The Amazing Spider-Man Should they adapt the death of Aunt May in this one?

[Dr.Dude]

Let's forget about the idiotic resurrection and "actress" excuse for a moment and think back to #400. Should they adapt this story?

Personally, I'd say this is exactly the sort of story that the franchise needs right now.

The first reason for this is, well, practical. We don't know how long Rosemary Harris, who's been terrific in these movies, will be around and the character of Aunt May is an extremely important part of the series. Do we really want to recast at some point, or wait around for a "she died between movies" explanation? The character--and actress--deserve a better send off than that.

Also, though, let's look at how such a plot point would effect the overall storyline. What made Spider-Man 2 so fantastic was, I believe, the emotions involved. You felt for the characters, you related to the situation; Peter trying to find himself, the feeling of separation he experiences from the one he loves...SM2 succeeds so perfectly because of this. When it came to SM3, though the "Peter finding his dark side" story is a classic one, it isn't quite as easy to relate to. However, I don't think it would really work to go back to SM2's love story, because Peter and MJ have not only gotten together but also battled through difficult times and in the end, found each other again. That storyline is mostly settled.

So, if we look at Aunt May, in all 3 movies she has served as Peter's guiding force. His overpowering sense of duty and responsibility might be from his uncle, however, May is the one that Peter relies on for advice and guidance--a very strong, powerful, motherly figure in his life. This works perfectly but the death of his "mother," so to speak, would grow the character, as he would find himself truly on his own for the first time in his life. In other words, the final stage of adulthood.

While it's no doubt that villains are important, I think the emotional impact of adapting #400 could be just the thing to bring this series back to the top of its game.

 

[SuperFerret]

Harris would make that scene such a great one. She's easily the most consistent and solid part of the franchise thus far.

 

[Leenie]

Wow, I'm sure it would make a good story if done right, but I'm against that idea right now (personal reasons).

Speaking of Aunt May, has Rosemary Harris been confirmed for Spider-Man 4? I haven't heard anything about her. I hope she does come back, because I think she's absolutely charming as Aunt May.

 

[bullets]

She is terrific as Aunt May . I odn't see it happening in SM4 because th elast one was a tearjerker and they may want to stay away from that.

 

[Rodrigo90]

If Rosemary Harris does return,then kill her off. It would bring strong emotional drama.

If Rosemary doesnt come back...Dame Helen Mirren and dont kill her!! Itll be strange to be attracted to Aunt May more than Kirsten Dunst,lol. Helen is HOT!!!

 

[Artistsean]

I would say No to Aunt May's Death in the next film.
I say have Aunt May discover Peter is Spider-Man in the next film.
Then you get that storyline, where Aunt May walks in on Peter sleeping in his Spider-Man costume.
You get to see her reaction, shock, anger, sadness, and everything.
Eventually she gets to the point where she decides to help Peter, writing letters of criticism to papers like the Daily Bugle who publish mean one sided stories about Spider-Man and tells them she is dropping her subscription, and letters of praise to those that are non-biased towards Spider-Man. She also helps Peter when he needed to go through a metal detector with his metal web shooters.
Or like when, in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, Aunt May finds out and kicks Peter out then has a heart attack and finally accepts Peter being Spider-Man by telling him his costume looks tacky.

I think it would show a lot of acting in those scenes, where she finds out and tries to figure out what she should do. It would give her character lots more to do other than be there and miss Uncle Ben.
And it would open up new places for the movie to go too.



On a side note, since Peter went from High School to College so fast, moved out of Aunt May's so fast in the first film, Aunt May wasn't really used for what her character originally was used for in the comics.
She didn't sit at home, ill, while Peter worried about her while he was Spider-Man.
She didn't sit at home worrying about Peter, and what a fragile boy he is. She didn't ground him, or expect him to call if he stayed out late, making being a Spider-Man who fights crime into the early morning a problem for Peter.
But in the movie she was a reminder of what Peter did with Uncle Ben, and she was there as a mother type figure for Peter, a character he could turn to for help and support. Not saying she wasn't needed for the movies, just that they used her in a different way.
And wondering if anyone missed the Aunt who worried about her fragile nephew.

 

[Reikowolf]

It would be better than having her mentioned in a blurb in a spider-man sequel.

I mean, in care Rosemary Harris passes

 

[The Joker]

Spider-Man's supporting cast is minimal as it is in these movies, without killing off Aunt May.

Harry is gone. We need to hang on to the remaining decent ones. I'd sooner see MJ be killed off before Aunt May.

