Romantic relationships between characters are a critical aspect of most forms of storytelling, and the superhero genre is no exception. Every hero and villain has their own tailored history of love affairs but arguably none less than Spider-Man, several of whom have already been adapted into the MCU including Zendaya's MJ and Liz Allen.
Although Peter Parker hasn't been the only one to couple up in his ongoing franchise as his Aunt May began dating Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan, and Ned Leeds explored a brief relationship with Betty Brant.
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
May's relationship with Happy was certainly a point of controversy among many fans as one of the many divisive ways Tom Holland's reboot connected itself to the wider MCU. Nonetheless, that pairing came to a tragic end in No Way Home as they broke up in the opening minutes before May later died in an encounter with Green Goblin.
However, it seems that May and Happy getting together wasn't always what Marisa Tomei had envisioned for her character as she had initially hoped for her character to explore an LGBTQIA+ relationship.
Marisa Tomei Wanted a Girlfriend for MCU's Aunt May
During a recent interview with Geeks of Color, as shared on TikTok by girlkissernat, Spider-Man: No Way Home actress Marisa Tomei revealed she once hoped for her Aunt May to have a relationship with Sony boss Amy Pascal.
Tomei described that prior to her character's relationship with Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan in Spider-Man: Far From Home, she thought that "maybe [Aunt May] should just be with a woman" and that she and the filmmakers "were kind of talking about it":
"At one point, before the idea of Happy showed up, there was a moment where I felt like, 'Maybe she should just be with a woman.' Because Ben is gone and who should she be with, and we were kind of talking about it."
The Spider-Man star went on to reveal that at this time she planned for "Amy Pascal from Sony to be [Aunt May's] girlfriend" in the MCU:
"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."
Could an LGBT Aunt May Have Worked?
Aunt May opting for an LGBTQIA+ relationship with a woman after the death of Uncle Ben would have certainly proven to be a point of great controversy in the fandom. While many continue to call for further diversity and representation in the MCU, making such a drastic change to an established comic book character rarely proves popular.
Either way, Amy Pascal would have been far from the right choice to play Aunt May's girlfriend as she has no acting experience with her role in Hollywood being primarily on the producing and business side. Although it seems Tomei didn't necessarily envision this relationship as a key plot point and more of a subtle nod to reveal her bisexuality.
In most interpretations of the character, Aunt May has rarely been seen to have any subsequent relationships after Uncle Ben's death, so pairing her with Favreau's Happy Hogan proved a surprise, even if it was almost entirely played for comedic value.
Whatever the case, any hopes of Tomei's May exploring any further relationships down the line were dashed with the release of No Way Home as her character tragically died in an encounter with Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is playing in theaters around the world now.
