With the fourth Marvel Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, due out next month, the internet is awash with predictions and conspiracy theories. Tom Holland told Esquire that the movie is a real mystery, adding that for a large portion of the film, even Spider-Man is a little at odds and lost, asking, 'What is going on?' He explained that the filmmakers are trying to make the movie feel like a detective story.
Trailer Clues and Mysteries
Two trailers have been released so far, revealing that Spider-Man undergoes a weird metamorphosis, that someone or something appears to play musical chairs with human bodies, that the Hulk is back and bigger than ever, and that nobody knows Peter Parker is the wallcrawler due to Doctor Strange's spell at the end of the last movie. Yet audiences are no closer to working any of it out.
Ever since three Spider-Men turned up in No Way Home, Marvel has trained fans to treat trailers with healthy suspicion. Even a shonky-looking frame, subtitle, eyeline, or missing body is scrutinized. It doesn't take much before even the flimsiest rumour is upgraded to forensic evidence by bloggers and YouTubers.
Who Is Sadie Sink Playing?
Sadie Sink has been cast in an unknown role. Some fans think she is playing the consciousness-swapping hooded villain from the trailers, a version of the X-Men's Jean Grey who has been parachuted into a Spider-Man movie. Others believe she could be Parker's daughter from another universe, the comic book favourite Mayday Parker, otherwise known as Spider-Girl. Other theories include Rachel Summers, Jean Grey's time-displaced daughter from the future; Madelyne Pryor, Jean Grey's clone; Hope Summers, the mutant messiah; or Shathra, a spider-wasp deity from an obscure corner of Marvel continuity.
The Hulk's Role
Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner appears in the trailers, seemingly to explain to Parker why his eyes keep turning black and he is shooting webs out of his wrists. The rumour mill has gone further, with some fans believing this is the long-awaited return of Savage Hulk, as the trailer shows a bigger, angrier version of Banner than seen in years. Others are convinced that Marvel has brought him in so that Spider-Man can fight one of the comics' most famous heavyweights before discovering the real enemy, perhaps the body-hopping villain rattling around inside Hulk's skull.
Miles Morales Rumours
Rumours of Miles Morales's arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe appear to be based less on anything in the trailers than on the iron law that all modern movie Spider-Men must eventually multiply on screen. It would require yet another desperate dip into the multiverse, just when Marvel seemed to be trying to drag Spider-Man back down to street level.
The Real Villain
Tom Holland is on record saying that nobody has yet guessed who the real enemy is in Brand New Day. Given the number of people who have tried, this seems less likely than the prospect of J Jonah Jameson opening a mindfulness retreat. Could it be Jean Grey? Mister Negative? The Jackal? Mister Sinister? Or perhaps William Metzger, the magnificently obscure anti-mutant zealot who would at least explain why this supposedly street-level Spider-Man film appears to be wearing X-Men pyjamas under its costume?
It's likely that someone out there has already worked most of it out, just as they did for No Way Home. Unfortunately, there are about 20,000 false rumours also out there, each one primed to confuse everyone until opening night.
