Spider-Man’s Aunt May has an unfortunate reputation of being a helpless old lady. Many fans can cite multiple stories where May Parker was taken hostage by supervillains or used as a pawn to get to Spider-Man. Over the years, however, Aunt May has shown she’s a strong woman who’s capable of performing acts just as heroic (and sometimes even more amazing) than her nephew Peter Parker.

One story even showed that Aunt May was deemed worthy of being Captain Universe – an honor given to only the most heroic of individuals. Yet this was only one instance where May Parker acquired special powers and performed acts of great heroism.

Let’s take a look at some of the many instances where May showed that Peter Parker isn’t the only superhero in the family.

The Amazing Spider-Ma’am

In a backup feature from Marvel’s What If…? #23, fans got to see an alternate universe where Aunt May, not Peter, got bitten by the radioactive spider. May chooses to use her new spider-powers for good, sewing a Spider-Man-themed costume (complete with a skirt and half Spider-mask). She even designs her own weapons using bread dough and some super strong sewing thread that let her swing around the city (yes, really). Ultimately, the “web spinster” defeats the not-so-evil supervillain Leap Frog, but is torn between her responsibility to protect the city or protect Peter.

While intended as a joke, this version of Aunt May proved popular enough to bring back for Marvel’s Spider-Verse event. Now calling herself “Spider-Ma’am,” May revealed her heroic identity to Uncle Ben and Peter, who joined her crusade. Peter designed new weapons for “Spider-Ma’am,” who helped a dimension hopping Miles Morales defeat evil symbiote versions of her family. During the fight, Spider-Ma’am mentioned she kept the lower part of her wrinkled face exposed so enemies underestimate her power. However, her greatest strength remains her parenting skills, as she is currently re-raising the formerly evil Inheritors, who were regressed to infancy at the end of Spider-Geddon.

Lady Spider

Spider-Ma’am wasn’t the only alternate version of Aunt May to fight in Spider-Verse. During the storyline, readers were introduced to Lady Spider, a spirited woman from a steampunk universe – who turned out to be a younger version of Aunt May! Feeling a need to protect her city from threats like “The Six Men of Sinestry,” May Reilly built a set of mechanical spider-legs from car parts, donned goggles, and made her own web shooters. These not only let her defeat villains on her world, they also let her stop the dimension-hopping Inheritors when they attempted to destroy the multiverse’s Spider-Totems.

What makes Lady Spider unique is that she is a self-made hero without inherent spider powers. Her brilliant mind can even comprehend future technology as she once traveled to the year 2099 and assisted Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of that time. Although she hasn’t made many appearances in the comics lately, if Lady Spider shows up for Into the Spider-Verse 2, Marissa Tomei (MCU’s Aunt May) could easily voice the role.

Obi Wan Aunt May

In the alternate MC2 future of The Amazing Spider-Girl, Peter Parker’s teenage daughter May “Mayday” Parker experienced a crisis of faith where she didn’t know if she could reconcile her superhero and civilian lives. During this time, Mayday experienced dream-like visions where she encountered a beautiful blond woman also named May. This other May advised Mayday and helped renew her commitment to being Spider-Girl.

May would later appear as an “Obi Wan Kenobi” type spirit, guiding Spider-Girl through several adventures involving Norman Osborn, who had resurrected himself in Peter Parker’s body. Only at the end of the series did May reveal herself as the spirit of Aunt May and help exorcise Norman’s psyche from Spider-Man’s. Assuring Peter that she and Uncle Ben were still watching over them, May showed that even in death, her heroism could not be denied.

Golden Oldie

One of the most powerful versions of Aunt May on this list, Golden Oldie was the name May claimed when Galactus made her one of his Heralds (yes, really). Possessing the Power Cosmic, May searched the galaxy for something that could ease her master’s hunger without destroying more worlds. She eventually discovered Galactus’ hunger could be satisfied with giant Hostess-style snack cakes and fixed him up with an alien chef. Although this was later revealed to be a dream, it’s very possible that somewhere in the multiverse, Aunt May saved her entire universe from the threat of Galactus. Now that’s heroism!

Iron-May

“Golden Oldie” was also the name for a parody of Aunt May who wore Iron Man armor. Later, however, May would actually wear the Iron Man suit in mainstream continuity. In Marvel Knights Spider-Man #20, both Aunt May and Mary Jane don older suits of Iron Man’s Mark I armor (provided by Tony Stark) so they could sneak into Doctor Doom’s castle with Spider-Man and use the Latverian dictator’s time machine to revisit the day Peter’s parents left him with May and Ben. May even gets to fire a few repulsor rays (although she doesn’t really hit anything).

May Parker

Here’s the thing about being a superhero – you don’t need actual superpowers to be one. And ordinary, non-superpowered Aunt May has performed many heroic acts over the years without any need for special powers. In one brief adventure, she ended up in the middle of a terrorist attack at a mall and saw the Punisher arrive to take out the gunmen. Wanting to help, May faked a heart attack, distracting the terrorists long enough for the Punisher to take them all out.

May has also volunteered and helped run homeless shelters, marched with the Grey Panthers for senior citizen rights, and turned her own home into a boarder home for the elderly to give her friends more independence. Her generosity and kindness have influenced Peter Parker’s own sense of responsibility, revealing another reason why Spider-Man is a great superhero – he was raised by one of the best.

Next: Why Does Mary Jane Call Spider-Man Tiger, Anyway?