Spider-Man: Brand New Day paused production today thanks to the Scottish weather, but work will hopefully resume tomorrow. What we'll see next from the movie's set remains to be seen, but we know filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton is shooting a major action sequence.
One overlooked photo has gained traction on social media this afternoon for hinting at a major, long-awaited change to the MCU Spider-Man's mask.
As you can see, Holland is wearing a protective face covering under the web-slinger's mask, which means it doesn't conform too closely to the shape of his head and retains a smooth, comic book-like surface. However, we see this headgear extends around the actor's jaw in a way that ensures that when Spidey speaks, the mask will move at the same time as his mouth.
This effect was achieved with VFX in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, so chances are we're getting a lot more practical scenes with the suit and mask in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
We believe the eyes on the mask will still move, and that's likely to remain VFX. Still, as of now, all signs point to Tom Holland being in a practical Spider-Man suit for the entirety of the movie, similar to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Not only should this ensure the character feels grounded in reality, but it suggests we can say goodbye to a CG suit that occasionally looked too glossy and artificial. While motion-capture worked for the Iron Spider, for example, this is another step in the right direction for a street-level Spider-Man.
Holland likely pushed for more practical effects, as he previously expressed unhappiness with an overreliance on CG in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
"One of the unfortunate things about Spider-Man[: No Way Home] was we shot it in peak COVID times," the actor recalled last year. "We shot everything in a studio which meant, I think in the process of making that film, I might have done three days on location. You can feel it in the film, I think."
"When we're walking through New York, they sent a crew to New York to shoot the streets with a motion camera jib. Then they brought that piece of kit back to Atlanta and then they would make on the floor, 'There's an extra here. There's a dog here. There's a sidewalk here.' Then I'd have to map out what I was going to do in a pre-existing shot."
Holland added, "This is going to make me sound really difficult but I got over it and we figured it out. The camera was moving way slower than Peter Parker would usually walk. Peter Parker's very bubbly, very quick. Everything is about getting from A to B as quickly as possible without thinking and this shot that they had was this really slow, meandering camera angle through New York."
"Peter is supposed to be in a rush to get to Doctor Strange to ask him this question, and I found it really difficult to portray, 'I'm stressed and in a rush...but walking really slowly,' I actually think that shot isn't in the film because it didn't work."
Check out this glimpse beneath Spidey's new mask 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, and are among the most likely possibilities to make an appearance next summer. As of now, all signs point to Spidey teaming up with The Punisher to battle a Savage Hulk.
We recently published a feature about how the "Brand New Day" comics will influence the next Spider-Man movie, along with a breakdown of Spidey's best team-ups and clashes with Frank Castle.
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.