New Spider-Man: Brand New Day Posters and CinemaCon Footage Description Detail Peter's Reunion With Ned and MJ

Spider-Man Brand New Day got two new posters and an exclusive CinemaCon footage description came out alongside them. I want to walk through both, poster by poster and then beat by beat through the footage description, because there is a lot here about how Peter reconnects with Ned and MJ.

The New Posters Lean Into a Stylized, Classic Look

I am mixed on these posters. I was blown away by the visuals coming out of the first Brand New Day trailer, the saturation, the depth, the dynamic range. I love seeing color and depth back in the MCU and especially back in a Spider-Man movie, so I am glad the posters stick with that theme. I am really glad these are stylized, classic type posters rather than the standard floating head posters, because the Spider-Man MCU movie posters have generally been some of the ugliest around.

I do not think these are great, though. They read to me as a little bit like early merchandise, the kind you see when a movie is still close to a year out and the first rounds of merchandise are purposely vague because they are based on script outlines and concept art before cameras even start rolling. These posters give me a bit of that feeling. Not exactly, but a little bit, and that felt a little odd given the movie was only about three months from release at the time.

That said, they are not ugly. They are dynamic, and I love the MJ and Peter lens reflection, which feels very Raimi to me. They look a touch digital arty, but I am probably nitpicking there. Overall I think they are fun.

Ninjas and Boomerang Show Up, But I Doubt Either Is the Real Villain

One poster features Spider-Man fighting a group of ninja-like enemies, which is interesting because I seriously doubt the main antagonist of this film is that group. It does seem like Brand New Day is being reluctant to reveal who the big villain actually is, leaning on these ninjas in this poster while also showing Boomerang.

I am honestly surprised they are not focusing on Scorpion instead. He is one of Spider-Man's biggest villains who has not been done on the big screen yet, and he is probably the best known Spider-Man villain in this movie, so I would have expected a cooler poster built around Spider-Man fighting the Scorpion.

The Footage Description Comes From Brandon Davis

The footage description that follows comes from Brandon Davis, who I have actually met, we did a Superman video together over on ScreenCrush, sort of a podcast conversation. The description opens with Peter Parker sitting in a cafe and Ned walking in and out without noticing him. It then cuts to night, with Ned rolling up to a party with supplies and Peter following him in.

Peter Watches Ned From the Shadows at a Party

Inside the party, Peter navigates the crowd holding a red solo cup, sips it, and does not care for whatever is inside. I believe there is a rule Marvel put on Sony for the Spider-Man movie rights, and I think one of those rules is that he cannot consume alcohol, so that detail stood out to me.

Moving away from the crowd, Peter finds a Chewbacca Lego minifigure and reminisces on his time with Ned. That connects back to the Emperor Palpatine minifigure from their Lego Death Star set that Peter kept at the end of No Way Home, even after everyone forgot who he is. Peter is holding flowers, and he is then distracted by a corkboard covered in photos of Spider-Man, the same corkboard glimpsed in the Brand New Day trailer.

Ned then comes out of the bathroom and, according to the description, says Spider-Man saved his and his friends' lives one time in high school. Ned wants to find out who Spider-Man is, not to expose him, but to thank him.

How Does the Spell That Erased Peter Actually Work?

I have been wondering how the spell that made everyone forget Peter Parker actually functions. My assumption is that Ned and MJ forget their friend Peter Parker specifically, but that they still remember having run ins with Spider-Man, including to some extent the events of No Way Home, and that their minds fill in gaps to explain those memories.

From the sound of this footage description, though, it kind of sounds like Ned may be forgetting No Way Home and the Statue of Liberty entirely, which I think would be strange, because when that spell happened they would still have been standing there wondering why they were at the Statue of Liberty in the first place. I had assumed they would remember having a mission with Spider-Man, just not that he is Peter Parker, and that they would remember Far From Home when they were off in Europe. Since Ned mentions high school and Peter's flowers moment implies Europe too, I think this is either referring to when Spider-Man, or Spider-Monkey, saved them in Far From Home, or when he saved them on another school trip from an earlier film.

Peter Plays Dumb and Gives a Fake Name When MJ Walks In

Peter acts surprised to learn that Ned invented a Spidey Tracker and has narrowed Spider-Man's identity down to two suspects, showing photos of Flash Thompson and their old teacher Mr. Harrington. That apparently gets a laugh in the theater and a grin from Peter.

Then MJ walks in, a piano starts to play, and she introduces herself. Peter gives her a fake name, describing himself as just a neighbor from across the hall. I am reading this description for the first time here myself, so I do not know off the top of my head whether that name is a comic reference. MJ calls him a friendly neighbor, which lines up with the line we already saw teased in the Brand New Day trailer, and he nearly spits his drink out when she echoes it back, "Just a neighbor from across hall. Friendly neighbor." I loved that little stinger at the end of the trailer.

MJ Says She's Waiting for Something, and It Got to Me

In another room, MJ tells Ned she was offered a job but turned it down because she does not want to work for a soulless corporation. I am wondering if that job offer came from Oscorp or maybe Stark Industries, I would be interested to know which corporation it was.

MJ says she feels like she is supposed to be waiting for something, and she and Ned toast to that. She does not know what she is waiting for, but she is waiting for Peter, because he told her he would come find her and remind her who he is. That genuinely gave me chills and made me sad, reading that she knows she is supposed to be waiting for something and just does not know what.

A guy then walks up, says a short hello, and kisses MJ. The piano returns as Peter sees it happen and shuts down emotionally. He storms out of the party, and the scene fades to black before a sizzle reel plays.

The Sizzle Reel Shows Spider-Man Toying With Damage Control Agents

The sizzle reel reportedly only reuses footage from the previous trailer until it reaches new material of Spider-Man having Damage Control agents hold on as he limbers up and stretches before fighting them, eventually webbing one to a fence. That is hilarious to me, I love when Spider-Man screws with an opponent a little before taking them down, so that sounds like a great beat even though I could not see it myself.

Why I'm Glad Ned and MJ Are Back This Soon

I am still a little choked up over MJ feeling like she is supposed to be waiting for something without knowing what. I am genuinely glad Ned and MJ are back in the picture already, because for a while I thought there was a chance the story might hold off on bringing them back until the fifth or sixth film rather than this fourth one, Brand New Day, possibly giving Peter a stretch of movies living that life without them.

They were the three stars of that trilogy, and I love their friendship and the relationship between Peter and MJ, so I am glad that is continuing. Part of me thinks it could have been interesting to have a film where they were not heavily involved, but if the plot is going to be about Peter reminding them who he is and dealing with the ramifications of the spell, waiting through a whole other film in between would probably feel messy and give the sense that the story had moved on from that. So I think it was the right call to keep them included this soon.

Is the fake name Peter uses meant to be some kind of comic reference?