This post contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Sadie Sink was the first new cast member to join Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but the identity of her character remained a secret until the film’s premiere — though many Marvel fans figured it out long before opening weekend. In the movie, it’s revealed Sink is portraying the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Jean Grey, a young mutant who is dealing with severe personal trauma as she tries to uncover what happened between her sister Sara and the Department of Damage Control. Brand New Day is only the beginning of Sink’s MCU journey, as she’ll reportedly be returning for Avengers: Secret Wars and likely many other projects after that. That’s what makes director Destin Daniel Cretton’s account of how the twist came to be so surprising.
Speaking with The Wrap after Brand New Day‘s record-breaking weekend, Cretton explained the process behind including Jean in the film. “It was not a mandate, it was a request. We asked,” he said, confirming that Kevin Feige did not dictate Jean be featured for universe building purposes. Cretton specifically wanted a character who tied into Brand New Day‘s themes of loneliness and Peter Parker’s personal arc.
Cretton continued, “I was really chasing somebody who represented this feeling of escapism that young people I think are feeling. Initially we’re thinking of video games or being online and having avatars, a character who can be anybody in a city and really be literally connected to so many people in the city. But the reveal is that they are the most lonely person in the city, and having that be a young person felt like a really cool reveal, but also to me just felt like, Oh I understand what this movie is about with a character like that.” Jean was just “one of the options on the table” as the filmmakers were attempting to figure out the movie’s mystery villain.
Marvel Studios wanted the Jean Grey reveal to be a shock for moviegoers, never even showing Sadie Sink’s face in any of the Brand New Day marketing materials. However, the fact that the Stranger Things star is playing Jean Grey wasn’t the biggest surprise — for reasons beyond Sink’s red hair. It’s no secret that Marvel is building towards its X-Men reboot; Jake Schreier has been hired as director, and the cast is starting to round into shape with Samara Weaving onboard to play Emma Frost. While not officially confirmed, it’s widely believed the MCU’s next era will be known as the Mutant Saga, with those characters taking center stage.
From the beginning, Marvel has always had one eye on the future, teasing future developments in their projects. Since the X-Men will be a big part of the MCU moving forward, it wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary if Kevin Feige had asked Cretton and Co. to include Jean Grey in some capacity. Marvel is making an effort to scale back on output, minimizing the number of opportunities they have to lay the groundwork for new characters before the Multiverse Saga comes to a close. There will be no new movies released in between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, so Brand New Day was arguably the most organic place for an X-Men tease — especially if Sink’s Jean is appearing in Secret Wars. Doomsday has so many moving pieces and needs to establish Doctor Doom, so introducing another major new character might have been too much for a film that’s already packed with superheroes.
It’s nice to hear that Jean’s role in Brand New Day was Cretton’s idea. One of the many reasons why Brand New Day received strong reviews is the feeling that it strikes the right balance between working as an emotional standalone Spider-Man story while still implementing pieces of the larger MCU. Characters like Hulk, Punisher, and Yelena Belova have parts that fit naturally into the narrative and don’t come across as superfluous. The same can be said for Jean, who is given a full, satisfying story arc that ties into Brand New Day‘s powerful themes. Through her experience with Peter, Jean learns that she isn’t alone. She could have been an original character made specifically for Brand New Day and her part would have worked. It’s a testament to Cretton’s strengths as a filmmaker that Jean never felt distracting.
It’ll be interesting to see if Cretton ever sheds light on who else was on the list of possibilities. When developing Brand New Day‘s villain, the director simply asked Feige for characters that would “make sense in the world of Spider-Man,” and he decided on Jean. This had the added benefit for Marvel Studios because it allowed them to get the ball rolling on X-Men; Sink hasn’t been confirmed for that film yet, but odds are she will have some kind of role given how important Jean is to the X-Men. The other candidates for Brand New Day‘s villain would be fascinating to learn, but seeing how the film turned out both critically and commercially, it’s safe to say Cretton made the right choice.
