5 standout moments from Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer - from Zendaya return to dangerous new villains

Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have done the impossible with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, evading the leaks and spoilers that plague so many comic book blockbusters to cook up a genuine surprise for fans.

Even after the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer, which launched today to great excitement (and you can watch above), there are still more questions than answers about what to expect from Tom Holland's fourth solo film as the beloved superhero.

Picking up after the events of 2021's No Way Home, we see Peter Parker (Holland) forced to fend for himself for the first time, after the entire world forgot he existed due to a powerful spell from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).

In a fan-friendly move, it tears the character away from the high-tech comforts of Stark Industries, dropping him into a highly comics-accurate status quo of taking down street-level baddies in his local neighbourhood.

Following a stellar first trilogy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), there's reason to be optimistic for this bold new era, with acclaimed Shang-Chi director and Wonder Man co-creator Destin Daniel Cretton taking the reins from earlier filmmaker Jon Watts.

If you're as excited as we are, you're in the right place! Here you'll find all the key takeaways from the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer broken down with expert analysis. Now, how many minutes away is July?

1. Tom Holland and Zendaya reunite

After weeks of rumours regarding their marital status (not that it should matter to anyone but them), real-life couple Tom Holland and Zendaya will be relieved to have something else to talk about in their next media appearance.

That is their long-awaited on-screen reunion as Peter Parker and MJ, whose relationship was sadly torn apart at the end of No Way Home, as the former made a noble sacrifice to keep the barriers between multiverses from disintegrating.

A spell concocted by Doctor Strange wiped all memory of Peter from the universe, restoring his secret identity, but nullifying even his closest relationships in the process.

Some time later, Peter still appears heartbroken by his loss of MJ, who seems to be getting on rather well at university, where she claims to be the happiest she's ever been. Ouch.

Not the kind to just give up, Peter does appear to be creeping back into her social circle. The trailer ends with a somewhat awkward meeting between them at a house party, where the ice is broken (again). But will it stir up any of those lost memories?

2. What's happening to Peter Parker?

Arguably more intriguing is the suggestion that Peter is undergoing some kind of mutation to his very DNA, not dissimilar to that which real spiders go through (as per the narration – I cannot tell you if it's scientifically accurate).

There are two moments in particular that are sure to stir up speculation in this regard. First, we see a scantily clad Peter hanging from a building, with only some webbing around his waist to hold him in place.

Intriguingly, he's lacking his wrist-worn web shooters, which has led some to speculate whether he could start producing web organically, as was the case with Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker (who explained as much to Holland's version in No Way Home).

These changes do appear to be taking their toll on poor ol' Pete, who later stares ominously down the camera with his eyes turned fully black and red.

One possible explanation could be symbiote shenanigans.

Viewers will remember that, when Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock was temporarily (and uneventfully) transported to the MCU, he accidentally left a tiny sliver of Venom symbiote behind.

Could that have found its way to Peter Parker, whose image Venom enthusiastically licked in the Let There Be Carnage post-credits scene? I'm starting to think I've seen too many of these movies.

3. Dangerous villains strike: The Scorpion, Boomerang and... The Hand?

Without doubt, one of the biggest questions hanging over Spider-Man: Brand New Day remains who exactly the 'main' villain is. This trailer doesn't answer that, but does give us some (surprising) candidates.

We see Spider-Man in a brief scrap with Frank Castle aka The Punisher, but despite their moral disagreements, he's more of an antihero these days than chief antagonist material (as shown recently in Daredevil: Born Again).

Throughout the trailer, we get glimpses of B-tier villains like Scorpion (Michael Mando, returning from Homecoming) and even Boomerang (see top of page, actor TBC), seen hurling his projectiles in an airborne encounter with Spidey.

These inclusions will delight Spider-Man fans, for whom a large part of the character's appeal is his day-to-day crimefighting, but they don't exactly scream 'high-stakes blockbuster villain'.

Instead, a psychic or paranormal menace could fill that role...

An as-yet-unexplained moment in the Brand New Day trailer sees Spider-Man rescue an older woman from a crashed vehicle, whose consciousness seems to hop from that body to a nearby armoured soldier.

This unknown entity smirks at Spider-Man from this body, before viscerally jumping again to another nearby individual, as the voiceover (from Severance's Tramell Tillman) warns of a danger we "can't control" or "even see".

In a further twist, ruthless ninja clan The Hand (previously seen in Marvel's Daredevil and The Defenders) appear to be in New York City again, raising the possibility of this unidentified enemy being demonic or mystical in nature.

But who could take the role of such a powerful antagonist? That's yet another of Brand New Day's enticing mysteries.

4. Bruce Banner's return is finally confirmed...

Although widely reported in the press, Mark Ruffalo had been somewhat coy about confirming his return for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, so it's good to see that we can finally put that small matter to bed.

In-keeping with Strange's spell, Bruce Banner has no memory of the plucky kid he fought alongside in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, but does lend some advice to a worried Peter regarding his uncontrollable mutations.

Ruffalo previously worked with Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, where he appeared in a post-credits scene alongside other Avengers favourites.

However, this marks the first time in many years that Banner has reverted to his regular human persona, after an extended stint as 'Smart Hulk' or 'Professor Hulk' depending on your preferred nickname.

5. ... but where is Sadie Sink?

Several members of the Spider-Man: Brand New Day cast remain unaccounted for, but arguably, the actor of most interest to Marvel fans is Stranger Things star Sadie Sink.

The internet went into meltdown speculating who the star might be playing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with guesses ranging from burglar Black Cat to mutant Jean Grey and from superhero Firestar to love interest Gwen Stacy.

After this trailer, we're still none the wiser, with Sink yet to make an on-screen appearance. Could she be playing the shapeless body-hopping entity that we see wreaking havoc earlier on?

Or might she be the hooded individual facing away from us (see above), who boastfully gestures before a high-tech set up designed for who knows what?

For now, we can't know, but expect theories and rumours to only intensify as we get closer to Brand New Day's summer premiere.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into cinemas on 31 July 2026.

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