Entertainment

Don’t Get Too Attached To This Cute New MCU Relationship

by Lia Beck

Mild Spider-Man: Far From Home spoilers ahead. The trailers teased it, and the movie confirms it: In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Aunt May and Happy Hogan have a romantic relationship. But when it comes to how deep that relationship really is, the end reveals that they're not on the same page.

As hinted at in one of the trailers, viewers first find out that Tony's righthand man Happy (Jon Favreau) and May (Marisa Tomei) have some sort of connection when Peter (Tom Holland) learns that Happy's been helping out with her charity for people who were displaced during "the Blip" (a.k.a. "the Snap"). We also get confirmation that May did disappear during the Blip while Happy didn't.

Throughout the film, Happy serves as an assistant and mentor for Peter, and they bond over their mutual loss of Tony Stark without really trying to use each other to replace him. It's a pretty healthy mourning that they're able to do together, which also involves them looking to the future.

But, while Peter is away in Europe on his school trip/Mysterio mission, Happy also bonds with Aunt May, doing things like joining her at work for lunch. The relationship is more of a running joke where Peter gets to wondering what the heck is going on with those two rather than anything too serious, and this is made crystal clear at the end of the movie when Peter sits both of them down to hear about the relationship himself. It turns out, Happy and May aren't on the same page; she describes the relationship as a "summer fling," and he thinks it's something more long-lasting. Oh, well. It was fun and full of takeout lunches while it lasted. Plus, everyone on Earth either disappeared for five years or lived through half of the population disappearing for five years, so it was probably nice for Happy and May to have someone to hang out with, even for a little while.

Tomei and Favreau commented on their characters' relationship during the Far From Home premiere on June 26. "They definitely have a lot in common," Favreau told Marvel's reporters. "They both care a lot about Peter Parker, and we’ve both there for him during some difficult times."

Asked about May and Happy's chemistry, Tomei said with a laugh, "You saw the movie right? 'Cause it could go either way." She also said about working with Favreau, "I love him as a director and as an actor and I'm really happy – happy about Happy — that we’ve crossed paths and get to play around a little bit, have banter together. He’s a great person to have banter with."

Without giving too much away, the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home certainly sets up another sequel, so maybe May and Happy will get to have some more banter in the future, or even another "summer fling." Or maybe there will be another man in her nephew's life that May can strike up a flirtation with. He does know a lot of superheroes.