It's here: Spider-Man: Brand New Day has made its presence felt around the world after four years of anticipation. The fourth film in Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios' Spidey collaboration yields exceptional results, as audiences have responded with nothing but love for Peter Parker's newest adventure on the big screen.
There has been a lot of hype for the film, with speculation as to who might actually appear. And it's true: Fans have constantly been asking "Is Daredevil in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?" or "Who is Sadie Sink playing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?". There have been many, many questions - too many - and that has added to the anticipation. Because, honestly, nobody has really known what to expect from this one.
With that in mind, if you would like to know who appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, let's dive into the theories and confirm which ones turned out to be true - and which ones didn't.
*** This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Spider-Man: Brand New Day (including the indentity of who Sadie Sink is playing). Don't read on if you would like the film to be unspoiled for you. ***
DOES APPEAR: Yelena Belova
We had all heard the rumors about Florence Pugh appearing as Yelena Belova in Spider-Man: Brand New Day for quite some time, and they recently started picking up momentum again. That alone made an appearance from the character seem inevitable. Pugh's appearance at the film's London premiere essentially confirmed as much (or, if you lived in the UK / Europe, you could confirm as much for yourself after the film's international release rolled out a little earlier).
Yelena makes two appearances in the MCU film - both of which are designed to help Spider-Man out (albeit in appropriately outlandish Yelena fashion). Not only does this reveal a pre-established working relationship between the two, it also reveals that Yelena officially goes by "Black Widow" now that the New Avengers are officially the franchise's newest heroes.
DOESN'T APPEAR: Daredevil
Marvel fans were hoping that Spider-Man: Brand New Day would feature a secret cameo from Matt Murdock. Many were even hoping that the trailer had scrubbed particular characters and cameos from certain scenes in order to preserve the surprise for the film. And given that Peter would be battling The Hand and teaming with The Punisher - not to mention that Daredevil: Born Again's Zabryna Guevara reprised her role as Sheila Rivera - there were some real grounds for that hope, too.
But alas, The Devil From Hell's Kitchen does not appear in the film. Although the character did end up in prison in the season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again, and Spidey did find himself engaged in a battle with The Hand in a prison (which actually turned out to be the Department of Damage Control's facility), Charlie Cox's hero did not make an appearance.
And with that, fans will seemingly have to wait another few years before they see Spidey and Daredevil share the screen together.
DOES APPEAR: The Punisher
This should come as a surprise to no one: Frank Castle becomes Peter Parker's closest ally in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The man known as The Punisher crosses paths with the webslinger when they are both trailing the large tank that makes its presence felt on New York City and - from there - they form something of an odd alliance that eventually results in them teaming up to battle threats such as The Hulk and Sadie Sink's mystery character.
Frank doesn't particularly get along with anyone, but you can see that he begins to warm to the webslinger throughout the movie. Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal's chemistry is legendary and it certainly comes across on-screen - making this arguably Peter's strongest
DOESN'T APPEAR: Kingpin
The first Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer ended up accidentally spoling the season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again. Shiela Rivera's appearance as the mayor - or interim mayor - while presenting the Key to the City to Spider-Man was in stark contrast to the administration that was running the city in the sophomore season of the Disney Plus show. Shiela was the Chief of Staff for Mayor Wilson Fisk, who outlawed vigilantes and threatened to bring Daredevil down again and again. However, in that finale, he was finally ousted from his position when Daredevil exposed his corrupt nature to the world... again.
Fans have been longing to see the Kingpin appear in a Spider-Man movie. Wilson Fisk may consider Daredevil his archenemy but he is actually one of Spider-Man's multiple archenemies in the Marvel Comics, so it would be incredible to see him set his sights on the webslinger at some point in time. Vincent D'Onofrio has spoken about his hopes to do that at some point in time, suggesting that there are various rights issues that prevent it from happening now. Here's hoping that it's all resolved in the future and we get to see it take place at some point down the line.
DOES APPEAR: Bruce Banner / The Hulk
Another character who had been confirmed for an MCU return in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailers, Bruce Banner made his first appearance since 2022's She-Hulk: Attorney At Law - and it was well worth the wait. Mark Ruffalo reprised the role as Bruce was now lecturing at Empire State University and Peter reached out to him for help. However, he quite quickly found himself drawn into the larger-than-life happenings with Sadie Sink's mystery character.
Not only does Bruce momentarily transform into Professor Hulk at the demand of Jean, who possesses him, the trauma completely overtakes Dr. Banner, resulting in a full scale transformation into the original Hulk. And, with that, fans are treated to an epic showdown between Spidey, the Hulk, and even The Punisher.
DOES APPEAR: Aunt May
In what was undoubtedly the biggest surprise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Marisa Tomei reprises her role as Aunt May for two scenes in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The star appears in a memory within Peter Parker's consciousness and it's a moment from shortly after she discovered that her nephew is Spider-Man; telling him how loved he is and that she is always there for him. An alternate version of that moment plays out later on in the movie when Sadie Sink's character infiltrates Peter's mind.
This would have been the first MCU Spider-Man movie without an appearance from Aunt May (due to the character's untimely death in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home), so to see Marisa Tomei reprise the role for such an emotional moment, it made for an extremely heartfelt scene. And it goes without saying that we were very, very happy to see her back on our screens.
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