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What’s immediately clear about Spider-Man: Brand New Day is how it really is picking up the pieces left behind by Spider-Man: No Way Home, carrying on the story that no one in the Marvel Universe remembers Peter Parker while also making it clear that the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is still very much on everyone’s minds. Watch the trailer below:
There’s plenty to get excited about from that footage, including Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, and, finally, a look at Scorpion (Michael Mando) in action, almost a decade after the MCU first set him up.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Reveals First Look at Punisher, Banner, The Hand & More
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer gives fans a fresh look at the returning faces from the MCU that will be seen in the film. Not only do we see Mac Gargan, aka Scorpion, who is now suited up, but we get a tease of Bruce Banner’s role in the film. Notably, it is Banner, not Hulk, and it includes an emotional meeting with Peter where he clearly has no idea who he is (and appears to be a teacher, perhaps at MIT, where MJ and Ned are in school).
Speaking of, the presence of Zendaya’s MJ in the Brand New Day trailer gets at the emotional core of the movie. We learn that Peter is still in her life, to a degree; she just has no memory of him. He attends a party that she is also at, and, rather brutally, he has to witness her with her new boyfriend. There’s also an interaction between Spider-Man and MJ, too, suggesting he saves her at some point, and presumably the story will include her re-learning about Peter/Spidey.
On that note, we also see MJ and Ned Leeds watching the news as Spider-Man is given the key to the city. What’s particularly notable about that is that the Mayor in the scene is not Wilson Fisk. Given he has that role heading into Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, which releases before Brand New Day, this could be a spoiler for the events of the show, but there might also be some timeline shenanigans going on here instead.
The Punisher also has a sizable role in the trailer, appearing in a sequence where he fits Spider-Man with a van. The suggestion is that the pair are uneasy allies, with Spidey telling him to stay out of it. It’s clear he doesn’t approve of Frank Castle’s methods, and in one humorous bit, even uses his webbing to prevent him from swearing. Also returning is The Hand, the villainous ninja group who debuted in Daredevil Season 2, and are now fighting against Peter, for reasons that aren’t yet clear.
For longtime comics fans, it’s worth noting that the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer recreates some iconic Spider-Man imagery. Most notably, one shot directly replicates the first appearance of Spider-Man from 1963’s Amazing Fantasy #15 as Spider-Man swings through the air with a person tucked under his arm.
Intriguingly, the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer leaves us with a cryptic tease about the “life cycles” of a spider, which leads to “rebirth.” This works in a figurative sense, as it’s signaling that Brand New Day marks the start of a new era for the character in the MCU, and hopefully a whole new trilogy that can define him and tell new stories in the same way as the “Home” trilogy.
However, it also seems to be more literal. Throughout the trailer, we see Peter struggling with his powers. It looks as though he has now developed organic webbing, and we hear Banner mention “mutations.” It seems as though Spider-Man’s abilities are shifting, or mutating, in some way, which also fits with the life cycle tease.
