As announced by Sony Pictures at CinemaCon 2025, the fourth MCU Spider-Man film will officially be titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The latest adventure for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton of Shang-Chi fame, and swings into theaters on July 31, 2026. Anticipation for this new film is at a fever pitch, especially since Spider-Man: No Way Home was a smash hit with critics and audiences. No new details were given about the film at Sony’s panel, but the title gives us plenty to chew on since, unlike the previous MCU Spider-Man film titles, this one is a direct reference to a story from the comics.
Brand New Day is one of the more famous Spider-Man stories because of its connection to the notorious One More Day storyline, and the use of this title may give big hints for Spider-Man’s future in the MCU. Let’s take a look at what Brand New Day may mean for Peter Parker’s upcoming film.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Explained
To properly explain Brand New Day, we first have to go over the events that led into it. During the Civil War crossover event, Peter Parker shocked everyone by revealing his secret identity to the world. He did this because he was part of Iron Man’s pro-registration side of the war, which required superheroes to register their identities with the government. However, the reveal of Peter’s identity led the Kingpin to order his assassination, only for the shooter to miss Peter and hit Aunt May instead. With May in the hospital, Peter looks for any help he can get to save her… which he receives in the form of Mephisto, who offers to save May’s life in exchange for undoing his marriage to Mary Jane.
To say that this story was controversial would be a severe understatement. Spider-Man making a deal with the Devil out of editorial mandate is well known as one of the most hated comic stories of all time. But what’s done is done, and that led to Brand New Day, starting with Amazing Spider-Man #546.
Brand New Day was a reset of Spidey’s status quo, and is less of an individual story in its own right than a branding exercise over a series of smaller arcs that ran all the way until Amazing #564. The overall story is about establishing what’s happened to the timeline after the Mephisto deal takes place, with the big ticket items including the world forgetting Spider-Man’s secret identity, Peter and Mary Jane having never been married, and the return of Harry Osborn. (He’d been dead for a while. Oh, and this one turned out to be a clone.)
Peter and MJ’s history was altered so they’d only been in a long-term relationship that was already over. New supporting cast and villains were introduced during this period, such as forensic scientist and future Spidey love interest Carlie Cooper, police officer Vincent Gonzalez, redheaded superhero Jackpot, Martin Li aka Mr. Negative, the Goblin-esque villain Menace (later revealed to be Harry Osborn love interest Lily Hollister), and the bane of every Insomniac Spider-Man player’s existence, Screwball. Brand New Day tried to rejuvenate the Spider-Man franchise by relaunching it, and although fan reception was mixed to say the least, the era was a pivotal moment in the history of Spider-Man comics.
What Does Brand New Day Mean for the MCU?
If you remember the plot of Spider-Man: No Way Home, you may recognize that some elements of that film already resemble aspects of One More Day and Brand New Day. Doctor Strange’s spell that Peter botches was supposed to erase the world’s knowledge of his secret identity, and in the end Strange needs to cast a new spell that results in everyone in the world forgetting who Peter is. This includes his love interest Michelle “MJ” Jones and best pal Ned Leeds, as well as all of Peter’s superhero friends. Peter receiving supernatural interference that results in the world forgetting that he’s Spider-Man and removing the Peter/MJ romance from the equation means that No Way Home is now effectively a loose adaptation of One More Day.
With Brand New Day starting a new era for Tom Holland’s Spidey franchise, we might now have some clues as to what characters will be included. Peter ran into Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin in No Way Home via the power of the multiverse, but could the MCU’s take on the Osborns finally make their debut? Harry being Peter’s new bestie would make a lot of sense with Ned no longer knowing him. As well, Stranger Things alum Sadie Sink has already been cast, with the two biggest theories as to her role being either an officially named Mary Jane Watson or longtime X-Men member Jean Grey. However, now that we know the title is Brand New Day, an outside the box choice could be her playing Carlie Cooper as a new love interest for Peter.
As for bad guys, could Mr. Negative be in the running for Spidey’s new nemesis? Fans of the comics and the Insomniac Spider-Man games know that Martin Li is associated with charity organization F.E.A.S.T. (Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter and Training), which actually made a blink and you’ll miss it cameo in No Way Home as the place where Aunt May works. The Darkforce wielding crime lord and his gang the Inner Demons are some of the most prominent Spider-Man foes to never appear in a live-action film. We doubt that Lily Hollister/Menace will be the new villain, but she could still appear in some capacity if the film decides to lay groundwork for the MCU’s Osborns.
Of course, we can’t discount the possibility that the movie is only using the title Brand New Day and will chart its own course. The MCU has a history of doing that, with films like Age of Ultron and Infinity War not having much at all to do with their comic counterparts. Perhaps Brand New Day is merely a signifier that this is a new direction for the Spider-Man franchise after the Home trilogy.
It is also entirely possible that Brand New Day will avoid these newer characters and undo the spell cast at the end of No Way Home, allowing Peter’s old friends to return to the series. However, that would be a missed opportunity to not use No Way Home’s ending to tell a more grounded, street level Spider-Man story. Although with Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars on the way, we’d be surprised if Peter doesn’t wind up in some more multiversal mischief sooner or later. We’ll all find out when the film arrives next July.
What do you think will happen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day? Let us know in the comments!
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
