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    Spider-Man: Brand New Day Ending Explained: What’s Next

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    Watch: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Post-Credits Scene Explained

    Warning: This story contains major spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

    Spider-Man is about to be farther from home than he ever imagined.

    In the recently released Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland‘s titular friendly neighborhood superhero saves New York City once more while coming to terms with his decision to stay away from former lover MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon). And for his next appearance, he appears to be swinging out of this world.

    Indeed, the highly anticipated post-credit scene showed Ned’s Spidey Tracker app following Spider-Man in NYC before his location becomes “unknown” as it zooms out to include the entire U.S. and then outer space. Spidey is “found” beyond Earth’s moon on a glitching device. Naturally, fan theories have since been spinning, placing Spidey in worlds beyond ours as more superheroes venture into space, like the Fantastic Four.

    The screen went dark, then read, “Spider-Man Will Return,” though unlike previous MCU post-credit scenes, it didn’t share which upcoming movie he will be in. While the next film to hit theaters is Avengers: Doomsday this December, its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars premieres next year.

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    Sadie Sink’s Surprising Character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day Revealed

    It had been a less-than-marvelous four years of self-imposed exile for Spidey—which began after Benedict Cumberbatch‘s Dr. Strange cast a spell to erase his existence from everyone’s memory in 2021’s No Way Home—with Peter finally forced to admit that his life was spinning out of control as his spidey senses went haywire from trauma and loneliness.

    While he crossed paths with now-roommates MJ and Ned in NYC after graduating from MIT, Peter—also tracking a grieving Jean Gray (Sadie Sink) as the future X-Men member left destruction in her wake—maintained his distance when it was clear that neither recognized him. But Spider-Man remained a facet in the pals’ lives, with Ned building his Spidey Tracker in hopes of finding out his identity.

    MJ eventually learned who Peter was after finding the letter he wrote to her at the end of No Way Home, though she admitted that “the spell worked” and she had no memory of their sweet romance. Nonetheless, the pair slowly began building a new friendship, with MJ inviting him to hang out with her and Ned.

    Jay Maidment (Sony Pictures)

    And it isn’t all lost for Peter when he reintroduced himself to his former BFF at the end of the movie, with the pair doing their signature handshake on muscle memory. Elated by the revelation, Ned exclaimed, “Peter!” It was a hopeful conclusion to the movie as his new relationship with MJ could bring back her memories.

    As for what’s next for Spider-Man? While the X-Men will be making their debut in Doomsday, fans may get to see a live-action Miles Morales after Sony’s animatedSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse premieres in 2027.

    “We definitely have plans,” president of the studio Kevin Fiege told Chinese outlet Watching Hollywood this month. “I think a live-action Spider-Man movie has this destiny: To add Miles sometime after the Spider-Verse series ends.”

    While fans get to see Spider-Man swing through NYC, keep reading for everything to know about the web-slinging superhero.

    Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters now.

    Chuck Zlotnick/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock, Lars Niki/Corbis via Getty Images

    Timothée Chalamet Auditioned to Play Spider-ManIt’s impossible to think of anyone other than Tom Holland in the role now, but casting could have swung in a number of different directions, including Timothée Chalamet‘s.Yet as the Marty Supreme star recalled in 2018 while accepting an acting award for Call Me By Your Name, “I read twice and I left sweating in a total panic.” Of course he then called his agent and said he just had to go back and read again, but his agent advised him that might be overkill.

    Chuck Zlotnick/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

    How DidTom Holland Get Cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man?Holland, then 19, leaned into his background in dance and gymnastics to put together a now-legendary audition tape in his bid to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.“He just was so young and sweet, and just charming, and then in the audition, he did a full backflip, like a standing backflip, in addition to being really great on tape,” Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts told Men’s Health in 2024. “It was like watching a video of the real Peter Parker.”Added Joe Russo, who along with brother Anthony Russo directed a number of MCU films, including 2016’s Captain America: Civil War (Spider-Man’s franchise debut), “He was all the things that reminded me of what I loved about Peter Parker as a kid. And he was a movie star. He had that movie-star quality. The charisma, the confidence, the energy.”

    Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan, Taylor Hill/FilmMagic, Stephen Lovekin/Getty/ 2015 Tribeca Film Festival

    Who else was in the running to play Spider-Man besides Tom Holland?More than 1,500 actors were considered before the list was whittled down to Asa Butterfield, Holland, Judah Lewis, Matthew Lintz, Charlie Plummer, Charlie Rowe.But after acing screen tests opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, Holland was announced as the new Spider-Man in June 2015.

    Jay Maidment/Sony Pictures Entertainment

    Tom Holland’s Audition Tape Was a Punisher-ing ExperienceJon Bernthal, who’s appearing as The Punisher on the big screen for the first time in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, played a key role in Holland’s journey.The Odyssey co-stars were making the 2017 film Pilgrimage and “that was where both Tom did his audition for Spider-Man and I did my audition for [Netflix’s] Punisher,” Bernthal said on Jimmy Kimmel Live in April 2025. “We actually made each other’s audition tapes on that film.”Holland was super-confident, Bernthal noted, so he admittedly tried to temper the teen’s expectations.“I was like, ‘There’s probably a lot of people that want to be Spider-Man. I mean, you’re super talented and all, but the odds are kind of against you, but yeah, let’s make the tape,’” Bernthal recalled. But, not wanting Holland to get lost in the shuffle, either, “I gave him the note, ‘Tom, maybe you should run up that wall and do a double backflip and then start the scene.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you think I should do that? That’s not too much?’”Bernthal quipped, “It’s not that I take responsibility for him [getting cast], but you know, like a little something.”

    Marvel Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock

    There Was Almost No MCU Spider-Man At AllSony made the five previous Spider-Man movies and still had the rights to the character when the Russo brothers were hoping to make him part of the MCU.”Not only did the idea of Civil War scare parts of Marvel, because we were turning Tony Stark, their most popular character in the MCU, into an antagonist in the film,” Anthony Russo told CBR in May 2026. “The [idea of] introducing Spider-Man within this movie was very controversial because…the character could really only appear in the MCU in cooperation with Sony.”And even though they had a Spider-Man, Anthony continued,”there were a couple of weeks where we didn’t even come in to work on the movie because that issue hadn’t been resolved yet.”Added Joe, ” I remember correctly, Sony and Disney didn’t sign the deal officially until like a day before [Holland] was on camera, or something crazy like that. There was a reason that we couldn’t talk about it, because it still could have blown up at the last second.”

    Christopher Polk/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

    Zendaya Was Unknown When She Auditioned for Spider-ManWell, not really, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and producer Amy Pascal didn’t know who the Disney Channel alum was.“She was wearing no makeup and she was just dressed like a regular girl, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, she’s amazing. She has to be in the movie,’” Pascal told Vogue in 2024. “And then we found out she was a totally famous person, and felt really stupid.”

    Sony Pictures Releasing/Marvel Entertainment/Moviestore/Shutterstock

    Zendaya Didn’t Know She Was Auditioning for Spider-ManThe process was so secretive, Zendaya said on The Tonight Showin 2017, she showed up to audition for “Girl in Movie.”Her character was “kind of like a loner,” she explained. “She’s super intellectual, very dry humor, one liners, pops in, pops out—and I didn’t even know what kind of character I was gonna play until I got there [to the audition] and got to sign the non-disclosure and then read the script.”

    Columbia Pictures/Getty Images, J Whilden/Columbia/Marvel/Kobal/Shutterstock

     Is Zendaya’s MJ the Same Character as Kirsten Dunst’s MJ?Kirsten Dunst played Peter’s high school crush (and eventual wife) Mary Jane Watson of Marvel Comics fame opposite Tobey Maguire. Though also Peter’s high school crush, Zendaya‘s MJ is Michelle Jones-Watson, a character created for the MCU.

