One of the biggest mysteries of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been looking fans in the face for months now: Who is Sadie Sink playing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day? Rumors have been flying fast about who her mysterious character will be, with speculation running rampant about all the possibilities. News that Sink would return for Avengers: Secret Wars sent the rumors into overdrive, buoyed by the fact that, in an incredibly rare move, Marvel Studios themselves haven’t even confirmed her character, even now with only five weeks left until release.
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Now that the new trailer has arrived for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Marvel has made it clear that they will continue to play the long game of this mystery for fans. One of the key ways the new trailer manages this is by trying not to include the character at all, and even trying to throw off fan theories based on prior speculation by using some clever editing. Marvel is now making fans believe that a previous shot from the marketing of the film, featuring a mysterious character in a heavy coat with a hood that fans were convinced was Sadie Sink, was actually the Hulk, but they got caught in 4K.
Sadie Sink Is Hiding in Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer
The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the one that convinced Marvel fans that this mysterious character was actually Sadie Sink, and though they make another appearance in the new trailer, Marvel does their best to try and cut around it to trick the audience. You’ll notice in the trailer above that the mystery character appears at the :56 second mark, but their face is fully obscured by darkness so that no features can be found. The real trickery happens around 1:30, though.
As Peter enters a clearly disrupted location, he calls out, “You’re not going to get away with this,” prompting Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner to reply, “But he might.” This is juxtaposed once again with the shot of the mysterious hooded figure in front of their many computers and three big windows, which comes just before a shot of the Hulk standing around the wreckage of an apartment with three big windows. Marvel is using these quick cuts to convince you that Banner is actually the mysterious hooded figure, and the pace of the editing is very good at making it seem likely. When put side by side, though, it’s clear they’re different.
Even more telling, though, that Sadie Sink’s character is the mysterious hooded character in the film is the previously mentioned shot that revealed them from the front. Though the image has seemingly been altered to obscure their face even more, a little extra Photoshop work reveals some details, including the eyes of the characters. It’s impossible to say, of course, that this is 100% Sadie Sink, but it sure looks like her, and at least looks more like her than Mark Ruffalo.
All of this, of course, leads us to the rumor mill that Sink is actually playing the new version of Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a consistent rumor that has been lingering for some time. It also helps that this rumor makes sense in the context of what we know about the mysterious character who can take over people’s bodies and leap between them, something a powerful psychic like Jean would absolutely be able to do. Couple that with the report that Sink will return for Avengers: Secret Wars and it seems like the first real X-Man of the MCU has arrived.
There’s also the anecdotal evidence that Sink is Jean Grey, which is the intense secrecy around her. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, Marvel has confirmed what character the stars of each movie are playing ahead of time. Even when confirming the identity of the role, Marvel still hides details; e.g., confirming Guy Pearce would play Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3 didn’t reveal he was actually the secret bad guy. For Sink, though, they’ve said nothing, not even a fake character name that was a placeholder. Keeping the secret, and even editing the new trailer to deflect suspicion, isn’t doing the work Marvel thinks it is.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens in theaters on July 31.
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