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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Marvel fans have a lot to look forward to this year. In December, we’ll get Avengers: Doomsdayan ensemble blockbuster that will bring Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. back to the MCU along with plenty of marvelous multiversal cameos. And on July 31st, we’ll be getting Spider-Man: Brand New Daywhich has its titular web-head teaming up with the Punisher to fight everyone from the Hand to the Hulk. However, some fans are understandably nervous that these movies will disappoint because Marvel has had a very spotty record for the last half-decade or so.
Those fans will likely breathe a sigh of relief when they watch the latest trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The trailer gives us our closest look yet at some of Spidey’s foes, including Scorpion, Hulk, Hand ninjas, and Sadie Sink’s psychic character that’s almost certainly Jean Grey. All of it looks very exciting and might be enough to convince you that Marvel finally has the juice again. But what, exactly, has fans so excited about this trailer? Below, you’ll get our definitive breakdown of every punch, kick, and (most importantly) every thwip.
A newer, angrier Spider-Man
The latest Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer begins with Spider-Man fighting Scorpion, who’s looking downright terrifying in his new gear. The fight goes a little too well; Spidey kicks his butt and even slams the supervillain into an approaching cop car. Meanwhile, Spidey provides narration about how he’s losing his mind and feeling out of control. This is almost certainly tied to one of the movie’s bigger plots: Spider-Man’s DNA is mutating, giving him new abilities (like organic webbing) and a serious attitude problem.
That sends him to seek help from Bruce Banner, who has suppressed his Hulk side through a kind of nullifier device. As Peter Parker, our hero wonders if such a device could help him suppress parts of his own DNA, but Banner wonders how the young man could separate the good and bad parts of himself.
Is Jean Grey The Big Bad?
We see Spider-Man being briefed about a new villain who can take over people’s minds, freeze their bodies, and generally remote control anyone to have creepy conversations with Spider-Man. Our hero’s Spidey-sense gives him some kind of immunity to her abilities, making him the only man who can stop her. But that gets a lot harder when the bad guy unleashes the monster inside Bruce Banner, freeing the Grey Hulk persona. Hulk then attacks Spider-Man, either because he is being mind-controlled to do so or simply because he is filled with uncontrollable rage.
Quick sidebar here: ever since Sadie Sink was cast in the MCU, fans have speculated that she would be playing Jean Grey, one of the earliest members of the X-Men. Marvel and Sink have demurred on this point, frequently claiming that she could be playing any number of possible characters. Given all of the telepathic and telekinetic abilities on display, many fans think this trailer confirms the Stranger Things star is playing the marvelous mutant. Why is she the bad guy, though? Chances are this is all a bit of major misdirection (more on this in a bit).
Old Friends And New
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer also has quieter scenes featuring Peter Parker meeting Ned and MJ. At first, he digitally stalks them from afar thanks to Ned’s quirky livestreams. Later, he meets them in person in a scene that confirms that neither of them remembers who he is. Later, though, MJ trusts Spider-Man to swing her to safety, indicating that there may still be a spark of attraction inside Peter’s former girlfriend.
To keep her safe, Spider-Man brings MJ to the Punisher, who is apparently a kind of frenemy. Nonetheless, Big Pun gets recruited into Spider-Man’s battle, one that looks like it will be filled with enemies. In addition to Scorpion, Sadie Sink’s character, and Tombstone (who doesn’t even appear in this trailer), Spidey will be fighting a small army of Hand ninjas inside a prison. We get a cool battle scene with them (two words: web tornado!), some bittersweet narration from the deceased Aunt May about power and responsibility, and a final gag where Spider-Man is discussing the importance of stretching to a prison security guard he is about to fight.
A Multiverse Of Misdirection
This Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer does a great job of building hype for the movie, showing us a mixture of cool scenes and over-the-top action. However, the trailer plays very coy about what the overall plot will be. Beyond Spider-Man trying to fix his mutating DNA, what’s up with the people he is fighting? And if Sadie Sink really is playing Jean Grey, why is she the bad guy in a Spider-Man movie of all things? The answer is misdirection. You see, the trailer only gives us a brief glimpse of Scorpion, and we don’t see the movie’s other two villains (Tombstone and Boomerang) at all.
In all likelihood, Jean Grey isn’t the real villain, but she is a threat to the city government. The Wonder Man series showed us how Damage Control is starting to round up rogue superhumans. That might include mutants or just anyone the government finds sufficiently threatening. Jean is likely on the run from Damage Control and maybe seeking to actively liberate mutants they are holding. That’s likely why Spider-Man is fighting ninjas in the prison: he is liberating someone from jail, either Jean or someone unfairly imprisoned.
Caught In The Spider’s Web
Overall, the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer proves that Marvel still has the juice. It looks like this film could be the best of both worlds: a killer standalone Spidey film and a cameo-filled blockbuster with major repercussions for the MCU. How major are we talking? No matter who Sadie Sink’s playing, we already know she’s going to pop back up in Avengers: Secret Wars. At this point, I’m all in on her playing Jean Grey.
But will the actual movie live up to all this hype? Is the trailer proof that Marvel has a great film on its hands, or just proof they have a talented editor? We’ll find out in just a little under a month and a half when Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31. Come for the organic webbing and stay for the knockdown, drag-out fight between Spidey and Hulk!
