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Spider-Woman May Parker
Spider-Woman

Full Name: May Parker
First Appearance: What If? Vol. 2 #105
Created by: Tom DeFalco
Ron Frenz
Mark Bagley
Home Universe: Earth-982
Alignment: Good
Status: Alive
Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City, New York
Citizenship: American
Base: Queens, New York City, New York, Earth-982; formerly Sims Tower, Times Square, Manhattan, New York City, New York, Earth-3145; Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, Earth-13
Affiliations: A-Next (reserve member only), Warriors of the Great Web; ally of the Fantastic Five & Black Tarantula; formerly New Warriors, Spider-Army, Team Spider; former partner of Spider-Girl (April Parker)
Powers/Abilities: Wall-crawling, proportional strength, speed, and agility of a spider, as well as a precognitive "spider-sense" that detects imminent danger.
Height: 5' 7" (1.70 m)
Weight: 119 lbs (54 kg)
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Unique Features: None

"My name is May Mayday Parker. I'm the daughter of Spider-Man. And today my story begins anew. I'm not a girl anymore. From this moment on... I'm Spider-Woman."
— Spider-Woman


May "Mayday" Parker (of Earth-982) is the first child of Peter and Mary Jane Parker. First known as Spider-Girl, she now carries on her late father's legacy as Spider-Woman.

History[]

Origin[]

May "Mayday" Parker is the daughter of the late Peter and Mary Jane Parker in her reality. She was kidnapped and then reunited with her parents by Kaine, who found the child living Alison Mograine the person who had kidnapped the child because of Norman Osborn's orders. At this time, Peter was still Spider-Man and had recently lost a leg during his final battle with the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn). Reed Richards made Peter a replacement, but he considered it a chance to retire his Spider-Man identity and give his energy to his daughter and wife, to become a loving father and husband.

Heroic Career[]

Despite her parents' hopes, May began developing versions of her father's Spider-powers when she was fifteen years old, first showcasing them when she was playing basketball and she shattered the backboard. At the same time, Normie Osborn (Green Goblin's grandson) set out to restore the (as he saw it) family name. Mayday donned Ben Reilly's Spider-Man costume to stop him and soon took to crime fighting, at first hindered, then helped, by her worried parents.

Along the way, she faced several super-powered opponents, such as the psychopathic Crazy Eight, the monstrous and vengeful Dragon King, and the teleporting gun-for-hire Mr. Nobody. She also had several encounters with the vigilante Darkdevil, who doubted her abilities, but aided her nonetheless. She also encountered other vigilantes and criminals as well, such as the duo Ladyhawks, the misunderstood Buzz, and the thief Raptor, who eventually chose to defect to the side of good. May eventually recruited these heroes into the latest incarnation of the New Warriors.

May eventually retired from super heroics after she was nearly killed by the Hobgoblin (who had come out of retirement himself), dated Eugene Thompson, and ran for student council president. When Mary Jane became aware that the Hobgoblin posed a threat to her daughter's teenage friends, she allowed Mayday to resume her activities as Spider-Girl (a situation they wanted to keep secret from Peter). After a battle with the Hobgoblin, May told her father the truth, and after a conversation with Mary Jane, they allowed May to resume her Spider-Girl identity.

After an attempt at helping the S.H.I.E.L.D. government agency, a case filled with a piece of the Carnage symbiote was released. It attached itself to May's friend Moose, who became the new Carnage. In exchange, Carnage would bond itself to Moose's terminally ill father, curing him in the process. Carnage caused a stir at May's school and kidnapped Peter and Baby Ben, forcing May to confront her friend. May tried to talk to Moose within the symbiote but failed, and it bonded with her brother Ben. Peter escaped as May battled the two symbiotes and gathered gear that might have been able to defeat the symbiote. However it was May who used the weapons, thereby destroying the piece of the Carnage symbiote. Her success was not without a measure of collateral damage as well, however; not only was Moose furious at Spider-Girl for dooming his father, but the sonic weapon rendered Ben deaf, possibly permanently.

