At CinemaCon last night, Sony Pictures, filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, and actor Tom Holland officially announced that Spider-Man 4 will be titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
For longtime comic book fans, that subtitle has a lot of meaning and takes us back to 2008 for a two-year period of storytelling that completely changed Peter Parker's world. In the wake of the hugely controversial "One More Day," it was a brand new day for Spider-Man, and his life hasn't been the same since.
In this feature, we're bringing you up to speed with everything you need to know about the "Brand New Day" comics and how we think that could affect what we see in theaters next summer. While a shared title doesn't mean a direct adaptation - look at Captain America: Civil War - there are many elements from this time we believe are going to be part of the MCU.
To read our Spider-Man: Brand New Day breakdown in its entirety, simply click on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
5. How It All Started
During the final couple of years of J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man run, Peter got caught up in Civil War. After befriending Iron Man, he revealed his secret identity to the world and, realising he'd made a mistake, later teamed with Captain America.
However, as a consequence of his actions, the Kingpin hired an assassin to kill him, Mary Jane, and Aunt May. The bullet hit only one of them, leaving May fighting for her life. No one could save her, and Peter and MJ were offered a deal by Mephisto: In exchange for their marriage, he would save May's life.
The Marvel Universe's devil wanted it because the parts of their souls that would know something was missing would forever sustain him. While their relationship still happened, it did so without a wedding, and Marvel Comics' continuity was subsequently changed.
Our first glimpse at "Brand New Day" came in the closing moments of "One More Day", where Peter was shown living at home with May again and celebrating the return of the long-dead Harry Osborn. Spidey lost his new powers from "The Other" storyline for a back-to-basics approach more in line with the classic comics; for example, he had web-shooters in place of organic webbing.
4. The "Brand New Day" Era
Marvel Comics started releasing Amazing Spider-Man three times a month with a revolving door of creative teams. In terms of changes to Spidey's world, celebrity businessman Dexter Bennett took over The Daily Bugle, and Peter found a new supporting cast in Carlie Cooper, Lily Hollister, and Vin Gonzales.
Lots of new villains also entered the fray during this era, including Overdrive, Mister Negative, Freak, Paper Doll, and Screwball. Spidey also encountered a superhero who was something of an MJ lookalike, Jackpot.
Noteworthy storylines included "Kraven's First Hunt" (the introduction of Kraven's daughter, Ana Kravinoff, which was later followed by "Grim Hunt"), "New Ways to Die" (Eddie Brock's transformation into Anti-Venom), "American Son" (Spidey battled the Dark Avengers as Norman looked to transform Harry into a new superhero), and "Shed" (The Lizard kills and eats Dr. Curt Connors' son).
Were these couple of years a success? In terms of sales, certainly, and Spider-Man's world was rejuvenated.
3. One Moment In Time
Initially, it was believed that all the changes to Spider-Man's world were a result of what Mephisto did. Instead, "One Moment in Time" revealed that the world still knew who Spidey was, even after Aunt May's life was saved.
Mary Jane is shot when Wilson Fisk tries to have her Aunt Anna killed, and fortunately, her injury is fixed by Doctor Strange. With that, Spidey decides the world needs to forget who he is, and the combined efforts of Strange, Mister Fantastic, and Iron Man make it possible; now, the only way people will remember Spider-Man is Peter Parker is if he unmasks in front of them and restores their memory.
Peter pulls MJ into the spell and makes it so that she remembers, a decision the model and actress isn't overly happy about. So far, you can probably see the elements of this storyline that were adapted in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
We've heard the spell will be revisited in the MCU, surely meaning there's a way for people to remember who Peter is. This storyline may be worth revisiting because there are elements that could come into play next year.
2. The Characters We Could See In The MCU
Just because Spider-Man: Brand New Day has that title, it doesn't mean the movie will have anything in common with this era of storytelling. Daredevil: Born Again certainly isn't based on the Frank Miller run of the same name, though that arc was adapted during Daredevil season 3.
Regardless, we still believe the upcoming 2026 release will take at least some cues from the "Brand New Day era." Sadie Sink seems a perfect fit for Carlie Cooper or Jackpot, though we'd rather Lily Hollister and her Goblin-like persona, Menace, are left on the page (a lot from this period really didn't work).
Mister Negative is a character who is long overdue for a live-action debut and filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton could quite easily tie his story into the eventual Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings sequel. Ultimately, though, we believe Marvel Studios is treating Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the start of a new era of storytelling, just like the comics did.
If so, we'd expect Doctor Strange's spell to rear its head, but for Peter to be surrounded by a new supporting cast and setting that's completely different from the "Home" trilogy. College and a newfound "vigilante" status in place of being an Avenger, perhaps?
1. The Doomsday Of It All
While Spider-Man: No Way Home ended in a way that set the stage for Marvel Studios to start over with the web-slinger, we can't discount the possibility of Avengers: Doomsday factoring into what we see in this movie.
If we assume that Doctor Doom's MCU debut does indeed end with the creation of Battleworld, a mashup of countless realities crushed together to form a new world, then perhaps Spidey finds himself in a new New York with a different life? If so, MJ, Ned, and a new selection of supporting characters could surround him, with Strange's spell perhaps undone or modified as a result of that Multiversal madness.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes out right between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, something we find hard to believe this movie can ignore.
Several reliable scoopers have insinuated that this movie will be part-street level, part-Multiversal epic, and how better to achieve that than by setting the action in a world that's completely rewritten Spidey's reality? Inevitably, he'll break free in a bid to return things to the old status quo, of course.