Variety has scored an exclusive that Marvel and Sony have cast Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei to play Aunt May in their upcoming Spider-Man film. The role was previously portrayed by Rosemary Harris in the Sam Raimi trilogy and Sally Field in the Marc Webb duology. She joins the already-cast Tom Holland as the titular character. Jon Watts (Clown, Cop Car) will direct the film, rumored to be titled The Spectacular Spider-Man, for a July 2017 release.
Neither Marvel nor Sony have commented on the casting at this time. More casting is expected to come over the next month, with various roles left to be filled, including Uncle Ben. With Tomei arriving as a much younger Aunt May than her predecessors (like in some recent comics and the current animated series), I suspect our eventual Ben Parker won’t be long in the tooth either.
Redoing Spidey yet again, even if it’s to finally pull him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a tall order. They’re going to need to knock this one out of the park. So far, I’d say that Watts and Marvel are off to a very good start.