Ben's hearing was eventually restored thanks to the intervention of Normie Osborn. Normie later stumbled on one of Norman Osborn's former labs, and discovered a fluid tank containing what appeared to be a physical duplicate of Mayday Parker. Notes left behind by his grandfather indicated that this Mayday was the original he kidnapped years ago, hinting that the Mayday who had lived a full life was yet another clone.

Mayday continued to date Gene, but her jealousy over Gene's relationship with Simone enraged and confused her. She found some mild release from her problems due to her friendship with Wes Westin, which in turn incensed Gene. During an encounter between the three in a bar, Gene almost knocked out Wes with a firm fist, but the punch was blocked by a concerned Mayday. Gene's punch being obstructed by Mayday humiliated him in front of his entire football team.

Mayday eventually started to feel the weight of her relationship, and chewed out Wes for intervening on her behalf. Wes, however, remained deeply concerned about Mayday and discovered a plot by Simone to blackmail Gene and discredit her in front of the entire high school. Meanwhile, Fury the Goblin Queen activated a signal that awakened the Mayday inhabiting the tank within Osborn's labs, and she escaped, confronting Mayday on the roof of her high school just as she was changing into Spider-Girl. The clone could mimic Mayday's clothing as well as her appearance.

Having been caught in the heart of an explosion that decimated New York City, a critically injured Mayday, her costume torn away by the impact, was rescued from the debris by Araña's forces. Araña, realizing that Mayday might not survive her ordeal, offered to merge with her, but she intervened in a vision quest that Mayday was undergoing, and by aiding her overcome a force she was meant to overcome alone. She obstructed Spider-Girl from uncovering whether or not she was the true Mayday. Araña successfully completed the merging and temporaraly assumed control of Mayday's body, leaving Mayday and a third, blond woman who shared her name (possibly the spirit of Aunt May) trapped within her own subliminal consciousness before regaining control of her body.

Meanwhile, the clone assumed Mayday's life and picked up where she left off, however her presence deeply disturbed Benjy and a crestfallen Mayday also discovered that she had split up with Gene. Gene angrily retaliated when Mayday visited him, forcing her to take physical action and slam him through a table. She later received a call from Normie, telling her about the capture of Peter Parker, leading the clone into assuming the role of Spider-Girl.

The body-swapped Mayday in Araña tried to find Araña within her own body, who was using her body as a trap to defeat the Black Tarantula. However, the body-swapped May was found by the clone leading into a battle between the two of them, just as the body swapped Araña was lead into the lair of the Black Tarantula. The Black Tarantula was able to see through Araña's trick and nearly knocked her unconscious, just as May in Araña's body was knocked unconscious as well leading the two of them to recover their original bodies.

Meanwhile, Normie Osborn, along with Kaine, Phil Urich (in his Green Goblin Costume), Darkdevil, and Normie's wife Raptor, tried to rescue Peter Parker from Fury's hands, unaware of the the fact that Peter had absorbed the mind and memories of the original Norman Osborn. This led to a fight between the assembled heroes and Peter, now possessed by the Green Goblin. Mayday arrived just as Peter/Green Goblin reunited with the clone, who was revealed to have been genetically spliced with the DNA of the Venom symbiote, giving her the metamorphic powers displayed by Spidercide, but without the need for a host like normal symbiotes.

Bonding with his "daughter" (and, unintentionally, Spider-Girl), the possessed Peter declared himself as "The Goblin God" and began to go on a rampage, while Mayday found herself trapped within her father's mental psyche. With the aid of the spiritual avatar of her great-aunt May Parker, as well as flashbacks to the day she healed Normie Osborn's psychological scars, Mayday and Peter were able to overcome Norman in a psychic duel and convince the Brand New May that Mayday was a good person. Norman was seemingly defeated, but not before he denied Mayday the chance to discover whether or not she was the true daughter of Peter and Mary Jane, or the clone. Mary Jane was rescued from near-death by Benjy, who revealed he had developed organic webbing.

With the Brand New May uncertain of her place, Mayday proposed she become a member of the Parker family. Mary Jane agreed, though Peter distrusted her and objected to the idea. Mayday took a walk, reflecting on how her parents, baby brother, and potential new twin sister had overcome so much and truly become "An Amazing Spider-Man Family".

