Marvel fans are eagerly awaiting the first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it’s easy to see why. Not only does the film feature fan-favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe characters like Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, there’s been an abundance of rumors regarding the plethora of Spider-Man villains who will appear. People are hopeful that the upcoming Brand New Day trailer will shed some light on what’s true and what isn’t. In lieu of official footage, fans are scouring all corners of the internet to find anything they can, and some first looks at key Brand New Day characters have churned up.
On Reddit, a user shared a few pieces of Brand New Day promo art. The first features Spider-Man and Hulk (who’s back to sporting his iconic jorts look) in the foreground, while silhouettes of villains (most likely Boomerang, Scorpion, and Tarantula) are seen against the moonlight. The other pieces show clear looks at Boomerang and Tarantula in their costumes. Lastly, X user SM Vision shared an image of Marvin Jones III as Tombstone raising Spider-Man in the air during a confrontation. Check out everything in the space below:
What The First-Look Images Tell Us About Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Marvel’s done a good job keeping Spider-Man: Brand New Day plot details under lock and key, but one of the most prevalent rumors purports that the Hulk we’ll see in the film is Savage Hulk — a marked departure from the divisive Smart Hulk that’s been around since Avengers: Endgame. While there still isn’t footage of Hulk in action, this promo art essentially confirms Savage Hulk’s presence, as the character resembles the giant green rage monster from the earliest Avengers films. Hulk is likely being manipulated to revert back to his savage form, which is why he’s positioned more as a foe than ally in the promo art. Spider-Man is on high alert as Hulk and the other villains lurk behind him, suggesting there will be a Spider-Man vs. Hulk fight at some point.
Boomerang and Tarantula seem to have costumes that are largely comics-accurate. The most noticeable difference is that Tarantula doesn’t have a spider emblem on his suit, but the color scheme and overall design are quite similar to what’s on the page. It isn’t surprising to see Marvel went in this direction for these characters. As we saw with Galactus in last year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios is embracing comics-accurate appearances, honoring the great work done in the source material. Comic book adaptations have evolved to a point where filmmakers are no longer concerned about characters looking “silly.” Obviously, there are still some tweaks being made to best fit the live-action film medium, but the comics are the starting point.
Brand New Day having so many villains is bound to conjure up bad memories of films like Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which were overstuffed with numerous characters, negatively impacting the film. Those concerns are valid, and it remains to be seen how Brand New Day handles its rogues’ gallery, but there’s a good chance many of these villains make very brief appearances in some kind of montage sequence highlighting what Spider-Man has been up to since the events of No Way Home (similar to the newsreel montage in First Steps). Some fans probably won’t like seeing certain villains relegated to that kind of role, but it would still be an efficient way of bringing viewers up to speed with where things stand in Peter Parker’s superhero career.
Hopefully Tombstone is one of the villains who has a larger role to play. Similar to Boomerang and Tarantula, his design is reminiscent of some of the comics, and it would be great to see him take center stage as a main threat in a Spider-Man movie. Brand New Day is aiming to tell a more street-level story that could revolve around organized crime in New York, so Tombstone would be an excellent fit in that kind of narrative. He may not be as famous as Green Goblin or Doc Ock, but he’s a significant enough villain that he could carry a film as the main antagonist. Ideally, it won’t be much longer until the Brand New Day trailer comes out and gives us a better idea of what to expect.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