    Sony Pictures Releasing/Marvel Entertainment/Moviestore/Shutterstock

    How Tom Holland Gets in Spidey ShapeTo play his buffest incarnation of the superhero yet in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Holland got into “crazy shape” with the help of trainer Duffy Gaver.”A Monday morning would be this hour-long workout: one pullup, two dips, three pushups, four sit-ups, five squats—that’s round one—and you basically go all the way up to 10, so the last round is 10, 20, 30, 40, 50,” the actor told Men’s Health. “And then you’ll go all the way back down to 1. That is a monster workout.”

    Sony Pictures/Marvel

    Getting Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland Together Was Top-SecretThe multiverse felt a little less mad when it allowed for Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield—stars of Spider-Man franchises past—to join Holland in No Way Home.Maguire and Garfield quietly signed on toward the end of 2020 before their scenes were even scripted, so their participation “definitely shaped” the end result, according to Erik Sommers, who wrote the screenplay with Chris McKenna.“They had thoughts, and it was really interesting and helpful to see their thoughts,” Sommers told The Hollywood Reporter when the film came out. Added McKenna, “They had great ideas that really elevated everything we were going for and added layers and an arc, and we really actually started honing into the idea that these two guys were really helping Tom’s Peter on his journey to becoming who he ends up becoming.”And while there was speculation aplenty, being able to keep Maguire and Garfield’s casting a secret was its own reward.”One of my favorite things to do at the minute is to go online and watch fans’ reactions to you guys coming in that one scene in particular,” Holland told his fellow Spider-Men in a Zoom chat with Pete Hammond after No Way Home stuck the landing and then some. “I don’t think I could ever have imagined it as being so well received by everyone. I mean, I guess I had an idea that people would love this movie, but in no way, shape or form could I have thought it was going to be as big as it has been.”

    Jay Maidment (Sony Pictures)

    When “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” Finally Got Its MomentThe line that can be traced back to Peter’s ill-fated Uncle Ben—played by Cliff Robertson in 2002’s Spider-Man and Martin Sheen in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man—didn’t make its MCU debut until 2021’s No Way Home.Before then, the writers never felt there was “a natural place” for it. But ultimately the line—in this case,”With great power, there must also come great responsibility”—went to Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), who meets her demise in the third film.”For the scene on the rooftop, where the three Peters meet, we felt pretty strongly that we need something to really, finally crystalize it for these three guys that they are the same, that they are brothers,” Sommers told THR. “And that they are bound in a cosmic way by something and having them share those words in common seemed like the thing to do.”

    Todd Williamson/Getty Images

    The Reason Why There’s No Uncle Ben in the Tom Holland Spider-Man MoviesIt was a purposeful choice to not include Uncle Ben being killed by a criminal in this Spider-Man’s origin story.”It was all just like, ‘We don’t want to go over ground that’s been covered,'” Captain America: Civil War co-writer Christopher Markus told Collider in 2016. “It’s more poignant when you don’t talk about it at this point because everyone knows it.'”Aunt May’s a widow, but Ben “died in an accident,” Joe Russo told CBR in May 2026, “and not because of Peter’s failure to act.”And if Holland’s Spider-Man “blamed himself for his Uncle Ben’s death,” he explained, “I think he becomes a very different character.”

    Jay Maidment (Sony Pictures)

    Spider-Man: No Way Home Could Have Been EndgameThe unraveling of Peter’s life in order for the world to go on—and remember Spider-Man as a hero rather than a villain—could have been it, just in case. “I think it could be a satisfying conclusion,” Sommers told THR, “or just another really fun, inciting incident for another story. I hope they do more. But I don’t know.”Added McKenna, “I think it’s a fitting ending if it had to end this way. We never know. ‘Oh, is Tom doing another one? Will we be a part of it?'”The answer to both questions was yes, as No Way Home made $1.9 billion worldwide and the whole gang’s back together for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

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