Peter Parker’s Aunt May is an integral part of the young superhero’s life, having raised him after his parents disappeared.
With Aunt May being Parker’s closest family member, many fans have wondered: Does she know her young nephew has a secret identity as Spider-Man?
To find the answer, let’s look at each Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man appears in, plus a few that predate the MCU.
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1. Captain America: Civil War
Spider-Man debuted in the MCU as a powerful 14-year-old kid who Tony Stark recruits to fight alongside his faction of the Avengers’ civil war.
Before Stark reached out to him, Spider-Man was establishing himself as a friendly neighborhood hero, donning a costume he made.
When he joins Stark, Stark makes him a new “Iron Spider” suit with technological advancements. He dons this suit as he fights against Captain America, Ant-Man, Falcon, and other heroes in this film.
Ultimately, though, his inexperience gets him into trouble, leading Stark (Iron Man) to send him home.
Throughout this film, Aunt May is unaware of Peter Parker’s secret identity. He tells Stark that she would freak out if she knew, and Stark later uses this when sending him off the battlefield: “You’re going home or I’ll call Aunt May!”
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place a few months after Civil War, during the fall semester of Parker’s sophomore year.
Attempting to win back Stark’s respect, Spider-Man becomes obsessed with his crime-fighting ways, even taking on a powerful new villain named Adrian Toomes (Vulture).
After Stark rescues the young superhero several times, Spider-Man confronts Vulture on the night of his homecoming dance. Parker achieves victory and the respect from Stark he was craving.
After turning down an official invitation to join the Avengers, Parker returns home, where he tries on the Iron Spider suit, which Stark returned to him.
In the last scene before the credits, Aunt May discovers Parker in the suit, shouting, “What the f–” before the scene cuts away.
So, Aunt May discovers that Parker is Spider-Man at the end of Homecoming.
3. Avengers: Infinity War
When Thanos sends his cronies to New York to retrieve the Mind Stone, Parker sees their ship and swings out of his school bus to find out what’s going on.
He meets with Stark and Doctor Strange, and Stark dubs him a member of the Avengers before they leave to face Thanos on Titan.
He fights hard along with Stark, Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but they ultimately lose the battle, and Thanos takes the Time Stone.
In the Battle of Wakanda, Thanos takes the Mind Stone to complete the Infinity Gauntlet and snaps half the universe out of existence.
Back on Titan, Spider-Man is among those who disintegrate in the event, which becomes known as the Blip.
Aunt May does not appear in this film; however, because it takes place a year and a half after the events of Homecoming, she was aware of Parker’s identity as Spider-Man at this time.
4. Avengers: Endgame
Five years after the events of Infinity War, the Avengers find a way to travel back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stones. Placing them in their own gauntlet, they use the stones to reverse the Blip, bringing back all the characters who disintegrated.
Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and others come back to life on Titan, where they disintegrated, then teleport back to Earth to join the Battle of Earth.
During this battle, Spider-Man fights valiantly, even carrying the Infinity Gauntlet for a short time as the heroes attempt to get it to safety. However, Thanos manages to get the gauntlet and prepares to snap the entire universe from existence.
However, Tony Stark snatches the stones from the gauntlet, and sacrifices himself to snap Thanos and his cronies away instead.
Shortly after this, Parker and Aunt May attend Stark’s funeral with many other Avengers and superheroes.
Again, Endgame takes place after the events of Homecoming, so Aunt May is aware that Parker is Spider-Man.
5. Spider-Man: Far From Home
This film takes place about a year after Endgame, when Peter Parker takes a summer trip with his high school class to Europe.
A new enhanced human named Quintin Beck (Mysterio) arrives on the scene, claiming to be from the Multiverse and here to defeat the elementals that killed his family.
Gaining Parker’s and Nick Fury’s trust, among others, he eventually proves himself to be a villain. Spider-Man figures this out and defeats Mysterio, but not without major consequences: at his death, Mysterio reveals to the world Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man.
At this point, Aunt May has known Parker’s secret identity for several years, so the world-wide announcement does not come as a shock to her.
6. Spider-Man: No Way Home
In the wake of his Spider-Man alter ego being broadcast across the world, Parker struggles to continue living a normal life.
When he and his friends are rejected from attending MIT because of him, Parker seeks out Doctor Strange, hoping to have him cast a spell to make everyone forget who he is.
However, he attempts to alter the spell so those closest to him will not forget him. This leads to chaos, as villains and heroes from the Multiverse–including alternate Peter Parkers–find their way into this realm.
In an attempt to put a stop to the mayhem the villains are causing, Aunt May is mortally wounded. She dies after telling Parker that, “with great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
Peter realizes the only way to send everyone back to their own realities and put a stop to the chaos is to have Doctor Strange cast the spell correctly–causing even his closest friends and allies to forget him.
However, he promises to find and to help them remember or relearn who he is.
Again, Aunt May clearly knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker in this film.
7. Other Spider-Man Movies
Before the MCU versions of Spider-Man and Aunt May–portrayed by Tom Holland Marisa Tomei, respectively–there were other versions of the characters to hit the big screen.
In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-2007), Tobey Maguire and Rosemary Harris portrayed the characters.
In this take on the Spider-Man story, Parker never reveals his identity to Aunt May, but there are strong hints in Spider-Man 2 that she has figured it out on her own.
During a period of time when Spider-Man has disappeared from the public eye, Aunt May indirectly encourages Parker by suggesting that the world needs Spider-Man.
A few years later, Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man Duology (2012-2014) introduced us to Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Sally Field as Aunt May.
As in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, Parker never reveals to Aunt May that he is Spider-Man, but there are reasons to believe she already knows.
This is hinted when she tells Parker, “I think everyone has a part of them that they hide… even from the ones they love.”
So, while it isn’t clear whether these versions of Aunt May knew Parker’s secret, there is reason to believe that they did.
Sarah Hood is a freelance content writer and editor with a love for all things Star Wars. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking, singing, and spending time in the great outdoors.