Spider-Man’s Four-Year Time Jump is Way Deeper For Brand New Day & the MCU Than You Realize

Sony may have sat out Super Bowl, but we’re gradually learning more about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Granted, the source is an unlikely one; story details from a book summary, Spider-Man: Brand New Day – The Art of the Movie. This confirms the next Spider-Man movie is set four years after No Way Home, only for him to be plunging into a web of mystery and intrigue that forces him to face “the repercussions of his past.” This is probably a reference to the return of Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, the friends who have lost all memory of Peter Parker – along with the rest of the world.

That four-year time jump is actually more important than you may think, though. Spider-Man: No Way Home ended around Christmas 2024 (it’s set at the same time as Hawkeye), which means the next film is set in 2028. That’s officially the furthest forward we’ve ever gone in the MCU timeline, which is currently in 2027. Timeline-wise, it likely means Brand New Day is literally set right before Avengers: Doomsday. But this news is actually a lot more important than just that…

We Haven’t Seen Peter Parker In Four Years

When we last saw Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, the wall-crawler had suffered some of the heaviest blows he’d ever felt in his life. His beloved Aunt May had died after his secret identity was revealed to the world, and his efforts to get control of that knowledge backfired to catastrophic effect. Doctor Strange erased Peter Parker from memory, rewriting historical records to remove him as well. Peter’s girlfriend MJ and his best friend Ned moved on with their lives, heading to MIT unaware they’d ever known Spider-Man on a personal level. Peter Parker was more alone than he had ever been before.

“Peter Parker is no more,” the art book’s synopsis confirms, “but Spider-Man is at the top of his game keeping New York City safe.” The implication is that Spider-Man hasn’t really focused on his civilian life, instead finding ways to make just enough money to keep on swinging. Perhaps he’s working for the Daily Bugle social media site, which would be an amusing riff on the comics. Whatever the case may be, it’s been four years, meaning this Spider-Man is more experienced and accomplished than ever before. We’re seeing Spider-Man “at the top of his game.”

This may well explain why Spider-Man: Brand New Day features so many villains. In the MCU, there’s absolutely no way a wall-crawling vigilante can have been operating in New York City for four years without crossing webs with various supervillains. Perhaps we’ll have some sort of montage scene in the movie, one that briefly shows Spider-Man going head-to-head against lesser bad guys before the film’s main plot. Marvel recently did something similar with Fantastic Four: First Steps, and it worked well.

What’s Happened to MJ & Ned?

Meanwhile, it’s been four years for MJ and Ned. They’ll have graduated in 2025, and – in the film’s timeline – they’ll currently be in their third year at MIT. We don’t know what courses they took; it would make sense for Ned to do computer science, but MJ wasn’t really fleshed-out enough as a character to give any real indication. She seemed to have a keen political antennae, so she may be doing political science. Alternatively, MJ also had no trouble keeping up with Peter Parker’s technobabble, so theoretical physics can’t be ruled out. Perhaps she’s become interested in multiverse theory ahead of Avengers: Doomsday.

Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that Ned and MJ have moved on with their lives. MIT is in Massachusetts, so they could potentially be back on break if they’re in New York. Will they find themselves drawn back into Spider-Man’s web by mere coincidence, or will Peter Parker need to go to them because of knowledge and skills he knows they possess? It’s also possible Spider-Man will have other reasons for going to MIT – specifically a certain jade giant.

It’s Been Three Years Since We Saw The Hulk

We know Mark Ruffalo is back in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with reports he’ll be a very different version of the Hulk. Brand New Day‘s timeline means it’s been three years since we last saw Bruce Banner in the franchise’s internal chronology; he last appeared in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which is set in 2025. That naturally means the Hulk’s status quo could potentially have changed as well. Some have even theorized Banner has become a lecturer at MIT, with Peter going to him for help and stumbling upon MJ and Ned.

The end of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law saw the Hulk learn he has a son, Skaar, who hails from the planet Sakaar. While the MCU itself may not have explored their relationship, they’ve had three years to get to know one another – for the better or for the worse, given the fractious relationship Hulk and Skaar have in the comics. We’ll have to wait and see whether fatherhood has changed Bruce Banner at all.

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