Spider-Man: Brand New Day finds our favorite friendly neighborhood wallcrawler taking on a number of physical and emotional battles. The fourth Spider-Man movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe picks up four years after 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home and it sees Tom Holland's Peter Parker navigating his life of anonymity while also going on what can only be described as an emotional rollercoaster. And yes, there are plenty of villains for him to tackle along the way.
The movie features a rather large collection of antagonists, though not all of them get the sort of screen time that fans might have expected. There are some returning villains, some exciting new ones, and even some former allies that Spidey has to tangle with. However, when it comes to Spider-Man: Brand New Day's villains, one stands out as the best.
With that in mind, let's dive into the film and rank its many, many villains.
6. Tombstone
While it was already confirmed that Spider-Man: Brand New Day includes some more obscure street-level villains, like Ramrod, Boomerang, and Tarantula, their appearances come in the form of an early montage - which is so brief that they can hardly be considered real roles. That doesn't include one particular villain, however.
Tombstone, the popular Marvel Comics crime boss figure, also appears in this montage for a slightly longer portion of time - long enough for us to officially see what the MCU's version of the character is like. That being said, while he does at least get a line of dialogue, it's just not enough. The seconds of screentime are enticing, and Marvin Jones III fits the role nicely. But with this being the character's first live-action movie debut, it is disappointingly brief.
5. Scorpion
Spider-Man: Brand New Day finally fulfills the dangling storyline that was first created all the way back in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming with the return of Mac Gargan. Michael Mando reprises his role in this sequel, finally showing Gargan becoming Scorpion, with his deadly supersuit - completely with long mechanical tail.
However, this is another highly-anticipated character who doesn't really have much to do. While his role thankfully goes beyond the opening montage, he really only gets one fight scene with Spider-Man, and he's not even in control of his own mind for that.
It was fun to see Scorpion fully brought to life (and Mando is fantastic in the role), but the wait wasn't totally worth it.
4. The Hand
The superpowered ninja clan, The Hand, is a villain group that previously appeared in the Daredevil Netflix series. With that in mind, fans were surprised to learn that they would be making a return in the more light-hearted Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Nevertheless, their close-knit and coordinated fighting style makes them appear as one cohesive villain for Spider-Man to take on.
Similar to Scorpion, it is a little odd to rank The Hand as their own villain here since most of their appearance has them being mind-controlled, but they do get a fantastic fight scene with the webslinger that really stands out as one of the film's best scenes. Having Spider-Man take on a clan of red-clad ninjas feels like something right from the comic book pages brought to life.
3. William Metzger
William Metzger is introduced in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the head of the Department of Damage Control, but it is eventually revealed that he is the true villain of the story. He is responsible for kidnapping Jean Grey's sister Sara and subjecting her to experiments that led to her death.
Metzger isn't really developed enough to be a truly interesting villain, especially with the reveal coming so late. Tramell Tillman doesn't get to shine as he does in shows like Severance; however, he does bring an interesting indifferent quality to the role. Metzger is not a cartoonish evil man, but rather someone who really thinks he's protecting the world from people like Jean.
2. The Hulk
Mark Ruffalo makes his return to the MCU in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as both an ally to Peter Parker and also a threat. Being mind-controlled by Jean, Bruce Banner's Smart Hulk persona is used to break into Damage Control. However, it is when Banner gets his mind back and loses control that the true Hulk - the Incredible Hulk - makes a return.
For the first time since Thor: Ragnarok, we see Hulk on his out-of-control, destructive warpath. He doesn't recognize Spider-Man as a fellow hero at all, only wanting to smash anything and everything in his path. Despite it being a smaller role for the big brute, Banner's inner struggle also speaks to the themes of the movie as he realizes the monster in him is not as controlled as he thought, and it's likely to have a lasting impact in the MCU.
1. Jean Grey
The first member of the X-Men has officially joined the MCU and does so as a sort of villain. Sadie Sink's Jean Grey is the threat that Peter is dealing with for the majority of the movie, as she uses her mind-control abilities to search for her missing sister at any cost.
Jean is certainly a sympathetic character, but she also doesn't have much regard for innocent lives. She is damaged, angry, and scared, making her a dangerous mutant, yet she also shows her vulnerability. The dark side of the character might have been too much in the hands of another actor, but Sink's performance is layered and moving, making it all the more exciting to see where the character evolves from here.
When it comes to Spider-Man characters who shined the most, Jean wins in every round.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has arrived in movie theaters.
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