 

[Steyin]

I never liked Aunt May as a character to begin with, so I wouldn't mind killing her off for an emotional story. Also, I'm pretty sure her film version knows, or has a good hunch, that Peter is Spider-Man. I think the scene in SM2 where the next door neighbor is helping her with the boxes makes it obvious, or at least thats how I always read the scene.

 

[Deaths Head II]

Spider-Man's supporting cast is minimal as it is in these movies, without killing off Aunt May.

Harry is gone. We need to hang on to the remaining decent ones. I'd sooner see MJ be killed off before Aunt May.

They could expand the roles of Gwen and Captain Stacy. And perhaps introduce other characters from the books.

 

[Artistsean]

Giving Aunt May a story like Finding Out Peter is Spider-Man gives her character more to do than just secretly know he is Spider-Man, be OK with it, and never speak a word or show any real sign that she knows.
Sure its subtle, but it gives her character less to do, plus you can always say she didn't really know.
And it would be cool to See scenes like Aunt May finding Peter sleeping dressed as Spider-Man, or having the scene where she is wondering how to respond or if she should tell him, or a scene like from the comic where she actually starts helping him (like the good aunt she is.)

It would be less subtle but it keeps her character interesting, in my opinion.

Thats my favorite version of Aunt May anywa, knowing Peter's secret and actually getting out there and helping him in her own way. (Writing letters, covering for him when he has to go be Spider-Man, stuff like that)

 

[sauronthegreat]

It would make such an impact to the franchise if this story revolves around Aunt May finding Peter's secret in the first part of the film, and then at the end to die. I think it would make the film a tragedy. I would like that

 

[Deaths Head II]

Aunt May after she found out Peters identity in the comics is not only the first time I could stand Aunt May in the comics, but it was also the first time I actually grew to like her. I would love that being brought into the films.

 

[spimanfan]

"I beleive there is a hero in all of us" Probably the best quote from all three movies. She absolutely hit that perfect I think anyway.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

It really depends, honestly. If she had to die, I think it should be in the 5th or 6th one, but who knows. Personlaly, I think she'll be alive for this film.

 

[Spiderine]

Kill Her
REDRUM REDRUM REDRUM.........

 

[Spiderine]

They should have killed her while Spidey wore the black suit.
That would have been some real rage.

 

[Dr.Dude]

On a side note, since Peter went from High School to College so fast, moved out of Aunt May's so fast in the first film, Aunt May wasn't really used for what her character originally was used for in the comics.
She didn't sit at home, ill, while Peter worried about her while he was Spider-Man.
She didn't sit at home worrying about Peter, and what a fragile boy he is. She didn't ground him, or expect him to call if he stayed out late, making being a Spider-Man who fights crime into the early morning a problem for Peter.
But in the movie she was a reminder of what Peter did with Uncle Ben, and she was there as a mother type figure for Peter, a character he could turn to for help and support. Not saying she wasn't needed for the movies, just that they used her in a different way.
And wondering if anyone missed the Aunt who worried about her fragile nephew.

I think in a lot of ways, what the movies did is take the version of Aunt May that J.M. Dematties wrote in the 90's and that JMS wrote in the 2000's.

I think this was a great decision, though. The character of Aunt May in the early comics--though very important--could often come across as condescending, ridiculously overprotective and annoying and really, the way she was depicted didn't make sense when you take into account the character of Peter. Ben Parker was a strong "father," of course but it would seem to me that the character must've had a strong "mother" figure, as well. Both of the above writers, on the other hand, showed a wise, strong and caring May that is exactly the kind of mother that a guy like Peter Parker would have, which is why there's been little rejection as far as how the way the character has evolved from her original concept. Bendis took a similar approach to this, too.

Now, as far as the suggestion of May finding out Spidey's identity instead of dying...

My main problem there is that, well, while it was a great scene and one of the better plot points of JMS' run, I prefer the way that Amazing Spider-Man #400 depicted it with its whole "I always knew, Peter, I would have been idiot not to know," thing, which just works for me. Honestly, for May not to have known about Peter's double life in those early stories would make her an idiot and Peter wasn't raised by any idiots. The idea of her knowing has already been supported by the previous movies, too, because as Steyin points out, the "Hero" speech in SM2 practically spells it out that she knows.

The other problem, to me, is the issue of dramatic potential. I think a large part of what makes Spider-Man (and his movies) stand out so much from the other superheroes out there is the reality of the emotions involved, the heartache, the tragedies and sufferings that we can all relate to. At some point, all of us have or are going to lose a parent--it's hard to get more honest than that. The dramatic potential of her death scene, especially with Rosemary Harris, could easily make for one of the best scenes of the series.

