The Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer is leaving web-trails across the internet right now, as millions of Marvel fans watch and react to the vision that director Destin Daniel Cretton is crafting. Cretton and Marvel Studios deserve credit for how they’ve marketed the film: we’ve seen enough to guarantee that audiences will be packing into the theater to see it, but there’s still a lot of mystery surrounding it. For one thing, we still don’t have a clear indication of who the “big bad” is this time around, and we have yet to see certain actors and/or characters that have already been confirmed for the film.
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Still, with a new trailer comes new revelations that cause fan theories to be re-evaluated, if not revised. Below you will find a list of the most popular theories about Spider-Man: Brand New Day, ranked by how likely (or not) they seem now, after the trailer.
6. Incursions Are The Culprit
One of the biggest questions that the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailers cleverly side-step is: Why is all of this happening now?” Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has been living for years as a lonely young adult, but his body is clearly going through some kind of mutation when the events of Brand New Day occur – and he isn’t the only person going through it. Rumors state that the larger MCU Multiverse Saga, and the world-ending event that is Avengers: Doomsday, are causing the unexpected side effect of thinning the walls between different realities. MCU Peter Parker begins to blend with Spider-Man’s more animalistic variant (the Man-Spider), while some normal human beings in the MCU (like, say, Jean Grey) suddenly manifest the mutant abilities they possess in alternate realities.
Likelihood? Low. There is already so much going on in Spider-Man: Brand New Day – so many Marvel characters and crossovers that the film teeters on the line of being a Spider-Man-focused story. There needs to be some kind of tie to the Multiverse Saga, but this theory would require too much heady sci-fi explanation for mainstream audiences who are just looking to enjoy a Spider-Man film.
5. Savage Hulk Becomes Grey Hulk
Marvel can already celebrate one big win, even before Spider-Man: Brand New Day is released. That’s because the latest trailer has confirmed that Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk will be getting back to his “Savage Hulk” roots in the film. After several evolutions (including the “Smart Hulk” version from Avengers: Endgame), MCU fans are excited to see Hulk get back to his rampaging monster ways. Fan theories go even further, stating that after Banner loses it, there will be no miracle “cure” or lullaby to stop Hulk; based on themes of the film, Banner will have to get control of himself, and the true balance between Banner and Savage Hulk will turn out to be Grey Hulk, aka “Joe Fixit.”
Likelihood: Yes, but maybe. There obviously has to be some kind of resolution to Savage Hulk’s rampage in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but how that all gets resolved is up in the air. Then again, (MILD SPOILERS) this is one of those cases where leaks may have already revealed the fact that Hulk will go grey. However, it’s far less certain that Brand New Day will see the character dip into his “Joe Fixit” persona, who is more of a surly, mob-style brute enforcer. So the devil may be in the details, but the color changing seems very believable.
4. MCU Mutant Saga Unofficially Begins
The full trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day has given us plenty of clues that the main conflict of the story will see Peter Parker/Spider-Man being recruited by the Damage Control agency to contain the superpowered threat of a psychic that’s invading people’s minds, but can’t mind-control Spider-Man, thanks to his Spider-Sense. The man Peter reports to is Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman), a character from X-Men Comics who is a known hater of mutants. That connection has sparked the theory that a Spider-Man movie is actually a Trojan Horse for the start of the MCU “Mutant Saga” that is expected to follow when the current “Multiverse Saga” ends.
Likelihood? Moderate. This theory seems strong, but may have a few more detours than fans predict. Right now, series like Wonder Man have made it clear that Damage Control is keeping a close watch (and tight leash) on “enhanced” individuals. However, there is nothing (beyond the name “Metzger”) to indicate that mutants are the ones specifically being targeted, or that the concept of mutants is even established in the MCU. If nothing else, Brand New Day may continue the MCU’s theme of the government not trusting superpowered individuals. The fears of random people being born with or manifesting power at puberty may be saved for later, after reality has been rebooted in Avengers: Secret Wars.
