With "Spider-Man: Homecoming" just around the corner, fans of the franchise and moviegoers will finally see a different rendition of the character. Tom Holland's teen Peter Parker finds himself in high school and living with his rather young Aunt May, played by Marisa Tomei. A star difference from the previous iterations of "Spider-Man," "Homecoming"'s Aunt May is younger and seemingly sexier. That's what fans were up in arms with when news broke out about Tomei's casting in the role. She recently opened up about how she interpreted and shaped the character and what she would like to see in the future for Aunt May.
Marisa Tomei jokes about her age
While there is definitely a double standard when it comes to male and female actors aging in the Hollywood film and TV industry, Marisa Tomei takes it lightly. She recently admitted to The Guardian that she wasn't too familiar with what Aunt May was, and would have been "horrified" if the studio wanted her to play a "grey-haired pensioner." She jokingly commented, "Don’t toy with my heart, Marvel. Is that really how you view me?" The Academy Award winning actress explained that in this film, however, almost everyone is younger. There's the high-schooler Peter Parker, played by now 21-year old Tom Holland, and there's Aunt May, played by the 52-year old Tomei.
Actress paints her own picture of Aunt May
Marisa Tomei, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in 1992's "My Cousin Vinny," explained that in fact, Aunt May isn't blood-related to Peter Parker. Peter is blood-related to Ben, Aunt May's late husband. In the actress' mind, she created a backstory that involved Uncle Ben being Aunt May's professor, which may explain the age gap.
Tomei explained that her rendition of Aunt May has a "sexy, naughty twist," at least to her personally. Of course, fans won't see that in the PG-13 "Spider-Man: Homecoming" but she admitted that as an actress, "I fleshed out my own mental picture of who she is."
Academy Award winner open to an Aunt May spin-off
Marisa Tomei was surprised to find out from Screenrant that Sony was thinking of a spin-off based on Aunt May.
While she doubts the character's ability to be a spy, she was definitely interested in a solo film, saying, "I'm all for it." For now, fans will get to see Tomei in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," and hopefully the two sequels that the studios are planning for this new Sony-Marvel collaboration. The film opens in theaters this July 7.
