Aunt May, who’s suffered the loss of a husband across multiple dimensions (including Tobey-Earth and Garfield-Land), arrives in full to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Spider-Man: Homecoming. Under the guise of Marisa Tomei, this Aunt May trucks on like usual, raising young Petey Parker into the NYC-saving hero he needs to be, inspiring this week’s gallery of 24 more best (and worst!) aunts from movies and TV!
BEST: The most impressive fact of Auntie Antiope training Gal Gadot to become Wonder Woman was keeping it a secret from Hippolyta for over a decade. This really brings her ability to rule Themyscira into question.
WORST: Petunia, and the whole Dursley family of Harry Potter, have a severe disliking of anything magic and of the wizarding world in general, and make their adopted nephew’s home life a general annoyance.
BEST: We see that Bryce Dallas Howard has it all on “Bring Your Nephews To Work Day:” Her own theme park, indestructible heels, and even a character arc, a rare sighting in Jurassic World.
WORST: The Handmaid’s Tale Aunt Lydia: Like a Nurse Ratched, but with more genital mutilation.
BEST: While you’re chasing your Twister, don’t forget to stop by Aunt Meg’s, where you’ll get the best-looking steak and eggs from movie history.
WORST: You don’t need to hear it from A. Aaronson and Mr. Zukowski to know that The Simpsons‘ Patty and Selma have been a thorn in Homer’s side (and occasional saboteur of Marge’s) since the very first episode.
WORST: Irresponsible bird Kaitlin Olson is forced to move in with three kids in The Mick after her sister and husband get arrested for tax avoision.
BEST: Vampire Diaries‘ Jenna Sommers took in niece Elena and nephew Jeremy after their parents were killed. Sometimes, all an aunt needs to do is just be there, adopt two young adults, and hand out the booze and marijuana.
WORST: Not unless you’re in a Tyler Perry movie, where booze and pot pave the way to spiritual damnation, just like April (Taraji P. Henson) in I Can Do Bad All By Myself.
WORST: In Alice, Sweet Alice, Aunt Annie (Jane Lowry) moves in with sister Catherine after her niece dies, only to then accuse Catherine’s other daughter Alice of the crime. Annie later gets stabbed in the foot by the masked killer, in accordance with New Jersey local law.
BEST: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s Aunt Viv was originally played by Janet Hubert before being replaced by Daphne Reid in a little-seen summer special between seasons 3 and 4, where Will colludes with alien body snatchers.
WORST: This ain’t the Elisha Cuthbert movie! The Girl Next Door, based on the Jack Ketchum novel, features one Aunt Ruth, who adminsters the most dehumanizing punishments on her niece after she moves when her parents are killed.
BEST: Quirky doorknob collector Aunt Clara was a favorite among the Bewitched characters, though she was written out after the death of actress Marion Lorne, who posthumously won an Emmy for the role.
WORST: James and the Giant Peach‘s Spiker and Sponge: Disciples of ‘the beatings will continue until morale improves’ school of child-rearing.
BEST: It took more than Britney Spears concerts and talking cats to raise a teenage witch in the mid-90s, like throwing in Sabrina‘s guiding aunts Zelda and Hildy.
WORST: The abusive aunt: A British literature tradition, from Jane Eyre to Harry Potter.
BEST: Practical Magic‘s Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman were raised by aunts Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest. Between this, Bewitched, and Sabrina, growing young witches really do best with their aunties.
WORST: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (or Jacki O, to you time travelers out there) had an embarrassing aunt: Edith, a reclusive hoarder who lived in a mansion with her daughter, also named Edith. They got a Maysles documentary out of it (Grey Gardens), though these days, they’d get barely a guest spot on A&E.
BEST: Rosalind Russell got an Oscar nomination for playing the title Auntie Mame, an eccentric freewheeler living through the Great Depression.
BEST: Fast forward from the Great Depression to the 2008 Great Recession in Mama, a stockbroker dad leaves behind his kids in the woods. When they’re found years later in a feral state, aunt Jessica Chastain takes them in (along with the thing that had kept them alive).
BEST: LaWanda Page as tart Aunt Esther brought out the worst (i.e. best) of Redd Foxx on Sanford and Sons several times a season.
WORST: In The Silence, Anna and her son take a travel break with Aunt Ester, where the two snipe at each other the whole time. Ester isn’t necessarily bad, but anyone trying to make a Bergman character happy has their work cut out for themselves.
BEST: Yes, Wizard of Oz‘s Dorothy and Auntie Em argued, but that’s nothing a radioactive twister causing Technicolor hallucinations and acute poisoning can’t fix.
Jack and Jill: “Do your WORST, Adam Sandler,” the critics challenge. And every year…
