The long-awaited first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day was recently released, setting the stage for what should be an emotionally charged summer blockbuster. In the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker is dealing with a lot. Not only is he struggling with the new life of isolation he’s chosen, he’s also undergoing physical changes that have potentially dangerous consequences. One of the biggest takeaways from the trailer is that Peter’s DNA is mutating, making him more like a spider than ever before.
Peter Parker Is Going Through a Different Kind of Transformation in Brand New Day
Image Courtesy of Sony
Change has always been a recurring theme in Spider-Man media. The first film in Sam Raimi’s trilogy can be read as a metaphor for puberty, with Peter Parker maturing into manhood as he learns about responsibility. What Brand New Day is teasing is something else entirely. The trailer makes mention of the “three life cycles” spiders go through. According to the voiceover, as they transition from one to the other, they can become “more vulnerable to threats.” Peter clearly appears to be going through his own variation of this, with his DNA changing (Brand New Day is bringing back organic webbing) and his spider sense much more sensitive. It raises the stakes in a way a Spider-Man movie hasn’t before.
This serves as a more extreme illustration of how Spider-Man’s powers can be a curse. There’s no shortage of stories about Peter struggling to balance his personal life with superhero obligations, something that Brand New Day is going to explore in full as Peter deals with the fallout of his decision at the end of No Way Home. But now, his powers could be actively threatening his life. If Spider-Man is going to be “more vulnerable to threats” for at least a stretch of the film, it puts Peter at a disadvantage against villains like Scorpion. Having to navigate that obstacle on top of everything else is a challenge Spider-Man hasn’t faced on the big screen before.
What’s great is that this element doesn’t feel like something that was tacked on to artificially make Peter’s existence more dangerous. The DNA mutations tie thematically into the larger Brand New Day story. The film is positioned as the first chapter of a new Peter Parker story, essentially making it a new beginning for the character. Peter himself is transitioning from one phase of life to the next, so it only makes sense that his powers are evolving as well. It fits with the “rebirth” angle that’s also present in the trailer. Even though Spider-Man is worse for wear at various points in the preview, he isn’t going to stay down for the count forever.
How Far Will Brand New Day Go With Peter’s Transformation?
Image via Sony
The unsettling situation Peter is dealing with in the Brand New Day trailer has led to speculation that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is gearing up to introduce Man-Spider — in particular taking cues from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. On the show, Man-Spider was the unfortunate result of Peter’s DNA continuing to mutate after his initial spider bite, turning him into a feral, vicious monster. For a while, it was a chronic condition that Peter had to deal with; he wore a Neogenic Recombinator in order to keep the mutation at bay. He wasn’t cured of it until an encounter with Vulture where the villain used youth-stealing tech on the hero and contracted a mutation himself.
It remains to be seen if the MCU is willing to go all the way with the Man-Spider angle and have Tom Holland’s Peter transform into an unrecognizable beast, but it’s exciting that it’s even a possibility at this juncture. At the very least, it’s a refreshing bit for a Spider-Man movie to explore, leaning heavily into body horror elements. Earlier Spider-Man films only dealt with Peter’s reaction to learning he can climb walls and spin webs — strange bodily changes, for sure, but much more “normal” when compared to turning into a giant spider monster. Brand New Day is going to cover the terrifying prospect of Peter potentially losing what’s left of his humanity, which gives the film some extra emotional heft.
Learning that Peter’s DNA is changing makes Bruce Banner’s role in Brand New Day all the more clear. As teased in the trailer, Peter purposely seeks Banner out, looking for guidance on what to do about his problem. Of course, Banner knows a thing or two about dangerous DNA mutations, so he’ll likely be a big help for Peter. In the Brand New Day trailer, Bruce appears to be wearing a device on his arm, possibly some kind of inhibitor to keep Hulk at bay (given the rumors of Savage Hulk, odds are that device plays a key role in the movie). Banner could help Peter design his own inhibitor to prevent Man-Spider from ever emerging.
Regardless on whether or not Holland’s Peter turns into Man-Spider or not, now is the perfect time for a Spider-Man film series to deal with this kind of story angle. Holland is the first Spider-Man actor to headline four solo films, plus he’s made other MCU appearances in various team-up movies. He’s been at this for a long time and has been through a lot physically and emotionally. It feels like a natural continuation of his personal character arc for him to be dealing with enhanced genetic mutations right now. If this happened in the Maguire or Andrew Garfield franchises, it would have been too much too soon. But as the MCU itself prepares to experience a rebirth after Avengers: Secret Wars, it’s time for Marvel’s most popular character to go through one of his own.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
