Spider-Man: Brand New Day has a lot of characters appearing in the movie, and while it almost seems overloaded, there is a good chance that not all of them will play an important role in the movie. However, there will be no fewer than three major MCU heroes in the movie, with the possibility of a fourth in a newly introduced hero for the upcoming X-Men reboot. There have also been at least four villains revealed in the movie, as well as the Hand, although only one of the introduced villains seems like they will be a big deal while the others might be one-shot cameos in the opening prologue scene.
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With 13 prominent characters already announced, and the possibility of more (Keith David is rumored to have a role, but there is no telling what it is), here is a look at the characters from Spider-Man: Brand New Day and what you can expect from them.
Tom Holland started his tenure as Spider-Man with Captain America: Civil War when he showed up to help Iron Man with his side of the war. From there, he got his first movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, which was co-produced by Marvel and Sony, and the rest is history. After three solo movies and appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Holland has proved that he surpassed Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in the role of the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Man has been separated from his friends for a few years after Doctor Strange erased his identity from the world. Spider-Man has been fighting crime, working with the police, and becoming a legit hero along the way, although he is doing it alone most of the time. This movie promises the world is changing, and it also looks like Peter Parker will be going through some changes of his own this time around, including physical ones. If you’re looking for a good Spider-Man story in that vein, Radioactive Spider-Man might just be a solid read.
Jon Bernthal is heading into his first MCU movie as Frank Castle, the Punisher. Of course, Bernthal joined Marvel as the Punisher during the Netflix street-level run, where he appeared in the Daredevil series and then his own solo series on the streamer. He has since returned when Daredevil moved over to Marvel and Disney+, appearing in both Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 and his own solo special.
It isn’t clear how many appearances the Punisher will have in the MCU. From the look of the trailers, the Punisher knows Spider-Man, and the two have crossed paths before this movie, although they have different views on killing people versus saving people. It is also unclear whether this will eventually lead Spider-Man to cross paths with other street-level characters (Peter has already met Matt Murdock before this), but the Punisher being here is a big deal.
The biggest surprise when the promotions for Spider-Man: Brand New Day started was that Bruce Banner would be in the movie. Of course, Banner first appeared in the MCU in The Incredible Hulk (with Edward Norton in the role) before returning in The Avengers (with Mark Ruffalo recast as the character). He has since appeared in all the Avengers movies, and his biggest role came in Thor: Ragnarok, which offered a small retelling of the “Planet Hulk” storyline.
Early Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailers showed Peter Parker going to Bruce Banner for help with the mutations that he realized were happening inside his body. Of course, Bruce doesn’t remember Peter, which makes his appearance a curious choice. However, the new trailers show that Bruce loses control and turns into the Hulk, with his former appearance as a smart Hulk gone, and he will end up fighting both Spider-Man and the Punisher in the movie.
The biggest question mark in the movie is Sadie Sink’s role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Sink’s casting is well known, but she hasn’t appeared in a single trailer yet, unless she is the person in the hooded shirt with her back to the camera. Sink is best known for playing Max Mayfield in the Netflix series Stranger Things. However, her role in the Spider-Man world is unknown, although most people believe they know who she is playing.
The biggest rumor is that Sadie Sink will play Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It seems strange considering there are no real mutants in the MCU yet, or at least characters who are known as mutants. Yes, Kamala Khan was hinted to be a mutant, and Wonder Man might be one. However, Jean Grey would be the first Marvel Comics mutant in an MCU movie, which would lead to the X-Men’s entry in the next phase.
Zendaya will be back as MJ in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. She debuted in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and then by the time Spider-Man: No Way Home arrived, she and Peter Parker were in a romantic relationship. However, as mentioned, that movie ended with Peter making everyone forget about him, and MJ moved on without a memory of his existence.
The trailers show that MJ and Ned Leeds remained friends, even without Peter around anymore. It also looks like MJ has a new boyfriend, which should probably make that character the most hated character in the movie. However, from the look of the last trailers, it seems like MJ might be returning to the life of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and that might be what the fans are looking for. For a taste of this general era as it played out in comics, you can check out Amazing Spider-Man.
Ned Leeds was Peter Parker’s best friend, making his debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Just like with MJ, Ned was made to forget about Peter Parker, and their long-time friendship disappeared from Ned’s mind. This might be even more disappointing than Peter and MJ losing their relationship. For most of their friendship, Ned really leaned into his friendship with Peter, and this was a big part of Ned’s life. Losing his memory of Peter also meant losing a piece of himself.
