Spider-Man is going to have a lot on his plate in his next Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance. For starters, he’s going to cross paths with Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, who claims to be a good guy but goes to extremes that Peter Parker refuses to touch with a ten-foot pole. What will seemingly bring them together in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the arrival of the Hulk, a hero who’s kept his cool for a couple of years, which means he’s primed to lose it. Of course, Spider-Man isn’t going to spend the entirety of his fourth solo movie fighting good guys.
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Brand New Day’s list of villains isn’t long, but it’s starting to paint a pretty gnarly picture. Scorpion will return after his brief appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and he’s probably still looking for a way to get back at the titular hero for throwing him in jail. However, his mission might be small potatoes compared to what the movie’s other confirmed villain has in store, as they have connections to someone with a long history of intense battles against Spider-Man.
Marvel’s Tombstone Doesn’t Always Work Alone
New York City is far from a safe place, especially in the MCU. On any given day, an alien army can fly through a portal in the sky and start attacking, or a strange man can turn everyone into silhouettes and make them relive their worst nightmares. Those are Avengers-level threats, and since Spider-Man isn’t part of the team anymore, he’s probably not going to find himself dealing with any of that. Instead, he’s going to keep his ear to the ground and try to clean up his city by taking out a couple of gangs. Brand New Day‘s newest villain, Tombstone, played once again by Marvin Jones III, often runs his own crew, trying to make a quick buck however he can.
Tombstone doesn’t have the power or influence that other players in New York do, though, so he’s often at their mercy. The one who gives him the most to do is Kingpin, who finds himself in the mayor’s seat from time to time. In the comics, Tombstone will do the dirty work that his boss doesn’t want to, and since he has superhuman strength and durability, he usually gets the job done. Kingpin and Tombstone also have a strong working relationship in the Spider-Verse films, fighting Miles Morales and Co. as they try to shut down the Super-Collider. It’s hard to imagine the MCU’s Wall-Crawler needing to assemble a team of variants in Brand New Day, but knocking Tombstone around could put him on Kingpin’s radar and make a major Spider-Man 5 theory a reality.
It’s Time for Spider-Man and Kingpin to Face Off
The MCU has been afraid to push Kingpin too far out of his comfort zone, having him battle street-level heroes like Daredevil, Kate Bishop, and Echo. His office doesn’t go after Doctor Strange, who lives on Bleecker Street, or send the Anti-Vigilante Task Force to bring in Sentry. However, Spider-Man’s new mission will force the mayor to act, especially if he wants to continue expanding his criminal empire under the city’s radar. When Tombstone and other gangsters go down in Brand New Day, Kingpin will have to consider taking matters into his own hands. The movie could even feature a post-credits scene like the one from Avengers: Age of Ultron, where Thanos reveals that he’s finally going to get off his butt.
Like all the Marvel theorists want, Spider-Man 5 could feature Peter teaming up with Daredevil, since he always has to have another Marvel hero in his corner, as the two work to bring down Kingpin once and for all. Daredevil: Born Again star Vincent D’Onofrio has been very vocal about his interest in seeing his villain beat up Spider-Man, and he’s earned his moment in the spotlight. If there are indeed rights issues keeping Kingpin off the big screen, as D’Onofrio claims, then Marvel Studios has a couple of years to work them out and set the stage for the best Spider-Man story yet.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31, 2026.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
