LogFAQs > #961069742

Aunt May died in a heartbreaking scene in the Clone Saga in the middle of the 90s.
Some years later, Marvel decided to hire John Byrne to revitalize Spidey because he got low sales, and Byrne had one demand... He wouldnt write any Spidey books unless he could bring back Aunt May.
And because of that, Marvel came up with a very contrived reason. You see, that woman who died in that heartbreaking story? That wasnt the real Aunt May. It wasnt even a clone of her. It was a genetically altered actress who stood in for May while May was held captive for years by Norman Osborn.
Osborn returned May to Peter with a device planted inside her that would detonate a series of gene bombs if removed, decimating Earth. They managed to disable the device and May lost her memories of when she was in captive, and it was never mentioned again.