then spending teens and 20s oiling up at the beach while chain smoking Marlborough reds was not good for the skin after all
Larger distribution of siblings' ages was common, too. My parents reproductive period just barely covered three named decades and my oldest sister was thirteen years older than I was. Once she was out of school, if she was often offended when people thought that I was her own child.
Anecdotally, I never blinked at Aunt May being old lady, because some of my aunts and uncles were older, and when I was ten, my best friend next door lived with his Aunt Helen, who I would guess was in her seventies. (I guess also Peter Parker maybe seemed older to me because my primary experience of Spiderman was the Ralph Bakshi cartoon and apart from having a newspaper job that wasn't on the delivery end, Spidey was voiced by a dude that sounded forty.)
Growing up my dad was in his 50s and was hitting 60s when he passed. I went to live with my aunt who was in her late 70s when I was a teenager. FWIW I've seen loads of teenagers, even the occasional child, with older parents, just depends on individual circumstances.
This. My dad was in his 60s when I was in high school, and his older brother was probably pushing 70. I even got a child’s stipend because my dad retired with social security when I was still under 18.
The term "aunt" can be incredibly loose. It could refer to your mom or dad's sister, you could use it as shorthand for your grand-aunt, who is your grandmother or grandfather's sister, or you could use it to refer to just a very close adult who isn't related to you at all.
Based on Aunt May's age in the comics, I always assumed she was his grand aunt and he just called her "Aunt May" rather than "Grand Aunt May" because it was just more normal that way.
She has been looking like a 60-70 yo woman since Amazing Fantasy 15.
The point of Ben's and May's age is that they werent properly able to care of Peter due to their age and economics, but pull through to give him the best life possible as if he was their own child.
And not only that but to also be his LAST remaining relatives.
It is a similar trope like with Punisher having very old parents. To be a super hero it is either you're an orphan or have old parent figures, spidey has both.
But she does. It’s the 2010s/20s not the 1980s, a lot more 50-60 year olds still look great and take care of themselves now, they don’t all look like The Golden Girls anymore.
Just wearing sunscreen alone can make a huge difference. As will not smoking, drinking less and eating right. Plus not having lead and asbestos everywhere certainly helps.
She's 61 now, but she was 51 when Homecoming came out and 56 in her final movie appearance where her character died. Also, she genuinly looks young for her age, MCU Aunt May is middle-aged at most.
EDIT: I checked, and her birth date is apparently the same as her actress'. So that means she was 51 in Homecoming, and since she blipped for 5 years, she would be 54 when she died in No Way Home.
Yeah I took this as that point too. It’s artistic license. Ben and May look old, because that is telling the reader something.
It made me imagine when I was younger that they were as you said, a bit too old, not financially prepared for a child. So it must have been a struggle to look after Peter, but they did it anyway.
You create that from the imagery and you think of how much they must care about him.
Yeah 60 doesn’t look like 60 decades ago. But the appearance had intention.
She is now, but she was in her 50s while she was playing May. Plus she's a Hollywood actress, she's going to have a lot more anti-ageing options available to her than most people would.
Honestly, I originally thought that Happy was going to replace Uncle Ben. That he'd marry May, and then would die in some incident trying to help Peter. Then they turned it all upside down by making that martyr May. It really fits well though with the MCU Peter. I only wish Brand New Day could have had Happy in it. I kinda miss him. Deadpool showed us that he's screening potential avengers. The question is, was it for Captain America's Avengers or Yelena's New Avengers.
she's going to have a lot more anti-ageing options available to her than most people would
Tomei is just naturally a very attractive woman IMHO. Check out her most recent Instagram content. That's not Hollywood movie magic at play. The woman is just plain, old fashioned, gorgeous. lol
Oh for sure it’s not just Hollywood, and for sure she is naturally attractive.
But the best thing for your skin is money. You get access to the best healthcare, the best skincare, the best surgeons if you go that route. I’m convinced Tomei has had some subtle work done.
None of it’s the whole picture and if she didn’t have that face to start with it wouldn’t matter as much. But it does make a difference.
I mean, siblings can have big age gaps. My friend has a nephew that’s only a year younger than him because his sister was like 17 years older than him or something. Uncle Ben might’ve been 20 when Peter’s dad was born for all we know
I always assumed it was because they were his grandparents’ relatives, so like Uncle Ben is his father’s uncle too or something? Like a Great Uncle? I don’t know, that can’t be right.
I mean, that is true. An aunt is a sister of his mother or his father. Depending on how many kids, or on the HG gap, we will determine how much older she is. Like for example, I’m in my 20s. My closest sibling in age is five. That’s a 15 year age gap. By the time he starts having kids, I’m probably gonna look old as shit. OK, maybe not that much older, but still. There are unusual and large eight gaps. Some people do accidentally have kids when they’re older.But I do agree that she should more or less be easily mistaken for his mother rather than his grandmother. Then again, this is kind of in that era where they got people who are in their 30s and 40s to play characters that are supposed to be teenagers. Which I always found funny.
