Spider-Man: Brand New Day's New Suit, Confirmed Cast, and Possible Doomsday Tie-In

So much came out about Spider-Man: Brand New Day in just a few days that I have a lot to get through, including a big confirmation from Sony Pictures that helps explain this movie's connection to Avengers: Doomsday. Before any of that, though, I want to talk about the new costume, because it is a genuine departure from what we have seen from Tom Holland's Spider-Man so far.

Brand New Day Ditches the Iron Spider Gadgets for an All Cloth Suit

The new costume is an all-cloth, practical suit without the bells and whistles we have come to expect from a suit modeled after Iron Man's own armor. It is more like his predecessor suits and more comic accurate, and I have never really been impressed with the Spider-Man suits we have seen in the MCU. As I put it, "I've never really been impressed with the Spider-Man suits that we have seen in the MCU, and I've never understood them feeling the need to have so many suits in one movie." My take is that the constant costume changes exist mainly to sell toys.

The Civil War and Homecoming suit looked pretty slick, I liked that it could tighten to his body, and I loved the moving eyes that showed his expression. I was not crazy about the black accents, and I was glad to see them moving away from a suit loaded with gadgets and AI. I think giving Peter a fully tricked out suit from Tony Stark made sense at the time, and having the Iron Spider suit in Infinity War fighting Thanos in space was the right call. But once Spider-Man went back to standalone, street level stories, that same suit felt overpowered and made the character less interesting.

I was not a fan of the red and black suit in Far From Home, the Spider Monkey suit, or the Inside Out suit in No Way Home, though the suit with the golden spider was pretty dope. For me, the best Holland suit by far was the final one at the end of No Way Home, and that is essentially the suit we are getting in Brand New Day, with a few small differences. I also love the giant web shooters. They may be a little too big, but I am here for it, and I think they look shiny and tactical.

Brand New Day Is Filming on Real Locations Instead of Green Screen

Brand New Day filmed in real locations rather than on a green screen or sound stage the way No Way Home did. I understand why No Way Home leaned on soundstages, since that film shot during the pandemic, but shooting on location should make this movie look far better. They have even got Spider-Man swinging from a crane attached to a truck driving down a city street for real.

Whether that approach actually pays off, I am not sure. Jon Watts, who directed the Home trilogy, has said that approach does not work, and it was tried before in The Amazing Spider-Man. Personally, I think the best web swinging we have seen on screen was in the Raimi films, and I am not even certain how they achieved it, though I suspect it was CG. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also had really good swinging that I believe was CG as well. I have not been impressed with the swinging in the MCU films, so I am glad they are trying something new and I hope it pays off.

Mark Ruffalo's Hulk and Jon Bernthal's Punisher Are Officially Confirmed

Sony has officially confirmed that Mark Ruffalo is returning as Bruce Banner, the Hulk, and that Jon Bernthal is returning as the Punisher. I think it is great having both of these characters in the movie. As a kid, being told there would be a Spider-Man, Punisher, and Hulk movie would have thrilled me completely.

My concern is that Spider-Man movies always seem to feel the need to overload themselves with characters, usually too many villains, and in the MCU era Peter has always had an MCU alum at his side, whether that is Tony, Happy, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, or Doctor Strange. I like that interconnectivity, but I really want Brand New Day to feel like the old school Spider-Man movies I grew up with. I do think the pendulum is starting to swing back that way. When Spider-Man first joined the MCU we wanted the big crossovers because we had never gotten that before, but after almost ten years in that world, I think we are ready for a grounded story where Spider-Man just gets to be Spider-Man. I do not think having the Punisher and the Hulk in the movie has to take away from that street level focus, at least I hope it does not, and I really hope they resist the urge to pile on three villains for everyone to fight.

Scorpion Is Reported as the Villain, but a Mystery Villain Has Also Surfaced

Mac Gargan, Scorpion, played by Nacho Varga himself, is reported to return as the villain. I am completely on board with using Scorpion, since he is one of the classic Spidey villains we have not seen on the big screen yet, and it would make sense for Jonah Jameson to recruit him to go after Spider-Man, just like in the comics. I just really hope they stop there and do not also throw in Mr. Negative, Shocker, and a bunch of other foes on top of him.

If this movie ties into what is happening with Daredevil: Born Again and Mayor Wilson Fisk assembling his own team of masked vigilantes, that could be an interesting way to bring in more conflict for Spider-Man, Punisher, and the Hulk to face. On the other hand, if it is simply Scorpion alone against all three of them, he would need serious backup, and then it just turns into a big group of heroes versus a big group of villains, which is not what I want this movie to be. While I was in the middle of putting this together, it was also reported that the actual villain of Brand New Day is someone that has not been floated in any rumors or reports so far, so I genuinely do not know who that could be. I even joked that it can't be Rhino, because surely they are not going to do Rhino.

Sony Confirmed Brand New Day for July 2026, Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday

Sony confirmed that Spider-Man: Brand New Day was set for release on 31 July 2026, meaning it would arrive before Avengers: Doomsday. That was not always the plan. At one point this movie was scheduled to come out after Doomsday, and once Doomsday got delayed, some speculated Brand New Day might also slide to keep coming out after it. Instead, it became the next MCU film and the lead-in to Avengers: Doomsday.

Given that Brand New Day was being written during the big pivot from Kang and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Doom and Avengers: Doomsday, I do wonder how much this script had to adapt to that shift, or whether the story is disconnected enough from the wider MCU that it did not need major changes. Going from releasing after Doomsday to releasing before it seems like a significant change, similar to what happened with No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness getting flipped around and having their scripts altered as a result.

Then again, it is possible Brand New Day was always going to take place mostly before Doomsday's events regardless of release order, the way Ant-Man and the Wasp mostly takes place before Infinity War even though it came out after Infinity War, using its post-credit scene to connect to an ending audiences had already seen. Following that same logic, the plan for Brand New Day may have always been to end with a connection into Doomsday, whether it released before or after that film.

My Own Hope for How Brand New Day Could Set Up Avengers: Doomsday

My personal hope is that the movie ends with Peter looking over the city after saving it, feeling good about his choice to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but still missing his friends and his old life with the other Avengers. Then a giant tear opens in space and Doombots roll in, or maybe he sees the Fantastic Four's rocket coming in the way we saw at the end of Thunderbolts.

As for who might direct that post-credit scene, the Russo brothers have directed the last two, the one in Thunderbolts and the one in Fantastic Four, so I think it is all but certain they would direct Brand New Day's post-credit scene as well. Maybe that scene could even show Peter coming face to face with Doom, someone he recognizes as his old mentor Mr. Stark, only to realize it is actually Victor von Doom. Those are just my own thoughts and theories.

Which are you more excited for, Brand New Day or Avengers: Doomsday, and who do you think the mystery villain could turn out to be?