Marvel just transformed a beloved MCU character into a monstrosity, as an iconic Spider-Man supporting character becomes an official superhuman. It’s the absolute last twist fans were expecting, but one that changes everything about Peter’s life.
Spider-Man’s Aunt May Gains Mutant Powers
Peter’s Aunt Is Now a Gigantic Monstrosity
In today’s Radioactive Spider-Man #1 – from Joe Kelly, Kev Walker, Chris Sotomayor and Joe Caramagna – a group of villains known as the Marauders raid Spider-Man’s secret laboratory. Despite having just received radiation treatment for his haywire powers, Spidey rushes over, intent on saving the villains’ lives… from his Aunt May.
Sadly, Spider-Man fails, and when the Marauders break open a vault, they’re slaughtered by a gigantic monster made of scales and teeth (though only one terrifying limb is shown.) With the attackers dead, the monster shrinks back to Aunt May, revealing that she is Peter’s lab project, as he searches for a cure for her condition.
Radioactive Spider-Man is part of the Age of Revelation event, jumping ten years into Marvel’s future. At this point in the timeline, the X-Virus has spread across America, killing most humans and converting the survivors into mutants. Spider-Man has been afflicted by the disease, but is suppressing his own transformation with radiation. Sadly, it turns out Aunt May has also been transformed, and way more dramatically.
The Parker Family Make Terrifying Mutants
It’s actually not a shock that Aunt May would become such a monstrous mutant. The Parker line have never handled the X-Gene well, as seen in Steve Uy’s story from Marvel Universe: Millennial Visions #1. In that alt-universe story, Peter loses his powers, allowing his dormant X-gene to activate and turn him into a cannibalistic monstrosity.
Like nephew, like aunt, as both Peter and Aunt May’s new mutations cause their bodies to warp into monstrous new forms. So far, Spider-Man has been able to hold back his full transformation, but it’s clear that his body is trying to transform into some kind of giant spider, with his extra limbs already growing (and equipped with their own Web-Shooters.)
This Isn’t Aunt May’s First Power-Up
This isn’t the first time Marvel has given Aunt May superpowers. In past comics, she’s become the Herald of Galactus, gained Iceman’s powers as Auntie Freeze, and become multiple spider-heroes as Lady Spider and the Amazing Spider-Ma’am. However, these situations were all presented as jokes – one-off appearances that made fun of the idea of Peter’s elderly aunt as a crime-fighter.
In contrast, Age of Revelation has made ‘Aunt May with superpowers’ a horror story, plunging Peter Parker into his personal nightmare. For fans who know May from Marisa Tomei’s depiction in the MCU, it’s an unbelievable way to see the character again – and for Peter, it’s a life-redefining change.
So many of Spider-Man‘s decisions have been based around protecting his aunt from the fallout of his superhero life – now, as the world turns upside down, his entire superhero life has been warped by May’s transformation into a mutant behemoth.
Radioactive Spider-Man #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- First Appearance
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Amazing Fantasy
- Alias
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Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
- Alliance
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Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
- Race
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Human