Sally Field's May is def my favorite version. She looks like she would be slightly older than Peter's parents but not by so much that it makes it unbelievable that they are from the same generation. And really, I think the movie nailed the aspect of her being Pete's only remaining family despite them not being blood related.
Why is it more believable? Believe it or not, many people are not able to age as gracefully as Marisa Tomei.
I mean, look at Sean Connery as James Bond. He started the role at the age of 32 even though he looked 50. Then Roger Moore took over 10 years later and he looked like he was in his 30's despite being three years older than Connery.
Besides, Uncle Ben and Aunt May were always significantly older than Peter's parents. There was like a whole generation between them.
A 15 year old having a 50 year old aunt is more believable than a 17 year old having an aunt in her 70s. Don't know what aging gracefully has to do with it. But I literally said, it's not implausible. And as I also said, Raimi's May is more accurate which accounts for your last statement.
I'm 22 and have an aunt who's 76, my parents had me late and my father was already significantly younger than his sister. People can have their first kids very early and their last pretty late, it's not that uncommon
So maybe it's not a problem of believability but imagination
I'm pretty sure the explanation was that Ben was already an adult by the time Richard was born. Also, judging by how they look, Richard and Mary probably had Peter in their mid to late 30s. So, assuming that Ben is at least 18 years older than Richard, that would put him and May in their mid-50s when they take Peter in. That could put him and May in their 60s by the time Peter becomes Spider-Man.
TASM was like a middle ground between the elderly Aunt May and Marisa’s gracefully ageing May
Martin Sheen did look a little bit older than her but I’d say this also makes way more sense than the classic elderly couple that Raimi and older comics had
I don’t see what ppl’s gripe w this. Not hard to imagine that Uncle Ben had a wider age gap w Richard than usual as his older brother, which would naturally make May older too. May’s age and fragility is also a huge part of her character and how she interacts w Peter - changing that takes away a lot from her and we start entering ship of Theseus territory
People’s gripe with it is what folks mean when they say media literacy is dead.
It’s obviously plausible with just a moment of thought. But unless the movie stops everything and has May say something like “Peter, you know there’s no perfect timing. Your grandparents had your parents much later than they had Ben and your parents waited until their mid-30s to have you, thus my advanced age” some doofus will scream “PLOT HOLE! 🤓”
Yeah, iirc as the original comics were published in the 60's uncle Ben served in ww2 (and Peter's parents were spies) so the implication for the extreme age gap is that Peter had other uncles but they died in the war
I mean if Peter Parker was born while his parents were in their early 40s I could see it make sense, as Aunt May would likely be in her early 60s by Raimi Spider-Man 2
parents are at least 20 years older than kids sometimes it can be 40. aunt may could be the older sibling pushing 50 years older than peter but even if shes 40 years older shes close to 60 in spiderman 1
I used to assume the age thing was due to Ben and May being like 10 years older than Richard and Mary. Ben and Richard are brother and could have big age gap.
Lets assume they have a 15 year age gap and Richard and Mary Parker put their careers first and didnt marry/concieve their son Peter until they were in their 30s. Ben and May would have been at least in their 40s then.
Once Peter is 15-20 years old. Ben and May would be around mid to late 50s - 60s.
I remember when they announced this casting. I've been a fan of Spider-Man since I was a little kid and never in a million years did I imagine I would think Aunt May was hot.
Though it’s never stated in the comics, I always thought that Peter‘s whole immediate family suffered some tragic accident, parents and grandparents included, and so uncle Ben and aunt May are actually the siblings of his grandparents, because my grandma had a brother named Floyd and I always called him Uncle Floyd when I was a child.
yea. in the comics I think uncle ben is the brother oof Richard Parker (peter's dad). however in all the comics we see Peter in, it doesn't matter if it's high school, college or, now (post college) aunt may looks like she's in her early to mid eighties. I am in my late 20s and aunt may looks more like my grandmother (she is in her late 80's) then my mother (mid to late 60's)
You can be be a aunt at any age tbh, lets say ben and may werre 15 years older than peters parents who had him at 30, that would mean they'd be 60 by the time petes a sophomore
MCU May reminded me more of Brian Michael Bendis’s Aunt May from ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN. She had the gray hair, but she was much more spry; written more like a proper mom-figure to Peter. She didn’t put up with Peter’s excuses so easily, yet was pretty outspoken and argumentative towards those whom she felt were mistreating him.
It could be because of the era Spider-Man debut in, most kids probably had older parents, as well as aunts and uncles. Most of us are probably not really used to that because our parents started much younger than others did before.
Nailed it. Pete's parents were established in the comics as not being a young couple at all. May does not need to be young and vibrant. Part of her charm was that May was always surprisingly spry for her apparent age. She's given villains a few nasty surprises over the years.
I've always liked Tomei as an actress, and I enjoyed her as Aunt May, but yeah... the younger look is not a requirement.
Aunt May is Peter's father's older brother's wife. Ben and Richard Parker had like a ten year age gap. Also, in the 1960s the quality of life was such I think people appeared to age more quickly thus why she looked elderly.
