Could Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom Show Up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

There's a good chance that Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom actually shows up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Let me explain why I think that.

Brand New Day is Tom Holland's fourth solo outing as Spider-Man, and his seventh time playing the character overall once you count his appearances in other MCU projects. What this film is promising to be is something different from the multiversal ride we've become used to, though I'm not sure everyone would call all of that a joy ride. Brand New Day is taking things back to basics, giving us a grounded Spider-Man story. No more fancy gadgets or magic, no more variant versions of Spider-Man, just a cloth suit and street fighting, or so they say. That's the hope, anyway.

Hulk and Punisher joining Brand New Day keep Spider-Man tied to the wider MCU

We do know the Hulk is in this movie, which is kind of a big deal, but maybe they're just fighting on a street somewhere. We also know Punisher is going to be in it, which is cool. Both of those characters showing up is exciting to me because it re-cements the fact that Tom Holland's Spider-Man is still very much in the MCU.

I don't mean that as in I thought Brand New Day was taking place in another universe, because of course he's in the MCU. What I mean is this shows Spider-Man is still very involved in the greater universe and the overarching story Marvel is telling, rather than being shoved off into his own little corner. I think that's a great sign for him having a big part to play in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, and in his eventual fight with Doctor Doom.

Why I think Tom Holland is getting a role in Avengers: Doomsday

When I made this video, Tom Holland had yet to be announced as part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, but I've been very vocal about the fact that I think he's 100% going to have a role in this movie, maybe a smaller one than we had hoped, but a role nonetheless. Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday were, after all, both filming in London, and both are Marvel Studios run sets despite one being a Disney project and the other a Sony project.

So I think Spider-Man and Doom are eventually going to have their face-to-face moment. To answer that question directly, yes, I believe that is going to happen. The real question is whether it happens in Doomsday, whether it waits until Secret Wars, or whether it happens even sooner, in the film that came out before Doomsday: Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Could Brand New Day's grounded story still end with a multiversal gut punch

I know Brand New Day is supposed to be a grounded, relatively multiverse-free movie. In fact, that was apparently a big debate between Sony and Marvel Studios, if we're to believe the reports about it. Marvel wanted the more grounded story, while Sony wanted to go multiverse again and bring back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, which I understand given how successful No Way Home was.

Apparently Marvel Studios won out, and the film is going to be more focused on Tom Holland's Spider-Man story. But it's still part of the multiverse saga, and it's the film that leads straight into Doomsday. So while the majority of the film could be very grounded, I think the last ten minutes could go wild and give us a taste of the chaos coming in Doomsday.

I've talked before about how great I think it would be to see Spider-Man swinging around at the end of the movie, the music playing, thinking they won, and he lands on a building as the credits are about to roll. Then he looks over the city and sees the Fantastic Four's rocket coming into the atmosphere, leaps into action, and maybe even catches a ride on the New Avengers' Quinjet as they head off to confront the rocket, just like we saw in the post credit scene of Thunderbolts.

My theory for a Russo-directed post-credit scene with Doom and Franklin

That Thunderbolts post-credit scene was directed by the Russo brothers and filmed on the set of Avengers: Doomsday, and the same is true for the Doctor Doom post-credit scene in Fantastic Four: First Steps. I thought the same would be true for Brand New Day, with the Russos directing a post-credit scene from the Doomsday set that could very well include Doctor Doom.

Is a post-credit scene really the place to show Peter and Doom meeting for the first time? Probably not, but they could go the Venom route from Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Venom simply saw Spider-Man on TV. So maybe we get a Spider-Man and Doctor Doom post-credit scene without actually showing the moment they meet.

I picture Doom sitting in his chair with Franklin by his side, telling Franklin his plans for conquering the multiverse, mentioning that he got Franklin because he's assembling a team and needs to reach out to other key players. Spider-Man could be one of those people, shown on a screen or hologram in front of Doom and Franklin. I've talked before about how the New Avengers could also be recruits of Doctor Doom, since they're a ragtag group of heroes with no hesitation about getting their hands dirty in the name of justice, so if Doom makes the case that they should join him to save their world, maybe they would.

Tobey Maguire was spotted in London, and I think he's guaranteed for at least Secret Wars

Sticking with Brand New Day, Doomsday, and post-credit scenes, I want to throw out a theory about Tobey Maguire. He was spotted in London, where both Brand New Day and Doomsday were filming. While he hasn't been confirmed for either of those films, I think he's totally going to be in at least Secret Wars. If he doesn't show up in Doomsday, then he's going to be in Secret Wars, and that I can pretty much guarantee.

That said, I do think it would be great if they had Tobey show up in Brand New Day, since it's a sequel to No Way Home. In a post-credit scene for a movie that's mostly grounded, they could bring back that multiversal element with Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker saying something like, "Hey, Peter. Yeah, remember me? Yeah, I need your help. My universe was just decimated. It's under attack," as he goes to get his spider brethren to help him fight Doctor Doom.

My theory on who Sadie Sink could be playing in Brand New Day

That brings me to Sadie Sink and who she could be playing. A lot of people are saying she should play MJ because she's a redhead, but the MCU already has an MJ played by Zendaya, so she's not going to be playing MJ. I seriously doubt they'd have her play a variant MJ from another universe.

But if we want to go the redhead route, and sticking with the Tobey Maguire topic, Kirsten Dunst recently said she'd be open to doing a Spider-Man 4. So maybe Sadie Sink is the daughter of Kirsten Dunst's MJ and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man. We know in No Way Home that Peter says he and MJ work things out, so she could be playing Mayday Parker, their daughter.

Maybe she has a small role in this movie at first, but it turns out she's really been on a mission to find a variant of her father, that variant being Tom Holland, and she needs to recruit him to help save her universe, which has already been ravaged by Doctor Doom. Maybe before she gets the chance to explain what's going on, she helps him as a fellow spider-powered person fight the Hulk and Punisher, or whoever they're fighting in this movie. That's the out there option. She could also just be playing Gwen Stacy, or Black Cat, though I think she's a little on the young side to play Felicia Hardy. We'll see.

Do you think Doctor Doom actually shows up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, or does that face-to-face wait until Doomsday or Secret Wars?