Her relationship with Wes, and the exposing of her face to the Black Tarantula, remained unresolved for a while. However, after her life is saved by April, she begins a relationship with Wes.

Spider-Verse[]

As part of the Great Hunt start by Morlun, Morlun's brother Daemos found May's family and Wes attacked them on sight. May's mother and father had seemingly been killed, and May would have been next if not for two Spider-Men coming to her rescue via a portal. Her little brother Ben was revealed to be the Scion as 616 Peter tells May that they will rescue her brother, and will all work together to restore order to the multiverse.

After 616 Peter explains the multiverse problem, she declares she only wants revenge and that none of the Spider-Men and women there are nothing, compared to her late father, the real Spider-Man she claims. When Uncle Ben of another universe tries to have a heart to heart with May, she attacks him and they start to fight. Uncle Ben attempts to reason with her, saying that she is not the only person that has lost people close to her. The fight is stopped when a wall May cracked falls apart and unleashes a horde of killer spiders. Ben and May work together to contain the spiders, still wanting revenge against Daemos.

Later, after seeing the death of the Inheritors' Master Weaver, she sees the cost of revenge and changes her mind about killing them, saying that she wants justice rather than vengeance, with Spider-Ham saying that her father would be proud.

After the events of Spider-Verse, she found out her mother and little brother was alive and the alternate Uncle Ben decided to stay in the MC2 reality wanting to be the grandfather no other Uncle Ben had the chance to be. After all was well, she took her late father's costume and took the name "Spider-Woman". Later she decided that wearing her father's costume was allowing her to dwell on his death, so May created a new costume that combined elements of her Spider-Girl costume and the classic Spider-Man costume, looking towards the future with hope.

Warriors of the Great Web[]

Sometime within the eight months following the Incursions, which concluded with the destruction of the Multiverse, Mayday joined Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-UK, Spider-Man India, Spider-Ham and Anya Corazon in protecting Earths without Spider-Men. After a romp on Earth-3015, Mayday confided to Gwen that she was still too concerned in leaving behind her mom and brother and told them to call her if they needed her. However, when an army of Electros attacked a nearby building in an attempt to steal silver, the two Spider-Women jumped into action, only for Gwen to get captured when Mayday attempted to rally the other Spiders. [13] She then returned to Loomworld and informed Spider-Man (Paviitr Prabhakar), Spider-Ham (Peter Porker), and Karn of the situation regarding Gwen's kidnapping. She was later seen alongside the other members of the Warriors of the Great Web in order to investigate the scene of Gwen's kidnapping.

Powers & Abilities[]

Powers[]

Main article: Spider Powers

Spider Physiology: May possesses powers inherited from her father, having the proportionate strength, speed, and agility of a spider. May is able to lift 5 tons, faster and more agile than Peter, and also has superhuman equilibrium.

  • Spider-Sense: May also has the subconscious premonition of "danger" sense known as her "spider-sense." May's spider-sense seems to be more developed than her fathers. Whereas Spider-Man could only get a feeling that a particular spot was dangerous to him (or similarly to the preservation of his secret identity), Spider-Girl is able to sense the exact direction from which the danger comes. In addition, whereas Spider-Man's spider-sense simply registered a general sense of danger (with the strength of the response being in proportion to the amount of danger he was in), Spider-Girl can recognize sources of danger, this allows her to determine whether the danger is posed by a familiar source (such as an attack by a familiar foe) or as a new threat. This applies that even if she has incomplete knowledge of the source of danger. For example, if May is being spied on by an observer on several different occasions, she is able to tell if each incident involves the same, or a different observer as a previous incident.
  • Wall-Crawling: Like her father, May possesses the ability to manipulate the inter-atomic binding forces of matter, allowing her to form temporary molecular bonds between her body and another object, which in turn enables her to cling to solid surfaces and scale walls simply by placing her hands on them. Her electrostatic ability to stick to surfaces is considerably more powerful than Peter's, however, she does not come as naturally to May as to her father, and must always concentrate to stick to surfaces. She also has the ability to transmit this ability through objects for short distances. For example, Spider-Girl could stick to the floor and by transmitting her electrostatic stickiness through the floor, causes all people and objects in contact with the floor (within a reasonable distance) to become stuck in place. Lastly, she can reverse this ability and instead repel off of a surface. This is generally used to add power to her jumps, but also she can use it to repel people and objects away from her at great speeds. As suggested from Ben Parker, the others simply haven't thought or tried to use their powers in this manner.
  • Spider-Enhanced Healing: Somewhat like her father, May has the ability to regenerate from serious injuries, however it is slightly more inferior than her father's, so it doesn't necessarily count as a healing factor.

