Marisa Tomei wanted her Spider-Man character Aunt May to be lesbian, producer Amy Pascal as ‘girlfriend’

For a generation, she was Mona from My Cousin Vinny, the role that won her an Oscar, but Marisa Tomei has grown out of the shadow of her earlier work. Modern viewers perhaps best know her for role as Peter Parker’s aunt May in the MCU. And in a recent interview while talking about her character, Marisa said that she initially wanted her character to have a lesbian relationship in the films.

Marisa was first seen portraying Spider-Man’s aunt in a cameo in Captain America: Civil War, before reprising the role in the three Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland. The films have shown May to have a ‘flirtationship’ with Happy Hogan, played by Jon Favreau.

In a recent interaction with Geeks of Color, Marisa said she wanted May to have a girlfriend. She said, “At one point – this was before even Happy showed up – where I felt that May should be just with a woman, because Ben is gone and who should she be with.”

Marisa said she even tried to convince producer Amy Pascal to play her on-screen girlfriend but did not succeed. “And we were talking about it and I really wanted Amy Pascal (the producer) to be my girlfriend. I said, ‘No one even has to know Amy. You will just be with me in a scene and it will be a subtle thing.’ But no one went for it,” she said.

Also read: Tom Holland reacts to Instagram post saying ‘short men have more sex’. See here

The Oscar winner added that she viewed May’s equation with Happy in the films as more friendly than romantic. Talking about working with Jon Favreau, she added, “His improve skills are great so it’s always great to be able to work opposite him. But I have always felt that their relationship is more off than on. I think they are friends, they get along and they are both invested in Peter so much. But it’s like being stuck together on a desert island. There’s nobody else they can talk to.”