It is safe to say that Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes ever created; so much so that the whole world already knows his entire backstory at this point. An orphan from Queens was adopted by his uncle Ben and aunt May just before an unexpected accident involving a radioactive spider gifted him with incredible abilities. Since that very moment, Peter became one of New York's greatest (and friendliest) protectors.
Marvel has thrown us a few curveballs over the years, like that one time it was revealed Peter has a biological sister called Teresa. However, more often than not, superhero fans know Spidey's tale like the back of their hands. But just when it seemed like no more twists could come our way, Marvel has just surprised us with a shocking revelation that has the potential to change the character's mythos forever.
Aunt May has a biological son, and he's Peter Parker's cousin
Just ahead of the monumental one-thousandth issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel has unveiled that Aunt May has a biological son named Cormac Crane. Furthermore, the true father was Benjamin Parker, the very same man who died because Peter wasn't responsible with his superpowers at first.
Crane has been visiting the F.E.A.S.T. charity center more frequently, the very same organization May works for. The two have become closer over time, with Crane offering to help Peter's aunt with her tasks. While May was oblivious to the fact that she was talking to her own son this whole time, comic book readers already knew there was something strange going on.
Marvel has recently concluded its Death Spiral comic book series, in which a new serial killer called Torment was able to see literal "spirals" connecting distant relatives. In other words, the cold-blooded Marvel supervillain could visibly see threads uniting family members. That allowed him to pick a victim and work his way in, killing their most distant relative first and slowly but steadily getting closer to the main objective.
Eddie Brock, Mary Jane, and Peter Parker were all in Torment's crosshairs. As such, they knew all of their families were in danger, and that's how Parker eventually learned that he had a living cousin out there. However, he (and comic book readers) assumed it was a very distant family member, barely related to him, which is far from the truth. Eventually, Mary Jane's Venom killed Torment, and while the biggest threat was over, the chaos was just starting.
Cormac Crane eventually visited Aunt May's apartment when she was having dinner with Peter. Very nervously, Crane handed May some tests and confessed the truth: he is her biological son. Peter threatened to kick him out, because it was impossible for her aunt not to know she had a kid. But before a physical confrontation began, May said to Crane: "I knew. I just knew. You look just like my Ben," and passed out.
So how is it possible that Peter has a first-degree cousin and nobody knew about him? Why didn't Crane grow up with his true parents? And how come he was raised by another couple? There are many questions in store, but we'll get more answers the closer we get to the one-thousandth issue of The Amazing Spider-Man.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2025) No. 31 will be released on June 17, 2026.
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