In a brief interview with Variety, Tillman played coy about his role while responding to a question about his potentially villainous character by asking, “Who says I’m playing a villain?”.
#Severance star Tramell Tillman on filming “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and what he loves most about playing a villain. He was one of 100 rising stars recognized at the TIME100 Next Gala. pic.twitter.com/i8DnCRn0vO
Interestingly, despite never having been caught on location yet, Tillman revealed he’s already begun work on the film, scheduled to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.
I’m told that Marvel has a plan to say goodbye to Kang. They’re going to wrap him up. I think they want to give him the boot just to put to bed any…I think they’re going to deal with Kang somehow. A small little thing… probably in one of the Avengers movies. I’ve heard Doctor Doom could be the one who kills him.
Given the expansive roster of interesting characters in Spidey’s orbit, there’s no doubt that Tillman would be a far greater asset to the MCU as a character–ally or enemy–who can carry on beyond a one-off appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
After two weeks of filming in Glasgow, Scotland, it looks as though production on Spider-Man: Brand New Day is headed back to Buckinghamshire, England where Pinewood Studios serves as the movie’s “home base.” Fans were treated to plenty of photos and videos from the Glasgow set, including some spoilery shots of Frank Castle’s new Battle Van; however, despite rumors to the contrary, the film’s co-star, Sadie Sink, never made it to Glasgow.
Since being cast in March, Sink has been at the center of an insider info war with several scoopers sharing a half-dozen or so potential characters that the Stranger Things star could be playing. Ranging from Jean Grey to a Mary Jane Watson Variant to Gwen Stacy to Mayday Parker, the rumored possibilities all fit with the film’s street-level plot. However, a new rumor from a source not previously part of the info war has shared an intriguing rumor that, if true, could send the plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day in an entirely unexpected and wild direction.
Nexus Point News EIC Demet took to X to share word that she’s been told Sink’s character was named–or possibly codenamed–Annabelle Adams. A relatively minor character with only 15 appearances in the pages of Marvel Comics, Adams seems like a boring choice at first; however, the studio could be looking to use her as the host of a far more interesting character.
Hearing Annabelle Adams is the codename(?) for Sadie Sink's character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. pic.twitter.com/zz8fCTVsOr
After being introduced as the love interest of Peter Parker clone Kaine, Annabelle Adams story took a major turn in Edge of the Spider-Verse Volume 2 when she became entangled with the shape shifting deity Shathra.
Should the studio be looking to use Adams as some sort of host for Shathra, the film, featuring The Punisher, Scorpion and several other street-level baddies could take a multiversal turn, potentially tying it to Sony’s animated Spider-Verse franchise ahead of the end of The Multiverse Saga.
Of course, speculation based on a rumor is hardly the best way to go but this latest rumor does share some commonality with some information making its way through some certain circles. If nothing else, it makes for a very different bit of conversation than what’s been taking place.
The news that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will feature Mark Ruffalo in a “substantial role” has generated some serious hype for the 2026 film. After years of rumors about the film’s potential plot and cast, fans seem to believe that Bruce Banner to finally meeting up with Spider-Man after nearly a decade of them failing to cross one another’s paths is a recipe for success. Now, a new rumor sprinkles even more spice into the mix.
According to a pair of rumors making their way around, Ruffalo‘s Hulk will serve as the main villain of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Though it’s unclear why, the rumors suggest the Savage Hulk will return and that the showdown between him and Spider-Man will be central to marketing the film.
A SECOND PERSON JUST CONFIRMED HULK IS THE VILLAIN OF BRAND NEW DAY!!! Prob not Maestro, but I def think Savage Hulk is back pic.twitter.com/uTt5ZCAivD
Although the timing of these recent rumors can and should be questioned, fans have already begun to theorize what might cause Banner to revert to the Savage Hulk, and that the film will launch the MCU’s long-rumored World War Hulk project. With the film not set to hit theaters until July 31, 2026, expect plenty more rumors like these to emerge, and keep in mind that multiple reputable insiders leaked accurate information about Spider-Man: No Way Home that was initially disregarded until the film’s release.
With production set to kick off on Spider-Man: Brand New Day in just a few months, it’s relatively incredible how little is known about the Sony and Marvel Studios collaboration. While there have been plenty of rumors about potential plots, characters and locations, little has emerged outside of the casting of Sadie Sink, whose role may be linked to Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man Trilogy. However, in an unexpected turn, it’s possible Disney revealed a great deal of information all at once.
