Over the past few months, pretty much all Spider-Man fans have been scrapping for any bit of news, rumors or leads that could point, at the very least, the general direction of where the film is going to go. Here’s what we currently know about the upcoming installment of the Spider-Man films. Directed by MCU Director Alumni, Destin Daniel Cretton, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, features the long anticipated return of Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a role we haven’t seen him in since his last Spidey outing, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Also confirmed to return is his long-time co-star and current fiancée, Zendaya, as MJ Watson, and joining the cast is Sadie Sink & Liza Colón-Zayas in undisclosed roles.
Aside from the officially confirmed title, director, and key cast members, Marvel Studios has kept most plot and production details for Spider-Man: Brand New Day tightly under wraps. While information can evolve quickly during early development, our commitment remains the same: to report details that have been corroborated by multiple reliable sources. Recently, our team uncovered new insights from the film’s pre-production phase, which may offer the clearest indication yet of where the story is headed.
Exclusive: The details in the costumes for Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Recently, our sources were able to provide us with some key insight into the pre-production for the upcoming Spider-Man film, particularly around the research being conducted by the Costuming department. According to these sources, the team has been researching Asian-inspired costuming, particularly looking into armor reminiscent of Japanese Shinobi and Samurai. The armor pieces in question harken back specifically to the late Sengoku period and the Edo period (17th century) of Japan.
The images placed below are representative of the research done for the costumes in question, specifically the Samurai armor, the Hachigane (headband), and Kote (the Samurai Arm Bracers). They are NOT official images for the film.
In addition to that research on Japanese Samurai and Shinobi, we have also received word of research into the look of a character described to us as “a dark, mysterious female character”. This character also has a Japanese-inspired look. The main detail of the outfit involves a black kimono-style vest.
However, the design is also modernized, featuring modern aesthetics that look like something out of a Cyberpunk fashion show. Lots of use of techwear & unconventional belt designs. The best way to picture it, according to one source, would be to visualize Obi-Wan Kenobi’s costume from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith from the belt portion up; however, it’s all black (and there are alternating designs between sleeveless and with sleeves). Meanwhile, the bottom portion has techwear pants and a futuristic design. “It looks like a Star Wars character”, says one source. What’s more interesting is that this character carries a katana with her.
The images placed below are representative of the research done for the mysterious female character described to us by our sources. They are NOT official images for the film.
Speculative space: what this could mean for the next Spider-Man film
This is the part of the article where we start to delve more into speculation on our part. Now, it’s easy to assume different possible characters that could fit the bill. The biggest name thrown around as of late as a rumor is Martin Li, aka Mr. Negative. However, the main rumor appears to be that one of the main villains will be a female, quite possibly the character being researched by the costume department.
Looking back into Marvel Comics history, very few characters come to mind when it comes to characters that could fit the description. Which then got me thinking, maybe this character could be another Mandarin-esque situation, where the comic book origins for a character were not a factor, but rather it’s a new adaptation of a character altogether. And who better to create a new adaptation than the man who put together one of the most original Marvel movie adaptations to date, Destin Daniel Cretton. With that in mind, I’d like to make a conjecture with other information I’ve heard from other sources. I’ll try and paint a picture of what we could be seeing for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And that would involve adapting the comic event: Spider-Island.
Spider-Island as the mold for Brand New Day? Hear me out.
Before you comic book readers nail me to the cross for heresy, hear me out. I’m not saying they should adapt the comic 1:1, but rather use elements from it to create an entirely new and original story. We know that there’s a Secret Wars tie-in event called Spider-Island, in which the events of Earth-616 happened as they should have until a super villain by the name of the Spider-Queen succeeded in infecting New York with a spider-virus, thereby granting millions of its citizens with Spider-like powers.
Now, in Chinese Mythology, there are these creatures known as the Yaoguai, which are essentially these supernatural mythological creatures from Chinese folklore. And there is a good portion of this mythology relating to these spiders who, over time, grew large in size and eventually were able to take the form of a young maiden before killing their prey when they became this monster-sized spider-like creature. These Yaoguai have actually been recently adapted in the popular hit video game: Black Myth: Wukong.
Now, in Marvel Comics, the Spider-Queen character could also transform herself into a monster-sized creature. So, possibly, Destin Daniel Cretton could be looking at this character to put his own spin on it and adapt it for the film. But that’s not the main reason why they could adapt this story for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The main reason involves something far more interesting.
Spider-Island is the best of both worlds (both street-level-wise and Multiversal-wise)
Right now, Spider-Man Brand New Day is scheduled to release on July 31st, 2026, just between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. One of the main arguing points between fans has been whether the film should be street-level and tie into the events of Daredevil: Born Again or go full Multiverse bonanza again. But who’s to say they can’t be both? The Spider-Island storyline could actually be an excellent mold for Spider-Man: Brand New Day because given its positioning on the Marvel Studios release timeline, it could literally be the one storyline that could bridge the street-level story and the multiverse together.
Think about it, the story begins in a universe where everything literally happens the same way as it did on Earth-616, until one specific event. What if Marvel did something similar, but we as an audience don’t realize it until the very end, when something is very wrong in that universe? You can have a street-level Spider-Man film play out throughout the vast majority of the story, establish where Peter has been since the events of No Way Home, and you can have him take on different street-level villains like Scorpion, Shocker, etc, all leading into the confrontation with the Spider-Queen.
But it isn’t until the very end when the audience learns (along with Peter) that the entire movie was set in another universe, one established after the events of Avengers: Doomsday, a universe known as Battleworld. This gives the street-level fans what they want with a grounded Spider-Man story that allows them to enjoy Spider-Man in his prime, while giving just that right amount of touch of Multiverse to push the character in the right direction for his upcoming confrontation in Avengers: Secret Wars. By having this scenario, you can also make it far simpler to explain the absence of key New York-based heroes since they’ll be off handling the events of Doomsday. Not only that, but you can also use it to justify having characters seemingly return like Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds.
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