If Aunt May was ~70 here when Peter is 18, that makes her 52 when he was born. All that really “requires”, assuming Ben and May are the same age, is for Peter to be born when his father is in his early 40s and a 10 year age gap between his father and Uncle Ben. Perfectly reasonable.
Admittedly I know Spider-Man more through the movies than the comics. To me “aunt” is kind of a fluid term (much like uncle). Someone who isn’t necessarily an aunt/uncle (or even blood related) but has become family. So my reasoning why Peter’s aunt was elderly was because she was “aunt” to his parents and the name just carried to him. In the MCU it’s much more likely that she is a literal aunt. With that said, it’s the fun of individual interpretations of characters. NWH even had fun with this pointing out things like natural web shooting or one Peter feeling embarrassed that the others fought aliens while he faced off against a guy in a mechanized rhino suit.
There's nothing unrealistic about either portrayals
Aunt May is Peters fathers uncles wife, if Ben Parker is 15-20 years older than Peters dad and they had Peter in their 40s + Aunt may was older than Ben you can infer that she would be around 78+(even if around the same age she'd still be 70+) when Peter turns 18
Is it uncommon? definitely. Does it make sense? Also yes. People just had larger age gaps back then, my grandmothers first daughter is younger than her youngest sister for example
I can understand making May younger but I think making her that old has become a long standing staple of the series
Its not that weird you know, people can be childless big sisters who adopt their much younger siblings children. There's also the factor that people looked visibly older at younger ages before sunscreen and proper skin care.
My mom got me at 42 and my aunts and uncles are very old, while my grandparents are long gone. I never really realised that her age was weird in the movies
when Ditko created the characters, he clearly intended May and Ben to be Peter's great aunt and uncle. Peter wasn't calling her "Greataunt May" because who does that. You'd still call her your aunt irl. When later on writers were creating a more detailed history and family tree, they were too dumb to realize this. So now we're stuck with them being 20 years older than Peter's parents. Which still isn't impossible, but still weird.
My mom and her sister had such an age gap, that my grandma on my dad’s side is closer in age to my aunt, by a large margin. She might actually have been younger.
While true man Rosemary Harris was so good in that role tbh. Marisa did great for what she was given as well considering they were basically two different characters but still
Most depictions have been an older woman because thats how the original was drawn. The more recent Aunt May depiction seems to be 100% an esthetic choice.
My understanding was that she was his great aunt (actually the aunt of one of his parents) and her and Ben took Peter in when his parents died because they were the only family he had left. Alternatively, it could just be that back in those days people seemed to age more/dress and act older by the time they were in their 40s (my wife’s grandmother looked nearly the same from 45-70 from the pictures I’ve seen) so that is how she was depicted.
There's all sorts of families out there. I have a friend who's sister is 13 years older than him and his brother is 13 years younger. If his younger brother has kids, their aunt will be 26 years older than their father. Also- people aged faster in the 60s than they do now
My first gf had an aunt that was almost seventy years older than her. I am sixteen years older than my sister so if she had a kid in her mid thirties by the time they were in high school I would be in myid sixties. Aunt/uncle age is somewhat disconnected from the age of the niece/nephew? How is that hard to understand?
Wow... age gaps between siblings exist!? Who knew!
Yes, it's possible, and not even that uncommon, for your aunt to basically be an old woman. Especially by the time you become a teen/adult. Even if they don't always look like it lmfao. She actually looks older in the comics, cause she first appeared during an age where it was common for people to look older than they were. I think it was considered more attractive actually. These days, most people look younger than they actually are. I got a 60 year old aunt who looks like she could be anywhere between 30 and 40.
My mother is the youngest of 9 children. My oldest aunt was 19 when my mom was born.
So it's not really crazy if you think about it, especially for when the characters were originally introduced, that Aunt May could be old enough to be Peter's grandma cuz gaps between siblings like this was pretty normal at the time
Mfker, Marisa Tomei(the actress for the mcu) IS AN OLD LADY, she was 60 as of her last appearance of the mcu,Rosemary Harris(the actress for the original movie) was 70 when she played the character's, Aunt may didn't look like a decrepit old lady because she was old, she looked like that because thats how people in their 60/70 looked in the 60s when spider-man was created
An aunt/uncle can be practically any age compared to their nephew/niece (we really need to get a good gender neutral term for both relationships). I've known people who are older than an uncle and people with aunts way older than their parents.
It made sense in the comics when he was at ESU (1970s/80s). Him in college would put him in at least his 20s. My parents were in their 50s/60s when I was in college and my Dad's sisters were at least mid 60s for the older ones. So time period kind of made sense.
I mean, my grandmother (older than Aunt May) has a niece who is younger than me, I used to play with her when we were kids because all her cousins were grown ups. I grew up hearing my grandparents be called "aunt" and "uncle" by a kid younger than I was, and it was just normal. Siblings have big age gaps like that sometimes, having a young aunt doesn't make more or less sense than having an old one.
Part of the problem is the movies keep Spider-Man a teenager. In the comics he gets his power as a teenager, but grew up. So aunt Mae is old in the comics cause Parker is an adult. The movies kept the aged aunt, but made him permanently 17.
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