Andrew Garfield Addresses Spider-Man: Brand New Day Return After the Trailer Sparked Removed Character Theories

The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day was recently released, finally giving fans some proper footage from the film to check out. As viewers pored over the preview, one shot in particular generated a fair amount of discussion. Toward the end of the trailer, Spider-Man is seen leaping into action against a wave of enemies (who appear to be members of The Hand). The way the shot is constructed makes it look like other characters have been digitally removed from the frame, a trick Sony pulled off in Spider-Man: No Way Home marketing when trying to hide the involvement of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Marvel fans are convinced some surprise heroes are fighting The Hand alongside Peter, and now Garfield has weighed in.

During an appearance on Capital FM, Garfield was asked for his thoughts on the shot from the Brand New Day trailer. “This feels like a reach to be honest. Like, what do you mean there’s like room for other characters?” he said. “There’s literally just space underneath Spider-Man.” When it was mentioned some of the Hand members seem to be looking at characters who aren’t in the frame, Garfield replied, “Yeah, but they’re all heading to Spider-Man. Well, there’s room for more characters in every frame of the film, probably!”

Garfield ended the segment by jokingly alluding to his constant denials about being in No Way Home. “You notice I didn’t say that I wasn’t in it though, right? [laughter] Or am I a traitor?”

Will Andrew Garfield Return In Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

After Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel fans won’t trust what Andrew Garfield says about his potential involvement with upcoming projects. Especially since the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still in the midst of the Multiverse Saga, there’s always a chance variants from other realities pop up to make an appearance. That said, fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for a Garfield return. The multiverse was the driving force behind No Way Home‘s narrative, meaning there was an organic opportunity to include characters from the older film series. In contrast, Brand New Day is aiming to tell a narrative that’s a bit more grounded and focused on Peter’s personal plight. Granted, there are teases of body horror elements as Peter’s DNA mutates, but the multiverse doesn’t appear to be in play here (for now, anyway).

As much fun as it would be to see Garfield and Tom Holland back together again, it would be for the best if Garfield actually isn’t in this MCU Spider-Man film. No Way Home was very much lightning in a bottle; what worked so well in that film could come across as forced fan service in another movie, which is something Marvel wants to avoid. Additionally, Holland’s Spider-Man is long overdue for a movie where he just gets to be a friendly neighborhood hero protecting the streets of New York. From a creative perspective, this approach is fresh and exciting for Holland’s iteration. If Garfield showed up, it would take away from that mission.

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This isn’t to say that Sony isn’t hiding other characters in the aforementioned shot of Spider-Man battling The Hand. The web head could be teaming up with a street-level New York hero like Daredevil, or someone else like the Hulk or Sadie Sink’s mystery character. The studio might be trying to preserve surprises months ahead of the film’s premiere, a marketing strategy that worked to great effect during the No Way Home promotional campaign. While Garfield has a point in calling the fan theories “a reach,” it’s easy to see how that shot could be transformed into a splash page with multiple heroes when the final film is released.

Even if Garfield isn’t in Brand New Day, he could still have a future in the MCU. It’s expected that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will feature several actors from various big-screen Marvel adaptations, uniting heroes from various eras against Doctor Doom. No Spider-Man actor has been confirmed for Doomsday, but it seems unlikely Secret Wars will come and go without the presence of a Spider-Man. Garfield could pop up one more time there before the MCU goes through its soft reset and streamlines the continuity.

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