The trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day that was recently released showed that the life of both Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his Friendly Neighborhood alter ego are taking a most intertwined turn – one that could be very transformative. After Pete emerges from a web cocoon in an alleyway, Keith David's voiceover soon informs us that, like a regular spider, he is entering a new phase of his life cycle.
While that could mean any number of things including a simple power upgrade, fans are already preparing for the most extreme outcome. And that is, Peter taking on an astonishing and horrifying form that he races to stop or reverse. There are a couple of possibilities as weird mutations often befell the webhead over his many years in circulation. However, an infamous one stands out the most.
The evidence of a potential Man-Spider storyline in the MCU
Once upon a time, Spidey went full Cronenberg and transmogrified into a walking, hulking, six-armed spider-like monster known as the Man-Spider. This permutation (emphasis on “mutation”) of the web-slinger goes back a ways and has been reinterpreted a few times. Originally, it was the result of experiments conducted on him in The Savage Land by the mad scientist Brainchild. Ultimately, Peter was saved from the grim fate of remaining a gruesome creature by the energy-absorbing power of the half man/half pterodactyl being called Sauron.
Later on, the Man-Spider resurfaced as a season-long plot thread in the second season of Fox’s Spider-Man animated series in the ‘90s, where it gained a new level of notoriety among readers, viewers, and the "Generation Fox Kids” era. During the “Neogenic Nightmare” saga, Man-Spider went from a one-off freak experiment to the next evolution of Peter's powers. This led to all sorts of encounters with Morbius, The X-Men, The Sinister Six, Blade, The Lizard, Kingpin, and most importantly, The Punisher.
Of all the names on that list, Frank Castle is the one present and accounted for in Brand New Day, which could be a hint of what is in store. Much as he did in “Neogenic Nightmare,” Frank may stick around to hunt a mutant arachnid for messing up his van, among other reasons. But that's not the only clue of stranger things afoot.
It's also been making the rounds that Bruce Banner is a huge part of the storyline with Peter seeking out his expertise to deal with his new crisis. Allegedly, the worst in Bruce, and The Hulk, is soon brought out as a consequence, which further mirrors the animated adventures. Curt Connors and The Lizard filled a similar role on the small screen – with Connors managing and finally curing Spider-Man of his disease with a little fortitude, ingenuity, and not to mention deception against The Vulture.
Marvel Studios, Sony Pictures, and Kevin Feige seem like they could be drawing from this memorable storyline, but again, everything is speculative right now. They could just as easily incorporate the similar elements of The Other or Spider Island to shake things up. That's assuming Peter turns into a monster at all, and doesn't simply become weirder or more vicious without losing touch of his humanity in an overt way.
Nevertheless, a healthy dose of body horror is on the table when we've already seen it creep into the MCU through the twisted adventures of Doctor Strange, and Deadpool as well.
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