Back in May, it was reported that Spider-Man: Brand New Day would feature two Japanese villains (or, at the very least, two characters wearing outfits inspired by Samurai). Mister Negative is Chinese, not Japanese, meaning fans were left puzzled.
Later, there were reports of Silver Samurai and Viper appearing in the movie. That didn't make a ton of sense as neither are typically Spider-Man villains; instead, they're closely connected to the X-Men and, more specifically, Wolverine.
However, if we're getting a gang war story with multiple street-level bad guys, they could appear in a small supporting role, with the stage set for them to return in future MCU projects.
While we wait and see what happens with that, costume prop modeller Monica Avitto was discovered by fans (it's since been taken down) and includes a page titled "Spiderman" with dozens of Japanese and Samurai costumes, masks, and items.
Plans change all the time, of course, and these characters may have been dropped from the script long ago. Venom: Let There Be Carnage villain Knull looked to be a likely choice of villain for a time, only for Marvel Studios to pivot to characters like The Punisher, The Hulk, and Scorpion instead.
There's been speculation that Spider-Man: Brand New Day might feature Spider Queen, a villain with ties to the Spider-Island storyline. She could be reimagined as a Japanese character, but what if we see The Hand, instead?
The original iteration of Marvel Television majorly dropped the ball on that group on Netflix, so this movie putting a fresh spin on them ahead of this group of ninjas playing a much bigger role in Daredevil: Born Again season 3 does make sense. The Punisher also has ties to The Hand, though we'll be talking more about that later today.
Check out some of Avitto's Spider-Man: Brand New Day inspiration in the X post below.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day shares a title with a controversial era of storytelling, which, thanks to a deal with Mephisto, saw the wall-crawler get a fresh start when his marriage to Mary Jane Watson ended and his identity became secret again. He faced many new sinister foes during that time and was surrounded by an overhauled supporting cast, including a resurrected Harry Osborn.
Mister Negative, Jackpot, Menace, and Carlie Cooper were some of the standout additions to his world, though they don't currently look set to appear in the movie. Instead, all signs point to Spidey teaming up with (and likely fighting) The Punisher to take on a Savage Hulk, with The Scorpion thrown in for good measure.
We recently published a feature about how the "Brand New Day" comics will influence the next Spider-Man movie, along with a breakdown of every villain rumoured to appear.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton directs Spider-Man: Brand New Day from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Tom Holland leads a cast that also includes Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Michael Mando, and Liza Colón-Zayas.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.