It propels the character of Peter Parker forward, as well. The shocking, violent loss of Uncle Ben forced him into adulthood before he was ready for it. Now, the gentle, restful loss of Aunt May will leave him forced to make his own decisions and go off his gut instead of her guidance, starting a whole new stage of his life--but this time, he'll be ready for it.

Also, while it's true that the idea of her discovering the identity has a lot of fascinating potential, I don't think it would bring anything new to the table. They can't have an emotional conversation about Peter's involvement in Ben's death, because they already DID that and did it well, in SM2; adding a quick, "Oh and by the way, I became Spider-Man after that," is more like a yellow sticky note than anything else. Sure, it'd be fun to see her helping Peter out of difficult Spidey-related situations--but we can also see that with MJ and in fact, SHOULD see that with MJ.

 

[Artistsean]

The new places it could go would be having her and Peter bond over the truth, no more lies between them.
(I do like a speech where she comes out and says I already knew, that would work too).
Plus she can become like one of the parents of a cop or a soldier, watching every day as Spider-Man fights a bad guy on tv and knowing that's Peter and worrying that he may not come home.
All this would come later though, I see her finding out and figuring what she will do is one film. The next film is her response, which would be her telling Peter she knows. I agree having MJ help Peter is something they should have been doing, but it was a scene from a comic I really remember, and it worked well there.
Of coarse they wouldn't have him add to his speech about when Uncle Ben died, but they would add the speech where Peter confesses everything, like verbal diarrhea, about being Spider-Man so happy to finally be able to share this with Aunt May. And scenes where he no longer has to sneak out or hide his costume from her. Maybe even a scene where she jokes about how tacky it looks. Or a scene where she talks about how she wants to snazz it up some, or mend some tears.
Plus we get the scenes where she and MJ hold each other while Peter is fighting some major evil guy while they watch on TV and pray he survives. Scenes like that could show how important she is to the family, maybe then have her die and her passing mean more (not that without these scenes it would mean nothing) to the audience.
I think killing her off, the way you describe it, would be an interesting story, and maybe should be done at some point, but I just don't feel like they have used Aunt May enough to have that happen yet.
To some it may just seem like they are killing her off because they don't know what to do with her.

In my opinion having Aunt May find out would be great, something I want to see. Like someone posted earlier, Aunt May finding out was when she started becoming more interesting.
I also think its true that Peter's cast of regulars keeps getting smaller, if we lost Aunt May it would just be down to Peter and MJ.
We should at least see Peter and MJ happy and together for a while before Aunt May dies.
Give him some light hearted moments, not just tragedy after tragedy.

 

[bullets]

Giving Aunt May a story like Finding Out Peter is Spider-Man gives her character more to do than just secretly know he is Spider-Man, be OK with it, and never speak a word or show any real sign that she knows.
Sure its subtle, but it gives her character less to do, plus you can always say she didn't really know.
And it would be cool to See scenes like Aunt May finding Peter sleeping dressed as Spider-Man, or having the scene where she is wondering how to respond or if she should tell him, or a scene like from the comic where she actually starts helping him (like the good aunt she is.)

It would be less subtle but it keeps her character interesting, in my opinion.

Thats my favorite version of Aunt May anywa, knowing Peter's secret and actually getting out there and helping him in her own way. (Writing letters, covering for him when he has to go be Spider-Man, stuff like that)

I think this is what we all want to happen eventually . If we don't get this I'd like a hint that she does know.

 

[SuperFerret]

She's been hinting that she knows since the second movie.

 

[bullets]

She's been hinting that she knows since the second movie.

Yeah that's true but we don't know for sure.

 

[SuperFerret]

Hence the whole "she's been hinting" part.

 

[Rodrigo90]

"Aunt May...Im Spider-Man".

(May appears stunned). THUMP!!!

"Aunt May?...Heart attack?...NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!".

OR

She finds out,everything goes fine. Then, a villain attacks Peter and MJs wedding. Kidnaps a heavily pregnant MJ and Aunt May dies of a heart attack.

MJ later gives birth to a baby girl (with the help of the villains compassionate assistant). So Spidey must rescue both MJ and their daughter and get revenge for Aunt May,but the lesson he learnt from her in 3 stops him from killing the villain (So 3 is good for something). But ofcourse as the tradition goes...They end up doing something that kills themselves.

 

[bullets]

Hence the whole "she's been hinting" part.

I understand , I want undeniable proof , I don't know why i said hint.