Spider-Man: Brand New Day just leveled up in a big way. With production about to kick off, it’s been officially confirmed that Mark Ruffalo and Michael Mando are joining the upcoming Marvel Studios film, and it sounds like both will play key roles in the story.
Ruffalo will reprise his role as Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, a role he’s been crushing since The Avengers. From Thor: Ragnarok to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, he’s been a consistent force in the MCU and it’s awesome to see him now enter Spider-Man’s corner of the universe.
Mando returns as Mac Gargan, the character he first portrayed in Spider-Man: Homecoming. But this time, he’s expected to go full villain and finally become the Scorpion.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gargan will be a major part of a big action sequence set to be filmed in Glasgow, Scotland. Word is that he’s being transported in a DODC convoy when he’s suddenly targeted by The Punisher. That’s when Spider-Man jumps into the fray.
Fans will remember Gargan’s brief appearance in Homecoming, where he tried to pry Spider-Man’s identity from The Vulture after getting seriously injured. He’s presumably been locked up ever since, and while we don’t yet know how he gets his Scorpion gear, it sounds like we’ll finally see him unleashed.
The film is shaping up to be an intense street-level brawl, and Marvel is clearly bringing in a strong mix of characters for that vibe, which include Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. As the outlet notes, “You can bet that, in the mighty Marvel manner, Spider-Man, Punisher and Hulk will all fight one another before figuring out who the real bad guys are.”
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently offered some insight into the direction of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it’s exactly what fans hoped for after No Way Home reset the character’s world.
“I think there’s a promise at the end of No Way Home, that for as sad as it is that Peter is forgotten by everyone in his life, we are seeing for the first time in the Tom Holland Spider-Man stories him being a proper Spider-Man.
“Him being by himself, dedicated to saving the city, and dealing with, for lack of better terms, street-level crime, as opposed to world-ending events.”
He added, “So when you do that, you say, okay, who are the other street-level characters that we’ve never seen him interact with? And of course, I love that The Punisher started in a Spider-Man comic.”
Feige also teased what’s inspiring the movie’s direction: “That great cover. I don’t want to say too much, but Destin, I will say too much, Destin is doing an amazing job right now on that movie, which starts shooting very soon. And he’s got eight or nine comic covers up on his wall in his art department that he is bringing to life in this movie, which is super cool.”
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, Spider-Man: Brand New Day stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, and Liza Colón-Zayas. The film swings into theaters on July 31, 2026.
