After a nearly five-year wait, Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man has finally returned to the big screen. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been making a splash all week, with overwhelmingly positive reviews for the Marvel Studios and Sony collaboration getting fans even more excited in the days leading up to the theatrical debut. Now, at long last, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is playing in theaters everywhere, and fans are not only getting the chance to experience one of Marvel’s best movies in years, but they’re also getting a glimpse into what could become a bright future for at least a corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The closing act of Spider-Man: Brand New Day beautifully brings the story of the film to a close, but it also plants a few seeds for what’s coming next. Unlike many other MCU movies, Brand New Day doesn’t sacrifice its own plot and ending in favor of the grander universe. That said, there are some natural moments that use the closing of one door to subtly open another. There’s a lot to unpack with the ending of Brand New Day, and we’re going to dive deep into all of it here. It should go without saying that the rest of this article will have major spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. So, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, now is the time to bookmark this page and come back once you leave the theater.
What Happens to Spider-Man at the end of ‘Brand New Day’
Throughout Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter Parker (Holland) is at odds with his own evolution and inner psyche. He’s challenged by a terrifying threat that can seemingly control the minds of others at will, and the governmental agency known as Damage Control tasks him with eliminating said enemy. As many fans expected, that mind-controlling mastermind is none other than Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), who you probably know as one of the most prominent members of the X-Men.
Of course, Jean isn’t really the villain she’s made out to be, as she was only attacking Damage Control to save her sister, who had the same kind of dangerous powers and was ultimately killed by the organization during their rigorous experimentation. Peter, upon realizing he got it wrong, opts to try and save Jean — though she has the saving part handled. Her powers evolve, and she is on the verge of some catastrophic destruction that she could never take back, when Peter finally lets her into his mind, and she gets the classic power and responsibility talk from the late Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).
Spider-Man ultimately takes a bullet to the back to save Jean, but she returns the favor, hopping into his mind and keeping him alive until he can receive care. He recovers and resumes business as Spider-Man, now with MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) once again at his side. Peter and MJ aren’t romantically involved at this point, because she doesn’t remember their history. The final moment ahead of the credits, however, does hint that Ned gets his memories of Peter back after the two share their signature secret handshake.
Jean Grey and the X-Men in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’
The arrival of Sink’s Jean Grey marks the MCU’s first real foray into its own version of the X-Men — the only X-Men appearances to this point have been legacy cast from the Fox franchise. She is given an alternative origin story and an evolving set of powers, but she’s still very young, and acting entirely on her own.
At this point, as far as we know, Jean hasn’t met any of the other X-Men characters yet. Some flashback scenes with her sister reveal that their mother “sent them away” after learning about their powers, but there isn’t any indication that they were shipped off to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. It just seems like the two of them are on their own and on the run.
After saving Spider-Man, Jean disappears from New York City. In her final scene in the movie, Jean is riding a bus away from the city, potentially to Upstate New York, or another less populated area in the Northeast. She doesn’t say where she’s going, but it’s safe to assume she’s going to wind up crossing paths with Charles Xavier.
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Post-Credits Scene Sets Up the Avengers
The MCU has made post-credits scenes a tradition and, during several minutes of credits, it feels as though Spider-Man: Brand New Day is going to actually buck the trend. When the Sony logo appears after the credits, it does feel as though there isn’t going to be anything else.
That changes when Ned’s Spider-Man tracking app reappears on the screen. There aren’t any characters or any dialogue, but the tracker program shows another Spider-Man sighting, and begins zooming out from New York. The screen takes viewers away from our planet entirely before announcing the presence of a Spider-Man somewhere out in space.
This is, of course, teasing the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars. Based off the Secret Wars comic books, timelines and alternate universes are going to converge in the film, resulting in multiple versions of the same character appearing together. The place known as Battleworld in the comics is ultimately where a lot of these variants duke it out in order to become the lone version of their character. The post-credits scene in Brand New Day is definitely hinting at Secret Wars, and potentially teasing some sort of Spider-Man gathering on a Battleworld. Unlike most MCU characters, though, several Spider-Man variants already know one another and have a solid friendship. There probably won’t be a lot of battling if Peter 1, Peter 2, and Peter 3 get together again.
Following that little animation is the all-important Marvel message: “Spider-Man Will Return.” Not that there was any doubt Spider-Man would appear in Avengers: Secret Wars but this essentially confirms it.
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
- Runtime
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145 Minutes
- Director
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Destin Daniel Cretton
- Writers
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Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Steve Ditko, Stan Lee
- Producers
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Amy Pascal, Kevin Feige, Rachel O’Connor, Avi Arad
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Spider-Man / Peter Parker
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