There’s no doubt that Aunt May is actually a bad ass.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #113
Published: c. January, 1986?
Cover Date: April, 1986
“Mayhem!”
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Bob McLeod
Inker: Bob McLeod
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Aunt May has quite a few badass moments sprinkled throughout Spidey history, even if that aspect of her didn’t really come to the fore until the 2000s. Stories like Funeral Arrangements from Spectacular Spider-Man 186-188 foreshadow how cool she’d become. Funnily enough, that story was about Aunt May refusing to forgive Vulture for Nathan’s death! I kind of hate Nathan as a character (at least, after he got made into the rudest man on earth for no reason) but he seemed to provoke quite a lot of good character moments from May.
Is that what JR has said more than once about Nathan on the podcast?