Marvel keeps dropping news about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. We’ve seen heard the descriptions of the recent Fantastic Four footage, saw the announcement of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse's release year with bonus images, and those set chairs with the names of the stars of Avengers: Doomsday. In the middle of all that was Spider-Man 4 getting an official name (Brand New Day) to go along with its 2026 release date. This came shortly after it was revealed that Sadie Sink would be joining the movie's cast and playing a mystery role.
Within all of the Brand New Day news will come the scuttlebutt. Performers will be rumored to appear based on things that do and don’t make sense. The newest to come out is Spider-Man 4 involves the villain of the piece.
Marvel scooper MyTimeToShineHello reveals that the film will be doing something that no Spider-Man movie has ever done: The lead villain could be a woman performer. Furthermore, they reveal that the role has already been cast and that it isn't Sade Sink. Curiously, industry insider Jeff Sneider responded to this tweet, alluding the possibility of "another red-haired actress with the initials SS...".
I wonder if it will be another red-haired actress with the initials SS... https://t.co/oOfUPPAoZL
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) March 20, 2025
Now, this has naturally left fans curious as to who the potential villain could be, and who could be playing her. Possibilities that they have already come up with include Succession star Sarah Snook, Hollywood icon Susan Sarandon (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Blue Beetle and dozens of other things) or Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney.
What this means for Spider-Man 4
The title Brand New Day has two key things in it. The most glaring is that it’s the first Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man movie not to have “home” featured in the title. That shows that things are moving in a new direction for the franchise in the MCU. That also brings us to the second, the Marvel Comics storyline Brand New Day (BND for short going forward), which moved things in a different direction for Peter Parker in the comics.
BND was the first series after Mephisto erased Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage and changed the history of Marvel Comics (all of which happened in One More Day). Could anything like this happen in Marvel Studios' and Sony's upcoming movie? Potentially, but there's one issue here: The worldwide memory erase of Spidey's identity already happened in the MCU at the hands of Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home, making the storyline involving the Lord of Hell redundant.
Does that mean someone the caliber of Susan Sarandon couldn’t play Mephisto? Of course not. Brand New Day could show Peter battling the supernatural. Not only would this be the first time Spidey faced a female antagonist in a movie, but it would also be his initial movie bout with the supernatural if the MCU wants to bring Mephisto into the MCU in that capacity. Meanwhile, Sydney Sweeney has been rumored to star in Spider-Man 4 for sometime, with fans thinking that she would be the perfect Black Cat. That's possible too, but it's unlikely that Black Cat would be the main villain given that she's also one of Spidey's allies and love interests in the comics.
That brings us to Sarah Snook. If she's the actress cast as the main villain, who could she play? Let's try this: She could be the spider-eating monster named Shathra.
Shathra and her relationship with Spider-Man, explained
When Spider-Man disobeyed Doctor Strange’s orders of staying on the path, he caught the attention of a goddess' daughter older than the Inheritors named Shathra. A being more powerful and durable than anyone he’s faced. When they first met, Shathra said she couldn’t feed Peter to her children because he was too human. After putting Spider-Man in a rage, he became more spider than human. He was now the perfect meal. She returned years later and attempted to turn every Spider-Being into her minion (End of the Spider-Verse). She was eventually defeated by Silk (Cindy Moon) and other Spider-People.
For the most part, Shathra’s body is ink black with no facial features other than two glowing, blank, white eyes. However, she can shape-shift into a human. The first time she does this to Spider-Man, she almost ruins his life by making claims that he’s a sexual deviant who talks badly about his loved ones. If you’ve seen Sarah Snook in Succession, you know she’s more than capable of playing someone with this kind of influence and power. It also helps that Shathra’s role requires more talking than action. It’s the perfect part for her to play.
These are all just rumors, but even if they are, more will be revealed in regards to Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow to find out what it is.