Isolated from his friends and forgotten by the world, Spider-Man: Brand New Day finds Peter Parker dealing with the prospect of becoming more spider than man. Not unlike Spider-Man 2, where Peter's doubts saw him lose his powers, this emotional turmoil leads to an unexpected evolution for the web-spinner.
His Spider-Sense is heightened, his strength increases, and he starts shooting organic webbing. Horrified by what he's becoming and overwhelmed by these changes, Peter creates an inhibitor chip meant to keep them under control.
Before doing so, Peter seeks out help from Bruce Banner, who warns him that there could be serious implications to making a device that can take someone's powers away. Undeterred, Spider-Man manages to suppress his new powers and later uses an inhibitor chip to depower and help detain Jean Grey.
The Department of Damage Control is given plenty of time to study that tech, and even modifies it to switch Jean's powers on and off at will. While active, this chip hasn't just suppressed her powers; it's taken them away.
When all is said and done, Spider-Man accepts and masters his new abilities and reconciles with Jean. However, Bill Metzger escapes, likely with the knowledge of how to create an inhibitor chip that can control those with powers. Mutants, for example.
Now, it seems Peter's small decision in Spider-Man: Brand New Day could have major ramifications for the Mutant Saga and the X-Men franchise. In the comics, Metzger's disdain for mutants saw him form the Anti-Mutant Militia. With an inhibitor chip in hand, he's primed to create the power-sapping inhibitor collars that, in Days of Future Past, were used to neutralise mutants.
They've also been used in the present day, and just as we expect Tony Stark's technology to be the basis for mutant-hunting Sentinels, Spider-Man may have inadvertently handed the DODC its greatest weapon. Will there be consequences? Well, this feels a lot like Spidey's Oppenheimer moment, and could be something he has to reckon with in the MCU moving forward.
We've seen inhibitor collars on screen several times, but on Earth-616, it appears Spider-Man can be blamed for laying the groundwork for their creation after Metzger admittedly fooled him into helping the DODC. That's even more guilt for Peter to potentially carry.
"Spider-Man: Brand New Day is everything fans could want," we wrote in our review of the movie. "Emotional, hilarious, and heartfelt, it’s an action-packed love letter to the comics and one of Spidey’s best big-screen adventures. Spider-Man has never been more amazing."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters.