For a long time, fans failed to get a grasp on what Spider-Man: Brand New Day would be about. The very first reports suggested that the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie would see the wall-crawler team up with Daredevil to take down the Kingpin of crime. Fast-forward a few weeks, and word on the street was that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire would be making a comeback in yet another multiversal tale. To make matters more confusing, Sony itself teased that Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock was set to make an appearance and likely become Venom once more. Suddenly, Knull was the movie's potential main antagonist, too.
Needless to say, the pre-production of Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been very tumultuous thanks to its many shifts in direction. Reports indicate that Tom Holland and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had clashes with Sony about the project's story. Furthermore, it isn't a secret that the long-awaited movie suffered from a delay. But, at long last, the wall-crawler's upcoming adventure is coming, and it's set to be a street-level adventure featuring villains like Scorpion and anti-heroes such as Punisher and Hulk. Fans are, overall, very excited about how things are shaping up for the wall-crawler, and it may be all thanks to Peter Parker himself.
Tom Holland helped define the story of Spider-Man: Brand New Day
During an interview with Esquire, Tom Holland revealed that he did research online to figure out what fans wanted from Spidey in his next solo movie. Not only that, but he "stood up" for the character and made sure that those expectations became a reality:
"I did a lot of sneaky research online—looking at what people were saying in the interim between Spider-Man: No Way Home and now Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I really just kind of put together a vibe of what people were looking for and went to Marvel and said, 'This is what I think we should be doing.' And I think that’s exactly what we are doing. So it’s been a really fun process developing the movie. It’s the first time I’ve ever been allowed in that part of the process, and it’s definitely a stressful experience. But I think where we’ve got to, now that we’re shooting, we are shooting absolute gold."
Tom Holland isn't only responsible for bringing the wall-crawler to life, but he's also always made sure that the character gets the best treatment possible in a world where corporations look out for their own best interests. Case in point, the English actor is a big reason Peter Parker still lives in the MCU.
While Sony owns the rights to the character, a deal with Disney allows him to share the screen with other Marvel heroes. However, that collaboration came to a sudden end in 2019, and the future of Spidey was put into question. Fortunately, Tom Holland arranged a call with Disney CEO Bob Iger, and that was the first step that allowed the two companies to work in unison once again.
As if that wasn't enough, Tom Holland has also shaped up the storyline of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. At this point, it isn't a surprise that Sony wanted yet another multiversal adventure for the wall-crawler, especially after the big success of No Way Home. However, Tom took part in the conversations about the movie's story and shaped it into what it is today:
"I love standing up for the character, being in the room, and making sure that the decisions we make are what’s best for Peter Parker, because he really does feel like one of my best friends. It’s a really weird experience diving into the character again. It just feels like you’re hanging out with an old pal."
There's a lot of secrecy surrounding Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Granted, reports have revealed that characters like Hulk and Yelena Belova are set to make an appearance. However, nobody is quite certain of who the big bad is going to be, or how the Punisher will stand his ground against other super-powered people. Fortunately, we aren't too far away from discovering what Marvel has in store for us and whether Tom Holland and company knocked it out of the park with the movie's story.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released on Jul. 31, 2026.