Listen, we’re not trying to say that fan-fiction exists so that imaginary characters from pop culture can sleep together… but that tends to happen a lot. What we don’t usually see, however, is fan-fiction created by the people playing the iconic characters. Leave it to Robert Downey Jr. to tear down that invisible wall.
Giving the marketing team behind Sony and Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming some ammunition, Robert Downey Jr. posted the above image to his Facebook page, with the titillating status update, "Auntie May I?" The image builds on the chemistry Downey showed with the MCU’s Aunt May, the gorgeous Marisa Tomei, when they shared a scene in Captain America: Civil War. And while I doubt this is a direction that Marvel will go, I’d have zero problems with half of Homecoming being dedicated to Tony Stark’s efforts to flirt with Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) hotter-than-expected Aunt May.
Now, let’s point out that the image – used for what looks like a cover of a Spider-Man comic book – features the much older Aunt May, and has nothing to do with the younger version Marisa Tomei plays. "We come in all shapes and sizes," May tells Tony Stark, and we happily agree. But Downey, with this playful images tease, acknowledges that his Stark and Tomei’s May are closer in age and more contemporaries than any version of May we have seen on screen before. Relationship fireworks could create all sorts of new problems for Holland’s Web-slinger.
This isn’t that out of the ordinary. Back in 1994, Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei lit up the silver screen as star-crossed lovers trying to fall in lust in the charming rom-com Only You. In fact, this Facebook post is probably a sweet, clever message sent from one former co-star to another as they prepare to film their next movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, two decades later.
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Homecoming will follow the further adventures of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as he wrestles with his new powers, and his possible role in the Avengers. From what we can tell, it will be a smaller standalone film in the MCU, with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark playing a supporting role, and Michael Keaton possibly playing the movie’s villain. Will there be love between Tony and May? Time can only tell.
