Spider-Man: Brand New Day has so far generated even more speculation and excitement than next December's Avengers: Doomsday. The rumour mill, somewhat unsurprisingly, is continuing to churn out a seemingly endless series of wild claims about what to expect from the wall-crawler's MCU return.
There's been a lot of speculation about the Venom Symbiote factoring into the movie, something Scorpion actor Michael Mando teased on social media for several weeks when he was first added to the movie's cast.
In the comics, Mac Gargan does eventually become Venom, so Marvel Studios could skip past Eddie Brock and go straight to him in this new trilogy (the door appears to have been well and truly closed on Tom Hardy's version of that character ever meeting Tom Holland's web-slinger).
There's already been some chatter about the Symbiote factoring into Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and insider Daniel Richtman's latest update adds further fuel to the fire.
"I hear Marvel wants their own take on the Symbiote, whatever that means," he wrote on X before speculating, "Maybe meaning no Tom Hardy."
Holland isn't expected to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, and if he does, it will likely be just for a cameo. However, he is expected to play a much larger role in Avengers: Secret Wars, and we're sure you'll all remember that it was in the original Secret Wars comic that Peter Parker first encountered his alien suit.
Earlier this year, Hardy opened up on the Spider-Man crossover that never was. "I loved playing Eddie in Venom," the actor started. "Juggling chainsaws. Put me on a unicycle and throw everything at me! I was just really trying to push myself as much as I could."
"But I had no Spider-Man! No Avengers! It’s just us. Until those bridges are crossed," he trailed off. "That’s way beyond my control. And I’d love to do that, but that’s not even a conversation to have at my level, of just being an actor in that world."
Hardy added, "That’s the game. We played in the Sony counterpoint to Disney’s Marvel panoply, of which [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige has a huge amount of cards, and Sony has a huge amount of cards in its own right, including Spider-Man, and then there’s just no crossover. We’d love to cross over! That’s not happened. That’s what happens, and it’s one of those things."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day shares a title with a divisive era of comic book storytelling, which, thanks to a deal with Mephisto to save his dying Aunt May, saw the wall-crawler given a fresh start when his marriage to Mary Jane Watson ended and his identity became secret again. He faced many new sinister foes during that time and was surrounded by a fresh supporting cast, including Mister Negative, Jackpot, Menace, Carlie Cooper, and Freak.
In the MCU, all signs point to Spidey teaming up with—and at some point fighting—The Punisher to take on a Savage Hulk, with The Scorpion thrown in for good measure. The street-level adventure promises to resolve a dangling plot thread from 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, when Mac Gargan vowed to take revenge on the wall-crawler.
Several other villains are reportedly set to appear in the movie, including Tombstone, Tarantula, Boomerang, and Ramrod. There's also been some chatter online about the Symbiote factoring into the story, potentially setting the stage for Mac Gargan to don the alien costume as Venom (presumably after Avengers: Secret Wars).
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton directs Spider-Man: Brand New Day from a script by returning Spider-Man franchise writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
Tom Holland plays Spider-Man in a cast that also includes Jon Bernthal (The Punisher), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Zendaya (MJ), Sadie Sink, Michael Mando (The Scorpion), Tramell Tillman, Marvin Jones III (Tombstone), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), and Liza Colón-Zayas. Thunderbolts* star Florence Pugh is expected to reprise her Thunderbolts* role as Yelena Belova.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.