3. Daredevil Is Showing Up
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 caught a lot of jokes over the fact that Spider-Man never showed up to help Matt Murdock/Daredevil with Mayor Kingpin’s anti-vigilante agenda, after Matt helped Peter with legal advice during Spider-Man: No Way Home. But maybe Spider-Man will show up when Matt really needs him the most?
At the end of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, (MAJOR SPOILERS!) Matt revealed he was Daredevil in a courtroom with the world watching, in order to indict Wilson Fisk for his crimes as the Kingpin. Fisk went down, but Matt was still arrested and jailed, according to the city’s Anti-Vigilante Law. The trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day show Peter Parker taking on The Hand ninja clan (enemies of Daredevil) in a jail setting. Fans are convinced that Spider-Man and Punisher will be helping Daredevil out of a jam.
Likelihood? Definitely Possible! Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already shown us so much that it’s hard not to think there are some surprises we haven’t confirmed yet. So far, Daredevil actor Charlie Cox has flat-out denied being in the film; then again, we’ve seen quite a few Marvel actors delight in lying to our faces. Hope this is one of those cases.
2. Here Comes the Man-Spider!
One subplot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day is Peter dealing with some physical changes (like organic web-shooters) that make him think he’s undergoing some kind of latent mutation from the spider-bite that gave him his powers. A lot of fan theory points to the climax of the film doing a riff on the “Man-Spider” version of the character, which is Peter literally transforming into a humanoid spider, like something out of a Cronenberg film. Like any werewolf story, the “Man-Spider” must be reigned in from its rampage before Peter can be changed back.
Likelihood: Strong, but measured. There are two clear themes in Spider-Man: Brand New Day: mind and mutation. The film seems to link the two through the idea of a troubled mind causing physical issues with the body, whether that’s “Hulking out” or having animalistic instincts take over. So, to some extent, we do believe that Brand New Day will dip into the Man-Spider concept, but we also think Cretton will be more measured with it, keeping it closely linked to the idea of Peter needing to deal with all his negative emotions, so that he can pull himself back from going full werewolf. Seeing a full-blown Man-Spider would be a wild risk – but then again, the director of Shang-Chi (with its dragons vs. demons finale) may go for it.
1. Sadie Sink is Jean Grey
For more than a year now, MCU rumors about both Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the upcoming X-Men reboot have both agreed on one thing: Stranger Things star Sadie Sink is playing the X-Men’s psychic powerhouse, Jean Grey. As Brand New Day has revealed more marketing, Spidey does seem to indeed be facing the threat of a psychic-powered antagonist, who Damage Control is trying to contain. But is that Sink, and is the character Jean?
Likelihood? All But Certain. If Sadie Sink is not playing Jean Grey in the MCU, it will have been the fakeout of the century. It feels like this has been the worst-kept secret in Hollywood, and if you know where to look in the trailers, it seems pretty clear that the rumors were true. Debuting a major X-Men character in a Spider-Man movie is a bold choice – especially since Jean Grey and Peter Parker have almost no Marvel Comics history together to speak of. That said, giving fans advanced context for why someone as powerful as Jean needs Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters (and the X-Men) is a move the MCU is uniquely positioned to make.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released in theaters on July 31st. Talk theories with us on the ComicBook Forum!
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Forum Conversation: Who do you think Spider-Man: Brand New Day's secret villain is?
Go to ForumThe odds are so much better that Jean Grey is in this movie than that this movie mentions Mayor Fisk even once 🤣
How many times has Marvel taken a minor character and did something completely different with them. Just because he was in one story that centered around the X-Men does not mean that is who he is in this movie, and I do not see Marvel/Disney introducing Jean Grey in a Sony movie. That is just bad business and besides this ties into the whole Mayor Fisk fallout in the MCU proper. So her character will be rooted in Spider-Man lore and not the X-Men. Be patient they will arrive after Doomsday.
It took ten years, but his media training has finally started to work.