Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now out, and Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are rushing to see it in droves. Sony and Marvel Studios have managed to generate massive hype for Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man film – even greater than the hype of getting three Spider-Men in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That’s because a new director is taking the reins (Shang-Chi‘s Destin Daniel Cretton), and the entire MCU Spider-Man franchise is getting a soft reboot, within a fully-realized MCU playground.
Four years after sacrificing his personal life to give his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) a chance at enjoying theirs, Peter Parker (Holland) has thrown himself entirely into being Spider-Man. However, when his powers start radically changing, Peter can’t effectively live a life as Spider-Man, either. It’s the worst time imaginable for a new foe to appear – one who seems to love playing around in people’s heads.
There have been rumors about who Sadie Sink is playing in Brand New Day ever since her casting was announced. So were the rumors right? Now we know the answer.
As rumors speculated, Sadie Sink plays X-Men’s Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Not only that, but she plays a version of Jean who is framed as the major antagonist of the film for the first two-thirds of the story. Jean isn’t even seen onscreen until near the end of the second act, as her primary method of attack is “hopping” from mind to mind via ‘psychic possession.’
When she finally does appear, Jean is very different than the comic, animated series, or movie versions we’ve seen before. Without getting into specific story SPOILERS, Jean is personally motivated to fight back against the Damage Control agency, and proves why she is every bit the powerhouse you do not want to mess with. Brand New Day even manages to connect Jean’s struggles and trauma with the struggles and trauma of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, in a way that makes so much sense you wonder why the characters haven’t been linked like this before.
And, of course, Jean’s appearance in Brand New Day marks a major milestone for the MCU.
Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey is officially the first major X-Men character to be recast for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She was one of the first actresses rumored for the new X-Men movie franchise, although many fans were skeptical about the MCU X-Men getting their start in a Spider-Man movie. Now that we know that’s the route the franchise is indeed headed down, it changes everything.
First of all, mutants are now firmly established in the MCU, even if the word itself is not uttered once during Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Not only that, but it’s clear that there’s very little discernment between people born with powers (mutants) and people who gain powers (enhancement), at least where the government and organizations like Damage Control are concerned. However, the idea that there are now unpredictable amounts of superpowers that are going to be manifesting all over the world will be a major game-changer for the MCU going forward.
Jean’s actions in Brand New Day might be the very catalyst for that change, as she just committed the biggest act of mutant terrorism we’ve seen in the MCU, and humanity is unlikely to forget it anytime soon. Mutants will likely have a target on their backs after this.
The ripples that Brand New Day has created don’t stop there. Bruce Banner has been institutionalized after Jean shattered the psychological balance he’d achieved with the Hulk. Jean unlocked Omega-level psychic power, and there are already many brushstrokes of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix in her character.
More than anything, we get a tease of how Marvel Studios is approaching its X-Men reboot, as Brand New Day ends with Jean seeking some kind of family or community to help move past the deeply traumatic awakening of her power, and heading to upstate New York (Winchester) to find it. The X-Men will clearly be a movie about young people trying to connect and become found family, in a world that is doing everything it can to break them apart collectively, and break them down, individually.
After seeing Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, we’re now more hyped for the MCU to give us a very different take on the X-Men characters and lore – how about you?
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now in theaters.
