Spider-Man: All 4 Aunt May actresses ranked from worst to best

1. Rosemary Harris

When talking about live-action interpretations of Aunt May, the first person that comes to mind for many people is Rosemary Harris. And who could blame them? Rosemary Harris gave her all when interpreting Aunt May in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Better yet, she worked with a script that allowed her to display a wide range of emotions, from deep disappointment when learning Spidey “killed” the Sandman, to absolute panic when being kidnapped by Doctor Octopus

What’s so great about Rosemary Harris’ interpretation of Aunt May, is that she did feel like an important part of Peter’s life as opposed to being a background character who just had to be there. She was a huge support for Peter when Uncle Ben died in Spider-Man 1, she gave his nephew the ring that Ben used to propose to her in Spider-Man 3, and she delivered the iconic speech that convinced Peter he should wear the mask again and save New York in Spider-Man 2. Aunt May was present in a major way throughout every movie in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy.

Rosemary Harris portrayed May as a wise woman who was ready to steer Peter in the right direction whenever he was feeling lost. However, that doesn’t mean we didn’t get to see other facets of her character either. Audiences were sold on the frustration May felt when her nephew didn’t want to accept money as a birthday gift because of all of the debt she had. We could also feel her utter disappointment when she learned the truth behind Ben’s murder and how Peter was somewhat responsible. And who could forget the panic in her eyes when seeing the Green Goblin for the first time before being kidnapped?

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Rosemary Harris has been nominated for an Academy Award and even won a Golden Globe in her legendary career. This is one of those instances where the actor played to perfection a well-written character. Her interpretation of Aunt May is still yet to be bested, and it may be a time before that really happens.