Carolina De La Rocque
June 17th will go down in history as one of the best days to be a fan of Spider-Man and the character’s MCU version. That is because the official trailer for Spiderman: Brand New Day was released and, while not as memorable as the one on March 18th — which became the most watched trailer of all time —, the near 3-minute video left fans speculating and theorizing in a scale that had not been achieved by Marvel in a long time. The main point of speculation seemed to be the character portrayed by the remarkable Sadie Sink — while some wholeheartedly believe she will be the face of Jean Grey for the MCU upcoming Mutant Saga, others think she’ll stay inside the usual lines of Spider-Man stories and portray Mary Jane Watson. Some fans are still hoping that the Venom 3 post credits scene will lead to the symbiont taking control of Tom Holland’s Peter. It does not matter what you believe — what does matter is that this level of fandom-wide theorizing, passion and analyzing was lacking on current day MCU and, somehow, Marvel’s most famous character retrieved it.
This trailer not only got the fans thrilled for Brand New Day — it made them theorize about its connection to, arguably, the most expected cinematic event of the year: Avengers: Doomsday. Fans ask: why wasn’t Tom Holland’s name on the cast reveal livestream? Why isn’t Sadie Sink there if her character is being dealt with as this huge secret? Who would be the one to invite Spiderman into the team? Or will someone still remember who Peter is under the mask? Why aren’t any Spiderman: Brand New Day characters in the newly released Doomsday trailer?
The new release also establishes connections to past post-Endgame content, some of the most obvious being Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk (which explains the current state of Bruce Banner RE: the Hulk’s powers). It also ties into the mid credit scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which shows the Vulture summoning Scorpion to team up against Spider-Man. In the last official trailer, entitled “Peter’s Journey”, however, Scorpion inquired Peter if he really thought he was actually himself (“Do you really think I’m Scorpion?”). This seemed like further confirmation that there is something — or someone — controlling some of the “villains” in the film. It is certain that none of the official trailers have disclosed who Brand New Day’s main villain is. Personally, I’ll keep thinking it is Jean Grey until I watch the movie (which will hopefully prove I am right).
The newest trailer, released yesterday (7/21), recaps the journey of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in the MCU; it is a must-watch if you’re unsure whether you remember all Spider-Man appearances or not. One thing that no MCU fan can deny: seeing Tom Holland’s face on the big screen in the same year we see Robert Downey Junior portray Doctor Doom is nostalgic and brings back that old, passionate fandom. The era the Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently in, with two large releases lined up for the year, is certainly its best since Avengers: Endgame.