There are a lot of rumors that when Ned learns what happened and what Peter took away from him, it could lead him to a dark place. While Ned Leeds in the MCU is nothing like Ned from the comics, the Ned from the comics did turn into the villain known as the Hobgoblin. If Ned turns into a villain, it would be the most tragic fall in the Spider-Man movie world. Hopefully, Ned and Peter can rediscover their bromance by the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Tramell Tillman was one of the actors who got time to talk in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer. While it didn’t reveal who he was or his name, it seems that people have figured out who he is playing. It sounds like the actor is playing Bill Metzger. This is a big deal, but it remains to be seen how he factors into the movie. From the look of it, Tillman seems like the man running the Department of Damage Control (DODC). As Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel showed, this government agency does not have very many moral people in it.
This would actually make Bill Metzger a perfect person to put at the top of the government law enforcement agency. Metzger is a character from X-Men comics, and he is not a good person. In the comics, he is a prominent anti-mutant activist who published a propaganda paper with anti-mutant news. It would explain the fear he voices in the trailer about the superhuman population, especially the rumored Jean Grey.
Mac Gargan is back in the MCU as Scorpion. He hasn’t appeared yet in action as Scorpion, but he did make his debut in the mid-credits of Spider-Man: Homecoming when he was in prison with Vulture. We have all been waiting for him to return since that time, but it looked like it would be yet another MCU tease that never paid off, just like the Blade tease at the end of Eternals. The wait has finally ended, and the new trailer has a line of dialogue that is very exciting.
In the last teaser that played before The Odyssey, Spider-Man mocked Scorpion, and Mac said, “You think I’m Scorpion? I’m much worse.” This could mean many things, including the possibility that someone is controlling people around New York City. Of course, there is also the fact that Mac Gargan, in the comics, becomes Venom, and there are still people who want to see the symbiote show up in the MCU. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
Eman Esfandi appears in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as MJ’s new boyfriend. There is no word on who he is or what his name is, but there are already some theories. Many fans think he might be Paul Rabin, who was Mary Jane’s boyfriend from the comics, and someone who quickly became the most hated character in comics until he finally died in a recent Venom crossover storyline. Whoever he is, the guy is with MJ, so don’t expect anyone to like him very much when he appears.
Florence Pugh is supposed to show up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as Yelena Belova. She made her MCU debut in Black Widow as Natasha’s “sister” during their time as sleeper agents in America as kids. She has since appeared in the Disney+ series Hawkeye and then most recently in Thunderbolts*. She will also play a role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday movie. Don’t expect her role to be too big here, though. Rumor has it that she is going to appear in one scene as a comedic moment in her apartment.
Nothing is known about the role Jean DeWolff plays in the movie, but she is a very important character from Spider-Man’s Marvel Comics timeline. Jean was one of the only cops on the force who trusted Spider-Man, and they worked together often. However, one of Spider-Man’s most famous storylines was “The Death of Jean DeWolff,” where Spidey learns secondhand that she died and then sets out to avenge her, realizing the killer was a newcomer known as Sin-Eater. Liza Colón-Zayas (Tina Marrero from The Bear) plays Capt. DeWolff in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
A familiar face will appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day for fans of Daredevil: Born Again. Zabryna Guevara will reprise her role as Sheila Rivera, and it looks like she will have taken the next step in her political career. Sheila was on Wilson Fisk’s staff during his time as the mayor of New York City. The trailers have Sheila show up in a scene where she gives Spider-Man the key to the city for his help.
There is a villain who remains a mystery, but she was shown up close in a recent Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer. This is the woman who seems to be leading the Hand when Spider-Man battles them in the prison. The Hand comes from the Netflix street-level Marvel shows, both in Daredevil and later in The Defenders. They fell in defeat in that latter series, and their leader (played by Sigourney Weaver) also seemed to perish.
So, who is this new villain who is leading them now? Some guesses include Mariko Yashida, the daughter of Japanese crime boss Lord Shingen and the half-sister of Silver Samurai. She was once engaged to marry Wolverine in the comics. Other women who led the Hand include names like Lady Bullseye, Elektra, and Betsy Braddock. This is definitely not Elektra (who is returning in Daredevil: Born Again Season 3). There is also a chance her identity is never revealed in the movie.
Finally, there are a ton of villains who are supposed to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but in no more than a cameo. In fact, some of these villains aren’t even listed with an actor playing them yet. In the trailers, Spider-Man has been seen fighting Boomerang, Tarantula, and Ramrod, although only Billy Clements has been revealed as the Ramrod actor. Marvin Jones III is also listed as Tombstone, but he hasn’t been shown at all yet. While we’re still waiting to see exactly what villains pop up in the movie, if you’re looking for a great comic that sees Spider-Man take on villains in his beloved New York, check out Spider-Man ’94.
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