Instagram user Chris Higashi was in attendance at the Disney Blockbuster Consumer Products presentation and took to his account to share what he took in, including the identity of THREE villains set to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
According to Higashi, the fourth installment in Sony’s MCU-set Spider-Man franchise will feature Tom Holland’s Spidey taking on Scorpion, Boomerang and Tombstone.
If accurate, the trio of villains is miles apart from the rumors that have made the rounds over the past few years. Additionally, it would call into question the legitimacy of recent reports of Mister Negative being the film’s protagonist, though it’s still possible he could appear if one of the other villains, such as Boomerang, wasn’t meant to have a major role or, as happened in the comics, he’s also a friend of Peter’s.
Should Scorpion be among those tangling with Spidey in Brand New Day, it would follow up on one of the MCU’s many unresolved post-credit scenes and should mean the return on Michael Mando in the role. Interestingly, Scorpion and Tombstone featured in Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
While no confirmation has come down on these characters appearing in the film, it’s also not yet been debunked. We’ll continue to monitor this interesting development
The fourth film in Sony and Marvel’s MCU-set Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, won’t begin production for several more months but that hasn’t stopped the project from routinely making headlines.
According to the Hot Mic Podcast’s John Rocha, Sink is set to portray May “Mayday” Parker, the daughter of Tobey Maguire‘s Peter Parker and, presumably, Kirsten Dunst‘s Mary Jane Watson.
Tied to the controversial 1990s Clone Saga in which Mary Jane and Peter’s baby was stillborn, Mayday was brought back into the fold in What If…? #105 and was a major character in Marvel’s MC2 imprint. The character was so popular that the studio launched a Spider-Girl solo book by creators Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenzy that, at the time, grew to become Marvel’s longest-running female-centric title.
Should Sink indeed be portraying Mayday, it might truly be a stroke of genius by the studio. As the daughter of Peter-Two/The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Mayday would not only introduce another web-slinger (with one of THE best Spider suits ever designed) to work alongside star Tom Holland but also potentially become a major player in Avengers: Secret Wars. And, should Sony and/or Marvel so choose, become either a key player in the next MCU saga or help Sony relaunch its Spidey-related efforts.
Nearly a decade after the first film hit theaters, Sony’s Spider-Verse trilogy will come to a close. As part of its CinemaCon 2025 presentation in Las Vegas, Sony revealed that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will hit theaters on June 4, 2027.
The opening chapter in the Spider-Verse trilogy, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, took the movie-going world by storm in December 2018. Before its release, work had already begun on a second film and plans had already been spun for a third, which was originally slated for release on March 29, 2024. Much has changed about the original plans and now Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will release more than three years later than intended. Franchise producer Phil Lord and co-directors Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson addressed the significant delay, saying, “We know how important this franchise is to so many people around us. We just could not run it back. So, we decided we needed to take the time to make sure we got it just right.”
Sony unveiled a first look at the film, showcasing some impressive new animation. Callin it a “massive finale to the trilogy,” Lord, who was on stage in Vegas, explained that, as expected, the third film will open with Miles Morales on the run, teasing that “Gwen and his other friends may or may not be enough to help him save the family that’s been the leading part of the entire system.”
With all the major production studios in Las Vegas for CinemaCon 2025, Sony didn’t want to come up short leading off the event, which brings theater owners from around the world together to preview upcoming slates. As part of its two-hour panel, Sony played a pre-recorded video message from Spider-Man star Tom Holland in which he revealed the title of the next installment in the franchise.
After apologizing for not being able to attend in person because of his filming schedule on Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey, Holland promised a “fresh start” for the Web-Slinger in the new film before sharing the title.”I know we left you with a massive cliff hanger at the end of No Way Home, so Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a fresh start. It is exactly that. That’s all I can say. That’s all I’ve been allowed to say,” said Holland, who then (sort of) jokingly added “And I’m well over the hump of giving away spoilers, so don’t be worried. I’m not going to do that today.“
Director Daniel Destin Cretton, who was on stage in Las Vegas, gave some insight into the prep work he and the rest of the creative crew on the film are putting in ahead of production.”I’m spending my time exploring the next stage of this amazing character with a team of the most incredible artists in the world,” teased Cretton. “We’re all, just daily, nerding out over the suit, how to swing, how to create an event, an emotional story, and a ride that we haven’t really seen before,” said Cretton of Brand New Day, which was confirmed to be headed into production this summer.
