Spider-Man: Brand New Day is unlike any other Spider-Man movie to date. Unlike the last three Tom Holland movies, he is all alone, without any of his loved ones or friends to watch his back and support him. This is because Spider-Man made a tough decision at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he had everyone, including his friends and fellow heroes, forget Peter Parker. This cost him his best friend, his girlfriend, his mentor after Tony Stark’s death, Happy Hogan, and any hero who could help him in the future. However, Spider-Man: Brand New Day gives Spider-Man a very surprising new ally and some very powerful new villains.
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From an Avenger and someone from Daredevil’s world to a ninja clan and the new head of Damage Control, here is a look at the allies and enemies of Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Spoilers follow for the new Spider-Man movie.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens with Peter Parker explaining what he has been doing since the world forgot his identity after Spider-Man: No Way Home. This opening is not really a flashback scene, but instead a series of scenes that catch the viewers up to where Spider-Man is in his career. This included his battle with two people who came into play later in the movie, when Spider-Man beat Scorpion in a fight and then was able to somehow take down the entire Hand clan, which returned since the events of The Defenders.
However, there were also several villains who only got a quick look before disappearing for the rest of the movie. A battle with Tarantula was only there to show a scene that was a homage to a classic Spider-Man comic book issue where he and Punisher fought the villain. There was also a quick shot of Boomerang and one shot of Ramrod. The character who got the most screen time of these minor villains was Tombstone, who actually got dialogue and was then webbed up for the police to arrest. They are classic villains, but afterthoughts in the movie. If you want to know more about them, check out
comics like Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man ’94 among others!
The two closest allies that Spider-Man had in his movies were his best friend, Ned Leeds, and his girlfriend, MJ. Ned was Spider-Man’s “Guy in the Chair” since Spider-Man: Homecoming, and MJ and Peter grew closer until Spider-Man: No Way Home, when he had to erase himself from their memories with Doctor Strange’s spell. Now, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the two have no memories of Peter Parker, but Ned Leeds at least still has an interest in Spider-Man’s career.
MJ played a pretty big role in the movie as she was someone that Spider-Man had to save, but the saddest part of the movie was that she never remembered him and let him know that bluntly. However, one of the best parts of the movie was when Spider-Man sat and put together LEGO figures with Ned Leeds while MJ noticed how close they seemed. The movie’s ending was also great when Peter Parker introduced himself to Ned, and his old friend understood. They have a chance to be friends again in the future, but in this movie, they were not the allies Spider-Man was used to.
The Hand has typically been Daredevil’s villains, and they last appeared in The Defenders on Netflix when Daredevil and his allies fought and beat them. The Hand’s appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day remains a curiosity. Despite being Daredevil villains, and their last appearance being a battle with the Defenders, the opening of the movie had a newscaster explain that Spider-Man was able to defeat the Hand organization and turn them over to the Department of Damage Control.
What makes them stand out from the other villains in the opening scenes is that the Hand was back later in the movie. It turned out that the Department of Damage Control turned the Hand into a security force working for them. They worked to protect the main leaders of DODC, and they were there to fight Spider-Man. What holds them down is that, in their biggest fight against Spider-Man, they were under the control of Jean Grey.
Captain Jean DeWolff is a classic character from Spider-Man’s past and was part of one of the best storylines in Spider-Man’s history. DeWolff was one of the only police force members who trusted Spider-Man and helped him, while many other cops believed Spidey was a menace. However, the role she is best known for is “The Death of Jean DeWolff,” which introduced Sin-Eater to Marvel Comics. Her murder remains one of Spider-Man’s greatest regrets that he couldn’t save her.
DeWolff plays a similar role in the movie that she did in the comics, as she is the one person on the force who really looks out for Spider-Man. There are some differences. DeWolff is a detective in the movie and not a captain. She also has two kids in the movie, whereas she was unmarried and possibly attracted to Spider-Man in the comics. The character in the movie was miles better than the comics, as she was looking out for Spider-Man and insisting that he take care of himself. Hopefully, this is not the last we see of DeWolff in the MCU.
There are a lot of actual villains listed in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but Scorpion got the biggest role. This isn’t Scorpion’s first appearance in the MCU, as he showed up in the mid-credits scenes in Spider-Man: Homecoming where he spoke to Vulture about Spider-Man’s secret identity. From the sound of it, Spider-Man is who put Scorpion in jail. This is also a big deal, since Scorpion was once Venom in the comic books, so he could tease a future symbiote appearance.
