Zendaya on the real MVP of Spider Man: No Way Home ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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In an interview with Marvel, she didn’t hold back: “She raised a great young man, and she’s done it on her own. She doesn’t get the credit she deserves.” For Zendaya, it wasn’t Tony Stark or any other mentor who shaped Peter Parker into the hero fans loved, it was May. “It’s important to acknowledge May in the respect that everybody is like, ‘Oh, he always has to have a mentor,’ all these father figures and all this stuff. But May has raised him. Shoutout to May!”
And honestly? She had a point.
Spider-Man: No Way Home wrapped up Tom Holland’s trilogy with nostalgia, heartbreak, and multiversal chaos. But amid the surprise returns – Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina – it was May’s quiet strength that anchored Peter’s emotional arc.
Zendaya’s MJ wasn’t the only one who saw it. Fans watched May guide Peter with compassion, not tech. She stood firm in her beliefs, reminded him of his core values, and delivered that iconic line just before everything turned upside down.
Marisa Tomei deserved all the flowers for bringing this version of May to life. She didn’t play the traditional sweet old aunt like Rosemary Harris or Sally Field. Marvel took a fresh route, and Tomei crushed it with a performance that blended warmth, strength, and heartbreak.
Tomei once told CBR how the vision for May evolved. “We talked a lot about…well, the mandate was, ‘Let’s have a refresh of this role,’ but there really wasn’t,” she said. “But what is that? So Jon had a lot of great ideas. Some of them have come to fruition throughout the trajectory of the three movies.”
Those ideas hit hard in No Way Home. May’s influence was everywhere. She didn’t just support Peter, she shaped him. When the moment came for Peter to lose his final safety net, it wasn’t a tech explosion or a villain’s monologue. It was May, reminding him of who he was.
Sure, No Way Home gave fans the spectacle. But it also gave them a May who mattered. Zendaya saw it. The fans felt it. And in the end, Marisa Tomei’s May left a bigger mark than most realized.
So while the multiverse brought the hype, Aunt May brought the heart. And Zendaya? She just said what everyone else needed to hear.
