After years of radio silence, Marvel finally started lifting the curtain on Spider-Man: Brand New Day. A small teaser unveiled Tom Holland's new suit, production officially began on the streets of Glasgow, and casting announcements have finally started to hit the web (pun intended). But despite all the recent news, there's one specific aspect of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe project that remains largely under wraps. Unfortunately, fans have yet to learn who will be the main antagonist of the wall-crawler's upcoming adventure.
Granted, we know that Scorpion will have a role to play, years after the Spider-Man: Homecoming post-credits scene teased his eventual debut. However, it's reported that there are at least three different antagonists in the movie, and the other two are surrounded in secrecy for the time being.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day set photos suggest the Inner Demons will make an appearance, which would indicate Martin Li is also involved. However, that theory hasn't been officially confirmed. So, who else could be amongst the unnamed bad guys? Well, fans hoped the highly anticipated movie would finally pit the wall-crawler against one of his most recognizable comic book villains, but it seems that will ultimately not be the case.
The Kingpin will reportedly not appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
According to reliable insider Daniel Richtman, Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin isn't set to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day "as of now". While that means there could be a slight possibility that the movie will eventually include him, things aren't looking promising. After all, production already started, and any script changes at this point could be detrimental (though history has proven that the MCU loves to make use of this tactic).
Plot details of Spider-Man: Brand New Day remain under wraps for the time being, but the Punisher's confirmed involvement and Mister Negative's likely appearance led fans to speculate that a gang war might be at play. This would also go in line with Kevin Feige's comments, which claim the movie will deal with "street-level crime, as opposed to world-ending events".
With that in mind, it could've seemed logical for the Kingpin to be involved in the story as well, not only because the hypothetical gang war would take place in the city he's the mayor of, but because of how much Vanessa Fisk deals with mob bosses on a day-to-day basis. But above everything else, Frank Castle's role made everyone hope that other characters from Daredevil: Born Again could be involved in the story, too.
But even if Wilson Fisk, Matt Murdock, and Peter Parker won't share the screen in Brand New Day, it doesn't mean that such a crossover will never happen. Scooper Alex Perez revealed that Marvel is planning on doing a Devil's Reign adaptation that will span multiple projects, and that the Daredevil and Spidey team-up will become a reality, but only after the release of Avengers: Secret Wars.
Recently, Vincent D'Onofrio revealed that his character can't appear in any Disney MCU movies, given that Sony holds the rights to the character's adaptation on the big screen. But considering that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a movie produced by Sony, it would seem like the perfect opportunity for the Kingpin to have a secondary role or maybe even steal the spotlight as the main antagonist. After all, Peter should know about the villain's track record now that Fisk is the mayor of New York. With that in mind, it wouldn't take a lot of setup work for the two to meet.
Even if it's unfortunate to learn that Wilson Fisk won't be in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the prospect of Mister Negative being the wall-crawler's next big bad is nothing short of exciting. And with filming currently underway and less than a year until the movie's release, it's just a matter of time before Marvel gives us some official answers, and we can't wait for that to happen.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released on Jul. 31, 2026.
More from Bam Smack Pow: