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The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day felt like a throwback in many ways, but the trailer’s most endearing and significant retro quality may have been its parade of villains. Whereas the previous Spider-Man MCU films were content with largely focusing on one major antagonist, Brand New Day brings us a veritable buffet of baddies.
In fact, some of the things we know and suspect about Brand New Day’s plot suggest that the film’s quantity of rogues will be a major plot point. It is, and will likely remain, a lot of characters to keep up with. But for now, here’s a better look at every villain featured in the Brand New Day trailer as well as some rumored and confirmed villains that were only hinted at.
Confirmed Villains in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer
Image: Marvel Studios
Scorpion
Scorpion ended up being the most prominently featured villain in the Brand New Day trailer, which makes sense given his MCU history. As you may recall, Scorpion’s appearance was teased way back in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Michael Mando is even still playing the character all these years later. Was Marvel playing the long game or did they simply forget? The world may never know.
Despite his relative prominence, Scorpion is unlikely to be the primary antagonist in Brand New Day. For that matter, it’s unlikely that any one villain will function as the primary antagonist in the movie given the sheer number of adversaries and plotlines it will likely throw at us. Even Scorpion’s brief dialogue (“Stay out of my way”) suggests he is part of a bigger plan rather than simply looking for revenge.
Image: Marvel Studios
Boomerang
Boomerang’s appearance in the Brand New Day trailer isn’t quite “blink and you’ll miss it” (he’s weirdly prominently featured in the trailer’s thumbnail), but it’s doubtful he’ll be much of a player in the final film. We don’t even know who is playing the former baseball player turned assassin (which is an admittedly awesome backstory).
At the moment, it’s suspected that Boomerang is either part of a mass villain event that occurs at some point in the movie or is even relegated to a flashback or similar scene that briefly shows Peter dealing with various foes. In any case, it seems likely that this is one boomerang that won’t be coming back (I’ll see myself out now).
Image: Marvel Studios
Tarantula
Tarantula seems to be in roughly the same boat as Boomerang (though on a different boat in the trailer itself). Given his street-level status in the comics, brief trailer appearance, and lack of a confirmed actor, it’s doubtful he will have much to do inBrand New Day. Still, he’s in the trailer, so here he is as well.
For the curious, this version of Tarantula appears to be a former revolutionary turned assassin with a special suit outfitted with spiked shoes. Potentially fun fact: the Tarantula scene in the trailer is a callback to this Spider-Man cover, and that issue ends with a surprise appearance from The Punisher.
Image: Marvel Studios
The Punisher
Speaking of The Punisher, it does feel a bit premature to refer to him as one of Brand New Day’s villains. It’s far more likely that he is operating in antihero/frenemy territory in the movie given what we know about Jon Bernthal’s version of the character, this film’s set-up, and the greater state of the MCU.
But because I’m a sucker for completionism, it must be noted that The Punisher and Spider-Man certainly have a less-than-friendly interaction in the Brand New Day trailer. Though the smart money is on these two finding a way to put aside their differences, there will seemingly be some differences at some point.
Image: Marvel Studios
The Hand
The Hand’s appearance in the Brand New Day trailer was both surprising and somewhat odd. We’ve seen The Hand in the MCU before (they last popped up in The Defenders), so it’s not entirely shocking to see that the faction is hanging around. But historically, Spider-Man hasn’t had many interactions with The Hand. So his encounter with them in what appears to be a prison (as well as later across rooftops) is a bit mystifying given that this picture isn’t exactly lacking in villains.
There are theories regarding their appearance, though. Given that Brand New Day is related to Daredevil: Born Again’s second season in some mysterious ways, it’s possible they are a carry-over from the events of that show. They could also be allied with whoever Brand New Day’s biggest bad ends up being. Otherwise, they too are likely a part of the mass villain incident that seemingly happens at some point in the movie.
Image: Marvel Studios
Tramell Tillman’s Mysterious Character
The very good news is that Tramell Tillman will be in Brand New Day. However, we still have no idea who Tillman is actually playing, despite the actor making an appearance in the recent trailer.
But context and rumors point us in two likely directions. The first suggests Tillman will portray William Metzger: an activist who led a propaganda campaign against the X-Men and other mutants. He’s not the biggest character in the X-Men canon (to say the least), but Tillman playing somebody that helps set up the X-Men makes sense given what we know and suspect about this movie’s plot (more on that in a bit) as well as Marvel’s bigger plans for the X-Men moving forward.
That character’s use of the phrase “we are faced with a danger we can’t control” (a seemingly spliced together line) has also led some to believe he could be part of Damage Control. One supposes both theorized roles could end up being the same character, though the most important takeaway here seems to be Tillman’s character speaking in the context of scenes that certainly seem to involve some kind of militaristic force and the possible presence of mutants.
Image: Marvel Studios
Sadie Sink’s Brand New Day Character (Possibly)
Much of the discussion about the Brand New Day trailer has revolved around someone we don’t see or perhaps only see a glimpse of. Yes, we still do not know who Sadie Sink will play in Brand New Day despite her casting being arguably one of the biggest headlines about the movie so far. We also do not clearly see Sink in the Brand New Day trailer.
But as you may have heard, many suspect that is indeed Sink playing the mysterious hooded figure we briefly catch a glimpse of (as seen above). Given that the character appears in the context of Tillman’s aforementioned scene as well as images of various soldiers being mentally manipulated, all signs continue to point to Sink playing Jean Grey. Sink playing Grey may end up being the worst kept secret in Hollywood, but the rumor has always made sense. Marvel is going to have to start introducing more X-Men characters, Sink has been at the top of nearly every Jean Grey fancasting list for quite some time, and the extreme secrecy surrounding her character hints at something so much bigger than a one-off appearance.
And while Jean Grey will almost certainly not be a villain for long, there is the possibility that she will be initially presented as one until she and Spider-Man find common ground. Of course, if that isn’t Jean Grey, all bets are off.
Rumored and Confirmed Villains Not Seen in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer TombstoneHere’s an odd one. Despite being one of the few Brand New Day villains Marvel confirmed will be in the movie ahead of the trailer’s recent release, Tombstone was seemingly not featured in that trailer. They’re obviously not trying to hide his presence, which leaves us to wonder how the character will actually fit into what appears to be a stuffed story.
The most popular theories at this time suggest that Tombstone is another relatively low-level villain in Brand New Day. The gangster is undoubtedly part of the onslaught of chaos we get a taste of in the trailer, though his history in the comics would sooner suggest he is one of the roadblocks in Peter’s way rather than one of his biggest threats in this particular adventure.
Man-SpiderThis is not a confirmed villain for Brand New Day, but a read between the lines reveals some interesting text. The Brand New Day trailer spends quite a bit of time talking about a mutation that is seemingly happening to Peter. From what we can gather, this mutation is causing Peter to exhibit more overtly spider-like traits. This seemingly leads to things like organic web-shooting abilities, though that hardly seems like the end of the story.
That leads us to Man-Spider. In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, there was also a plotline involving Peter struggling to contain an evolution of the powers he received as a result of that mutated spider bite. He is eventually turned into a creature that is more spider than man (think Jeff Goldblum at the end of The Fly). Given the dialogue in that trailer and Brand New Day’s proximity to several Animated Series storylines, it certainly seems likely we’ll see something similar occur in Brand New Day. For what it’s worth, though, Man-Spider was initially received as more of a villain than he actually was. But that too feeds into the idea that Peter Parker is sacrificing his personal life to act as Spider-Man more often.
RamrodFor quite some time, various rumors have suggested that the villainous Ramrod will appear in Brand New Day. At first, those rumors were rightfully seen as somewhat unlikely or simply uninteresting. After all, Ramrod is hardly one of Spider-Man’s most notable villains. You’d have to dive deep into Spider-Man’s rogues gallery to find meaningful appearances from the cyborg.
The funny thing is that Brand New Day’s trailer actually validates the Ramrod rumors because of his low-level status rather than in spite of it. Peter is obviously going to battle a variety of villains throughout the movie, even if those battles are limited to brief flashbacks and quick cuts. As such, Ramrod could very well be one of many lesser foes we eventually catch a glimpse of in the final film. icon-paragraph-end
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