Scorpion was one of the villains Spider-Man fought at the start, but he is also the main Spider-Man villain who returned later in the movie. He was the first major villain that Jean Grey took control of in the movie and used to break into Damage Control’s facilities. He was a tough villain for Spider-Man to fight, and Spidey had to give in to his darker impulses to stop him, which left a cop injured as well. This was a great appearance by the Scorpion, although, once again, he wasn’t in control of himself during the main battle.
One of the most surprising additions to Spider-Man: Brand New Day was Yelena Belova. While her appearance was previously leaked, it was thought to be a cameo, but she played a much bigger role. Spider-Man met up with Yelena to ask her about Jean Grey and find out if she was part of something like the Red Room. He also wanted to find out if she could help him, and these meetings were hilarious.
For one thing, Yelena’s “office” was a hot tub in a spa, and she demanded that Spider-Man strip down and join her in there to chat. She also made some funny comments about how Spider-Man deals with “small potatoes” while she and the New Avengers deal with “big potatoes.” She also appeared again later in a video call, where she met MJ and Ned Leeds and said she was happy the sad man had found friends. Her role was small, but as usual, she stole the scenes she appeared in.
Bruce Banner has been in the MCU since The Incredible Hulk, when Edward Norton played him, and then he took the next step in The Avengers, with Mark Ruffalo taking over the role. His biggest appearance was in Thor: Ragnarok, which was a slant on the “Planet Hulk” storyline, and then he was Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame and She-Hulk. However, something has happened since, and Banner no longer has full control over Hulk, and he uses a power inhibitor in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
There was a lot of excitement when fans thought Hulk was going to lose control and become Savage Hulk in the new movie. That isn’t how it started, since Jean Grey was controlling Hulk at the start to fight Spider-Man and Damage Control. That said, what makes Hulk rise up this ranking is that Hulk finally got mad and took over, finally raging out and growing into a giant to fight Spider-Man. He was even too powerful for Jean to control anymore. It took Banner regaining enough control to take himself out of the fight. With Bruce being someone that Peter turns to in the movie when he starts having issues with his powers, you might want to check out Radioactive Spider-Man in comics
Bill Metzger is the head of Damage Control, and he worked closely with Spider-Man to help bring supervillains to them for arrest. However, at the same time, Damage Control is a federal agency that deals with superheroes and villains. While they are supposed to be the good guys, they have targeted high school students in Ms. Marvel and went after Wonder Man, who just wanted to be left alone in his Disney+ series. They have been portrayed as villains, and that was proven in this movie.
Damage Control caused Jean Grey to go dark when they attacked and captured Jean’s sister, who also had psychic powers. They then experimented on her, which led to her eventual death. By the end, Spider-Man saved Metzger by stopping Jean from killing him, but the head of DODC was on the run with the police investigating the group. There is also the fact that Metzger is an anti-mutant propagandist in the comics, so his role as a “good guy” was always in doubt, and he will likely return in the future when the mutants fully arrive in the MCU.
Sadie Sink’s role was the biggest question mark heading into Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but the rumors turned out to be true. Sink plays Jean Grey, although the MCU movie gave her a slightly different origin story. For almost the entire movie, Jean was the villain that Spider-Man had to stop, and she almost killed Spider-Man more than once and even put MJ in danger.
However, Jean was after Damage Control because she was looking for her sister, Sara, who the Department of Damage Control had abducted from a park. She didn’t tell anyone what she was doing, but she had a reason for the vengeance she sought. She also proved how powerful she was when she immobilized everyone in the area of DODC at the end before Spider-Man talked her down. By the end, Spider-Man saved her life, and she returned the favor by saving him. Jean Grey will lead the new X-Men movies, and she proved here she will be a force to be reckoned with.
The Punisher joins Spider-Man: Brand New Day after his first appearance in the Netflix shows, and then his return in Daredevil: Born Again. His appearance makes sense because Punisher actually debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man comics. Having Punisher as someone who kills bad guys and Spider-Man as someone who doesn’t kill made this an interesting dynamic.
The biggest surprise in this movie was that Spider-Man and Punisher have a fantastic relationship. Punisher actually likes Spider-Man and looks out for him. He also owes Spider-Man because of an incident where Spidey saved him on Staten Island. By the end, Punisher was the man sitting in Spider-Man’s hospital room with him, watching over him as he healed. This is a perfect odd couple superhero partnership, and it is one that needs to happen again. Every scene that Spider-Man and Punisher shared remains a highlight of an already great Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
