Marvel Recasts Marisa Tomei's Aunt May For New Spider-Man Project

The Disney+ series "Spider-Man: Freshman Year" is set to be the next MCU project featuring the wall-crawler, and thanks to an official U.S. Copyright Office listing, we have confirmation that the beloved Marisa Tomei won't be playing Aunt May. The filing reveals that the role of Peter's guardian, Aunt May, will be going to Kari Wahlgren.

"Spider-Man: Freshman Year" is an animated series, and it features very few of the same cast members who showed up in the MCU's live-action "Spider-Man" trilogy. According to the copyright filing, Peter Parker will be voiced by singer Hudson Thames, and Otto Octavius by "Downton Abbey: A New Era" star Hugh Dancy. The many recastings aren't out of the ordinary — they follow in the footsteps of the MCU's last high-profile animated series, "What If...?" which featured many beloved characters from the franchise voiced by vocal doubles. Hudson Thames voiced Peter Parker in that series, too.

While MCU fans grew attached to Marisa Tomei's Aunt May after seeing her emotional story arc play out across three live-action movies, it makes sense that Kari Wahlgren would take the role for "Spider-Man: Freshman Year." The series appears to be an MCU prequel of sorts, following a younger Peter Parker as he becomes New York City's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man while dealing with the stresses of high school.

Wahlgren is a seasoned voice actor whose notable work includes roles on some of the most popular animated series, such as Jessica on "Rick and Morty" and multiple voices on "American Dad," "Solar Opposites," and "Arcane." She's also featured in plenty of superhero animations — most recently the highly praised "My Adventures with Superman" — as well as appearing in acclaimed video games including "Cyberpunk 2077."

Fans may also not be aware that Wahlgren has been in some of their favorite MCU projects. In addition to her work on "What If...?" she's taken bit roles on "WandaVision" and "I Am Groot." Playing Aunt May will likely be her most extensive role yet in the franchise since the character is usually a core element of any Spider-Man origin story.