The trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day finally dropped, and if your first reaction was that there’s way too much going on to process in a single viewing, you’re not alone. If you have not watched it five or more times just yet, do so one more time and let’s break down some interesting threads that are worth talking about:
As you can see, the trailer footage is packed with enough reveals, teases, and blink-and-you-miss-it details to keep Marvel fans pausing every frame like they’re back in the WandaVision era. From surprise character appearances to what looks like a full-blown body-horror subplot for Peter Parker, this movie is shaping up to be less of a friendly neighborhood adventure and more of a full-scale identity crisis with webbing.
One of the biggest takeaways from the trailer is the sheer number of major players involved. We get a clear look at Frank Castle, once again played by Jon Bernthal, which already suggests that whatever is happening in this story is serious enough to bring the Punisher into the mix. Then we get the return of Mac Gargan, aka Scorpion (finally), and it appears The Hand also plays a role of some kind (DareDevil cameo, perhaps?), oh and a Keith David voiceover naration, to boot?! On top of all that, Bruce Banner shows up, which is never a great sign if you’re hoping for a normal week without things getting smashed, stomped, crushed, or squashed. However, it seems Banner is involved because somebody’s spider-DNA is doing something it absolutely should not be doing.
And that brings us to the part of the trailer that has fans doing the most theorizing. Peter is shown going through what looks like a genetic mutation, with dialogue hinting that his cells are changing in ways he doesn’t understand. The trailer even shows him waking up in an alley, naked and covered in webbing, which strongly suggests he’s no longer relying on mechanical web-shooters. Instead, he appears to be producing organic webs, something longtime fans will immediately recognize as a red flag that Peter’s spider side might be getting a little too literal.
Because if there’s one storyline comic readers remember whenever Peter Parker starts mutating, it’s Man-Spider. More than once in Marvel history, Peter has undergone extreme genetic changes that turn him into a six-armed, spider-like creature that quickly becomes a problem for everyone involved. The trailer doesn’t show a full transformation, but the combination of Banner’s involvement, Peter losing control of his abilities, and the Punisher showing up at the same time has us wondering if the movie could feature a version of that storyline, possibly with Frank Castle hunting what he thinks is just another monster thrashing about the streets of New York.
Furthermore, many rumors have been circulating for months that multiple mutants will make their debut in Brand New Day, and the trailer doesn’t exactly shut those rumors down. If mutants are active in the MCU by this point, it would make sense for Peter to seek help from someone who understands uncontrolled mutations better than anyone else. Longtime fans will remember that Peter once turned to Professor X when his powers started changing, because if your DNA is rewriting itself, you go to the guy who runs a school for people whose DNA rewrote itself.
Of course, all of this is still guesswork based on a few minutes of footage and a lot of internet rumors. Marvel trailers are famous for misdirection, and there’s always a chance the movie is doing something completely different from what it looks like. Still, if even half of what the trailer is hinting at actually makes it into the final film, Brand New Day could end up being one of the most ambitious Spider-Man stories the MCU has attempted.
We won’t have to wait long to find out. The movie swings into theaters on July 31, and whether these theories turn out to be dead-on, completely wrong, or somewhere in the middle, this is already looking like the kind of Spider-Man movie that people will be dissecting frame by frame for years.
