Marisa Tomei plays the third live-action Aunt May to grace the silver screen, but she wanted to take the character a step further in a new direction – she wanted Aunt May to get a girlfriend.
That doesn't mean Aunt May is strictly into women. After all, she was happily married to Uncle Ben until his untimely demise. If anything, it points to a bi, questioning, or pansexual May – sexuality is a complex, wibbly wobbly ball of messy confusion. But what's interesting is that it's something that hasn't been done before. Comics May did move on after Ben's death, even dating Doctor Octopus and J. Jonah Jameson's father, while the MCU's May went for Happy Hogan of all people. But Tomei had her sights set on producer Amy Pascal (thanks, Geeks of Color), not any of the above.
"At one point, this was beffore even the idea of Happy showed up, there was a moment where I felt that May should be with a woman," Tomei said. "Because Ben is gone and who should she be with, and we're kind of talking about it. And so I actually really wanted Amy Pascal from Sony to be my girlfriend. I was like, 'No one even has to know Amy. I'll just be in a scene and you'll be over there and I'll just be like, 'Hey,' and it'll just be a subtle thing."
Ultimately, it didn't pan out. Tomei's May broke up with Hogan in No Way Home and no other love interest was penned. Perhaps we'll see some queer representation in other parts of Parker's life down the line, maybe even with Ned or MJ, or perhaps with new characters like Deborah, Gwen, and Harry – if the MCU does introduce them, that is.
The MCU has slowly brought in more queer characters, nonetheless. The Eternals introduced Phastos, an openly LGBTQ+ hero who was happily married with a husband and child, while Loki revealed that he has dated "princes and princesses." Tomei might not have gotten her gay dream for Aunt May, but that doesn't mean the door is shut for a queerer future in Spidey's world.
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