Despite the struggles Sony has had with the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, they are still attempting to structure a universe revolving around the famed Wall-Crawler. Much of this world-building is happening through the spinoffs they’ll be releasing in the coming years, There’s Sinister Six, the Venom spinoff (which may also include Carnage) and a a project tentatively titled Glass Ceiling that would feature several female Spider-Man characters teaming up. Now, there’s a fourth idea that’s been thrown into the mix, and it’s doubtful that anyone saw this coming, and if you did, congratulations, you’re clairvoyant.
According to Latino Review, Sony is working on a movie about Peter Parker’s Aunt May. Apparently the film would follow her as a young woman, long before she was tasked with raising her nephew, and would be an "espionage story" in the vein of the AMC series Mad Men. The article compares this project as Sony's attempt at making something similar to Marvel’s Agent Carter, and it’s one of their many attempts to make the Spider-Verse work before cutting a deal with Marvel. Sally Field has been portrayed May Parker in both Amazing Spider-Man films, and was played by Rosemary Harris in the previous Spider-Man film series.
As for this report... What?!?! Seriously, what could Sony possibly be thinking with this idea? While Aunt May is an important figure in Spider-Man history, there has never been a single story that’s had Aunt May as a spy. Peter’s parents already have that covered. In the comics, he was raised by his aunt and uncle because Richard and Mary Parker were killed during a mission. While May has had some interesting experiences in her life, she’s primarily served as Peter’s surrogate mother for over five decades, and that’s worked fine. Of all the spinoffs that Sony could come up with, this is the most bizarre. It’s one thing to take elements of a character’s past and change them around differently for a movie. It’s another thing to just fabricate a past that has never existed for the character in the comics or any other media adaptation. Depending on how far they take this, we may even see a young Ben Parker meeting May while she’s on an espionage mission. No, that’s too out there... right?
Sony, instead of throwing Aunt May into a spy adventure, just focus on making The Amazing Spider-Man 3. The second installment may have gotten mixed reviews, but the franchise hasn’t sunk to the point where the woman that raised Spider-Man needs to be shown fighting bad guys in the ‘60s or ‘70s. Let the woman lead a quiet life, and leave the excitement to her spider-powered nephew.
