Even though she's been spotted on set, we still don't know who Sadie Sink is playing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. With so much intrigue and excitement surrounding her character, it's hard to escape the feeling that we're all setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Regardless of whether Sink is playing a major addition to the MCU, a newly created hero or villain, or perhaps an amalgamation of multiple comic book characters, the Stranger Things star is giving nothing away.
Appearing at the world premiere for the Netflix show's final season, Sink was asked to describe her character in one word.
"I thought this was the Stranger Things premiere. I wasn't prepared," the clearly flustered actress replied. Pushed to answer, Sink responded, "No. No. I have enough secrets [Laughs]."
While it looked like we'd cracked the case and figured out that Sink was playing Rachel Cole-Alves, recent rumours have pointed to her character being the villainous Multiversal villain, Shathra. That doesn't sound very street-level, but it might nicely tee up Spider-Man's role in Avengers: Doomsday and/or Avengers: Secret Wars.
In the comics, Shathra is a Wasp-Goddess and totemic predator from Loomworld in Earth-001, conceived by Oshtur and Gaea. Originally tasked with weaving the "Great Nest," her work was rejected in favour of her sister Neith's "Great Web," which became the Web of Life and Destiny.
Enraged and corrupted by jealousy, Shathra transformed into a monstrous wasp-deity and vowed to replace the Web with her own design. That was all added to the character's story by Dan Slott, but the original take introduced by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. was a little more grounded (and would be a better fit for Spider-Man: Brand New Day).
One thing we do know is that Sink will have her trademark red hair in the movie, something which will only add further fuel to the Jean Grey, Mary Jane Watson, and Mayday Parker theories.
You can watch the full interview with Sink discussing Spider-Man: Brand New Day in the player below.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day shares a title with a divisive era of storytelling, which, thanks to a deal with Mephisto, saw the wall-crawler get 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, and Carlie Cooper.
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.
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.
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 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 return as Yelena Belova.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.