When Marvel officially announced Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the movie was described as a street-level adventure that would take the wall-crawler back to his roots. But just because a grounded storyline awaits on the horizon, it doesn't mean that it can't be huge and ambitious in scope. After watching Peter Parker join forces with his multiversal counterparts to face the Sinister Five in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the iconic hero will now get help from two unlikely anti-heroes to put a stop to a whole new wave of villains.
Scorpion and Tombstone are officially confirmed to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and they are bound to wreak havoc in New York City. To level the battlefield, the Punisher and Hulk will show up to try and make things better (...but, just maybe, they'll end up complicating things even further). Additionally, it has been reported that other bad guys, such as Ramrod, Tarantula, and Boomerang, will also have the spotlight to themselves. So what do you do when a superhero movie has too many villains? Well, invite even more good guys to the party... right?
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will reportedly have many superhero cameos, and here's what it could mean
Back in August, it was reported that Yelena Belova would appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Furthermore, reliable insider Alex Perez not only confirmed this information during his monthly Q&A in The Cosmic Circus but also revealed that "a few" more heroes will be in the movie. But before we start to worry that Marvel has a potential The Amazing Spider-Man 2 scenario on its hands again due to an overabundance of characters, it's worth clarifying that these surprise appearances have been described as short cameos a la Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Now, the biggest question in store is: What will happen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day for multiple heroes to briefly show up? Well, one possibility is that Marvel wants to set up the events of Avengers: Doomsday at the very end of the movie. That being said, this scenario seems unlikely considering that the wall-crawler's upcoming adventure will feature a street-level storyline that's unlikely to deal with the multiverse at all. Besides, Tom Holland's Peter Parker will reportedly miss out on the events of Avengers: Doomsday, so it wouldn't make sense for his movie to tie into the next big Marvel crossover. Fortunately, there's a likely (and quite honestly, really awesome) theory of what might happen.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is rumored to kick things off with a montage of Peter stopping multiple villains since the events of No Way Home, while perfecting his suit with each passing battle. If true, that would explain why so many relatively unknown bad guys, such as Ramrod and Boomerang, are reported to make an appearance. If the wall-crawler makes himself known by saving the day over and over again, that would surely catch the attention of other people. So, now that many MCU heroes are divided into different (and sometimes opposing) teams, wouldn't it make sense for them to try to recruit Spidey ahead of the events of Avengers: Doomsday?
Could the New Avengers recruit Spidey in Brand New Day?
The opening montage of Spider-Man: Brand New Day could showcase Yelena Belova trying to convince Spidey to join the New Avengers, only for him to reject the offer. Moments later, we could see the friendly neighborhood hero stop a villain like Tarantula, only for Sam Wilson's Captain America to show up afterwards and talk to him about the real Avengers Initiative. Even Ms. Marvel and Kate Bishop could try and fail to recruit Spidey for the New Avengers, as we know Peter normally likes to fly solo.
We know that whenever Peter Parker suffers, Spider-Man succeeds, and vice versa. So, now that the whole world has forgotten about Peter's identity and he's at the lowest point of his life, it would make sense for his superhero persona to gain worldwide acclaim and be seen as New York's greatest protector, even in the eyes of Yelena Belova and Captain America.
Chances are that the only characters from the extended MCU that will have a prominent role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day are Punisher and Hulk. In terms of villains, only Scorpion and Tombstone would get a bit of the spotlight after the first few minutes of screentime. That way, Marvel avoids overcrowding the film while still delivering a fantastic opening sequence that plays into the MCU's connective tissue, while also establishing that the wall-crawler is at the very best point in his career despite his personal losses.
Only time will tell whether heroes like Yelena will appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day or not, and what their roles will be. However, it's impossible to deny that Marvel has a perfect chance to deliver a mesmerizing opening sequence, so fingers crossed they make the best out of it.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released on July 31, 2026.