Now that Tom Holland has been cast as the MCU’s Peter Parker, it was only a matter of time until Marvel and Sony turned their attention to the supporting cast for the rebooted Spider-Man series. Of course, anyone familiar with the Web-Slinger’s mythos knows that one of the most important people in Peter’s life is his aunt, May Parker, who raised the boy with her husband Ben after his parents died. That makes finding an actress to play her one of the studios’ top priorities, and now it looks like My Cousin Vinny star Marisa Tomei has been awarded that honor.
Variety reports that Tomei is the choice to play Aunt May for the new Spider-Man franchise, though Marvel and Sony did not comment on the casting. Although it’s unclear how far along the deal is, Tomei evidently received the offer last week shortly after Holland’s casting was announced. If finalized, Tomei will be the third actress to play May on the big screen, following Rosemary Harris in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films and Sally Field in the Amazing Spider-Man series. At age 50, Tomei will be the youngest actress to play Aunt May, and the casting is no doubt being inspired by the Ultimate universe incarnation of the character, who is younger than her 616 counterpart. Since the MCU is making Peter a high schooler again, we’ll undoubtedly be seeing May take care of her nephew in her Queens home while unaware of his masked heroics in and around New York City.
Tomei’s acting career spans more than three decades, and her most notable works include What Women Want, Anger Management, The Wrestler, and Love Is Strange. She can be seen next in Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck, and will appear next year alongside Brad Pitt and Christian Bale in Adam McKay’s The Big Short. The article notes that the studios are keen on hiring actors who can appear in multiple films before shooting on Spider-Man begins next year. Keeping that in mind, the next couple weeks/months may see more big casting announcements, such as Uncle Ben for flashbacks, Peter’s love interest (Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson?), the lead antagonist, and similarly important roles.
We’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out what’s going on with Tomei’s Aunt May and the rest of the Spidey cast, but in the meantime, fans can expect to see her web-spinning nephew make his MCU debut next year in Captain America: Civil War, followed by his solo film on July 28, 2017.
