Somehow, the identity of Sadie Sink's character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day has become one of the biggest talking points of any upcoming superhero movie. Now, just as it seemed like we had it figured out, there may be a new twist.
All signs pointed to Sink playing The Punisher's new partner, Rachel Cole-Alvez. However, Murphy's Multiverse has now chimed in to explain that Frank Castle's sidekick will be played by a Black actress. Whether that's Rachel or another character from the comics remains to be seen.
The site isn't the first to report that, of course, but adds, "I've heard from two separate sources that Sink’s character is not who she appears to be." So, the mystery continues.
While it's a theory and not a rumour, Charles Murphy later posits that Sink could be playing a character from the "Brand New Day" era of Amazing Spider-Man comics: Lily Hollister.
While dating Harry Osborn, Lily discovered one of Norman Osborn's Green Goblin equipment caches. After accidentally knocking over some experimental Goblin chemicals, she absorbed them into her skin and was now able to transform into her "Menace" form at will (perhaps explaining why we've heard so much about a shape-shifting villain).
In more recent years, she's become Queen Cat, a Black Cat-like hero. That opens the door to us getting a very different take on Black Cat in the MCU, possibly like how Mary Jane Watson became MJ, and Ned was a mashup of Ned Leeds and Ganke.
Jean Grey, Gwen Stacy, Rachel Cole-Alvez, Carlie Cooper, Shathra, Chameleon, Menace...the list keeps growing. It's becoming clear that there's an awful lot we don't know about Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and we can expect that secrecy to continue.
Yesterday, it was reported that a brief teaser for the movie could play in front of this December's Avatar: Fire and Ash. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is shaping up to be an even more highly anticipated release than Avengers: Doomsday, so we'd bet on it doing something designed to get fans even more excited.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton directs Spider-Man: Brand New Day from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Tom Holland leads a cast that also includes Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Michael Mando, Tramell Tillman, Marvin Jones III, and Liza Colón-Zayas. Thunderbolts* star Florence Pugh has also joined the cast.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.