The MCU killing Aunt May off in the Spider-Man movie before Spider-Man: Brand New Day means the franchise will need to handle a core part of one Marvel villain’s story very differently. While Spider-Man hasn’t yet faced many of his major villains in the MCU timeline, the franchise has certainly done a fair job of bringing a number of his greatest foes on-screen alongside him.
However, the different overarching setup of the MCU has meant that these villains have often been notably different to their comic counterparts. This trend looks set to continue with the story of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as the franchise killing off Aunt May means one major villain from the Brand New Day comic story will have to be handled differently if they appear in the upcoming MCU movie.
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day Comic Sets Up An Interesting Dynamic Between Aunt May & One Marvel Villain
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day comic storyline – which effectively reset the Spider-Man mythos between The Amazing Spider-Man #546-564 – features a range of new characters, and a considerable ᴀssortment of new villains among them. One of the most interesting is that of Mister Negative, who’s H๏τly anticipated for the MCU’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day story.
Mister Negative is interesting in that he’s a villain who mirrors the sort of double life many Marvel superheroes have. In his civilian form, Martin Li is a well-meaning philanthropist, having even made his own charity, known as FEAST.
However, Martin Li is also the superpowered criminal Mister Negative, who is differentiated from Martin by his “negative” powered-up form, and who actively threatens Peter’s family in one of their first interactions in Brand New Day. For Spider-Man, this is significantly complicated by the fact that Aunt May volunteers at FEAST, and develops a camaraderie of sorts with Martin during this time.
Mister Negative first appeared in 2007, with his role in the Brand New Day comic being one of his first major comic roles the following year.
This builds a unique dynamic between Spider-Man and Mister Negative by intertwining both of their civilian lives. Martin’s link to Aunt May also make his supervillain dealings more personal in a sense for Peter, and add some interesting extra tension by putting Aunt May in a dangerous situation she’s entirely unaware of.
The MCU’s Aunt May Death Totally Changes How Spider-Man: Brand New Day Can Handle This Setup
Naturally, the MCU can’t replicate this aspect of the comic story even if it does bring Mister Negative into the fold in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. With Aunt May having died tragically in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the MCU will have to take a different approach when it comes to any prospective adaptations of this part of the comic story.
This doesn’t make it totally impossible for Aunt May and Mister Negative’s stories to have some shared aspects, however. The MCU could easily tie Martin Li to Aunt May’s prior volunteer efforts – especially since the MCU already established May works for FEAST – though this is a scenario that presents its own challenges.
Having Martin Li remember Aunt May and working alongside her would add a personal touch and connection between the MCU iterations of the characters. However, with Aunt May already having pᴀssed, much of why and how this story worked in the comics wouldn’t be replicable here, since there can be no current threats to her now.
Theories have also emerged that Aunt May’s role as a FEAST volunteer here could be replaced with another character, such as MJ. This would be a solid way to give Peter a personal tie to Mister Negative that also makes him more of a threat to his loved ones, but would be a considerable change to the original source material.
The MCU Has Two Equally Devastating Ways It Can Use Mister Negative’s Ties To Aunt May
Currently, it seems that, if Mister Negative does indeed appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and is once again responsible for running FEAST, there are two ways the MCU can handle his comic ties to Aunt May. However, each of them presents a tragic scenario for the since-deceased character, albeit in different ways.
Perhaps the easiest way for the MCU to adapt this part of the comic’s story is to simply ignore the ties to Aunt May, or replace her role with someone like MJ. While efficient, this would be a somewhat sad, as it gets rid of a major part of May’s story that also shows how she helped Peter himself become a hero thanks to her own efforts to help people.
It does seem to make more sense for the MCU to use Aunt May’s established ties to FEAST in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, especially since Peter is likely still recovering from her death. That said, this changes things in a way that makes Peter’s connection to Martin even sadder, since May would have been working for an active and ruthless criminal unknowingly until her pᴀssing.
With Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s release still some time away, these questions about how the MCU could adapt both Mister Negative and the wider story in the Brand New Day comics surrounding him are likely to remain unanswered for some time. However, these mysteries do make the path ahead for the franchise look all the more interesting.