Abilities[]

May has received martial arts training from the Ladyhawks and Elektra, as well as being drilled in the use of her powers by her father.

Paraphernalia[]

Equipment[]

Transportation[]

  • Web Swinging
  • Conventional automobiles

Notes[]

  • It is unclear whether Spider-Girl is a mutant. She did not receive her powers by accident or design, but was born with them, which fits the usual definition of "mutant" in the Marvel Universe. However, the series never uses the word "mutant" to describe her. In Amazing Spider-Man #415, before her birth, a Sentinel robot registered her as "beyond the range of embryonic normalcy," but not specifically as a mutant. Spider-Girl has not been shown to register on a mutant detector such as Cerebro that can distinguish a "true" X-gene mutant from other types of superhuman.
    • She would not fit the real world definition of mutant as her powers are not the result of an unexpected alteration of her DNA, rather they were passed down into her DNA by her father.
  • It was confirmed by Tom Brevoort that she was not a mutant, as she wasn't technically "born with her powers" but "inherited them from her father" and was "bred true".
  • Like her father, May also has an Uncle Ben. However, unlike her dad, May never knew her uncle: Ben Reilly, Spider-Man's clone. His last words before his death are about her: "Take care of my 'niece,' Peter... tell her about... her Uncle Ben" in Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol 1 #75. Her first costume and web-shooters are in fact his, kept in storage since his death. When May asks her father about him, however, Peter leaves out the fact that Ben was really a clone, instead referring to him as a cousin.
  • If Spider-Girl has any children in the future, they too would have an Uncle Ben - May's baby brother. As Peter and MJ named May after Peter's Aunt May, May asks which Uncle Ben the newborn is named after: her Uncle Ben, or Peter's Uncle Ben. Peter asks if it really matters, and May simply responds, "I guess not."

Media[]

Video Games[]

  • In Marvel Heroes, Spider-Girl is an "enhanced" alternate costume for Spider-Man, being voiced by Mary Faber.
  • In Spider-Man Unlimited, she was added as the first female playable character.

Trivia[]

  • May's costume features the same design once used by the spider-clone, Ben Reilly while he was acting as Spider-Man. At one point, she also donned a black and white costume similar to Venom's (which she purchased from the Spider-Shop) when her costume was damaged in a fight.
  • The aforementioned "Spider-Shop" is a boutique which sells Spider-Girl and Spider-Man themed apparel and accessories. Initially, May was upset to learn someone was capitalizing off her name (especially in light of the fact that nothing in the store came in her size). This was made even worse by the fact all of her friends believed that by shopping there they were helping their heroine Spider-Girl, assuming that she had to have some connection to the store for it to use her likeness. It was later revealed that May's mother, Mary Jane owned the Spider Shop. MJ said that Peter was upset that he could never collect on the various comics and products that used his image, so she figured she would take control of Spider-Girl's appearance early on in her career. The profits go towards May's college fund.
  • On Earth-616, May Parker was believed to be stillborn. Whether or not this is the case, or whether May was switched for another infant and kidnapped by Norman Osborn has been suggested but it is still uncertain.
  • On Earth X, May Parker has bonded with a symbiote (against her father's wishes) and has taken to calling herself Venom. Whether or not the symbiote with which she has bonded is actually the original Venom symbiote or one of its descendants is unknown.
  • On Earth-1122 there is an alternate Spider-Girl who resembles that of her Earth-982 counterpart. This Spider-Girl has implied that she is the daughter of Ben Reilly, a clone of Peter Parker.
  • In Spider-Island #1 May had said that she utilized a Facebook page for her Spider-Girl identity. She would planned to update it to Spider-Woman.

See Also[]

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