While it’s now clear that neither of those two rumored plots will unfold in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the title reveal does call to mind a November 2024 report from Production Weekly in which the not-always-reliable outlet shared a synopsis for the fourth Spider-Man film while also accurately revealing the correct subtitle.
Following the events of Doomsday, Peter Parker is determined to lead a normal life and focus on college, stepping back from his responsibilities as Spider-Man. However, peace is short-lived when a deadly new threat emerges, endangering his friends and forcing Peter to reconsider his promise.With stakes higher than ever, Peter reluctantly returns to his Spider-Man identity and finds himself teaming up with an unlikely ally to protect those he loves.
While the plot of the new film remains a tightly-guarded secret,the Brand New Day subtitle will certainly ring a bell with comic book readers as Dan Slott’s follow up to the controversial One More Day arc that saw Peter Parker strike a deal with the devil, making it the perfect subtitle for the new film given that Spider-Man: No Way Home loosely adapted One More Day.
Hollywood insider Jeff “The In” Sneider, who originally reported that Marvel was interested in Sink for the role of Jean Grey in their upcoming X-Men reboot, has now shared that a source informed him that “it sounds like” Sink will be playing Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 4.
Let’s face it, Tiger, Marvel didn’t hit the jackpot here. Sink is a talented young actress and will certainly perform wonderfully in the role; however, given some of the other options on the table, even without knowing the plot of Spider-Man 4, it seems as though Marvel has chosen…poorly.
One of the most consistent rumors about Spider-Man 4 is that given it’s position as a direct follow-up to Avengers: Doomsday, it won’t be set on Earth-616 but rather in Battleworld. First seen in 1984’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1, Battleworld is a heterogenous hodgepodge planet made up of bits of various realities from around the Multiverse. More or less, on Battleworld, just about anything is possible and just about anyone could show up.
Marvel and Sony took considerable heat over the years for casting Zendaya as their franchise’s MJ, Michelle Jones-Watson. Casting Sink as Mary Jane Watson, even as a character from another reality, could be read as the studio giving into the noise from online trolls. It remains to be seen in the residents of Battleworld–should it truly be the setting of Spider-Man 4–are aware of their own pasts; however, if the studio’s next move after wiping everyone’s memory of Peter Parker is to wipe Parker’s memory as well, it will likely only further fire up the fandom, many of whom were looking forward to seeing a street-level, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Spider-Man 4 will begin production later this year and is currently slated to hit theaters on July 31, 2026.
Despite its worst efforts to entertain audiences with Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movies, Sony finally threw in the damn towel following the dismal response to Kraven the Hunter. It’s an impressive decision for Sony, especially since its CEO, Tony Vinciquerra, delusionally maintains that the films, many of which are widely accepted as some of the worst comic book movies ever made, aren’t bad…
Having learned the wrong lesson from the box office success of Venom in 2018, the studio believed they had found the formula to the Super-Solider Serum when, in fact, they had actually cooked up something more akin to the Goblin Serum. And so, they began a descent into madness that even Norman Osborn couldn’t match, mining their stable of Spidey-adjacent characters in search of diamonds in the rough…and we all know how it turned out.
Incredibly, for every Morbius or Madame Web that did get made, another project of equal or lesser interest rotted in development hell. While the premises some of Sony’s unmade projects sounds reasonable enough, there’s no telling how ghastly they might have ended up. As the calendar turns to a new year free of Sony’s sinful Spidey spinoffs, here’s a look at what might have been, but thankfully was not.
Sinister Six
One of the films originally planned to help Sony launch its Spidey villain-verse in 2013, The Sinister Six was meant to join Venom as a foundational piece. Sony tasked Drew Goddard with writing the script planned for him to direct the film.
Though work on the project began before Sony abandoned Andrew Garfield‘s Amazing Spider-Manfranchise, The Sinister Six continued to be developed over the next several years before being forsaken, though its premise certainly changed once Sony pulled the plug on Garfield’s Spidey. Of all the ideas generated by Sony, thanks to the collaborative relationship with Marvel Studios, this one may still live on in some way despite the studio taking a break from Spidey-related movies.
Nightwatch
In 2017, Sony had plans to develop a film around the little-used Marvel Comics’ villain Dr. Kevin Trench, who turned over a new leaf and became the hero known as Nightwatch.
As first revealed by me in March 2018 while working at That Hashtag Show, Sony had secured a monster creative team for Nightwatch with Cheo Hodari Coker (Luke Cage) writing a script to be directed by Spike Lee. Lee departed the project before the end of the year and Nightwatch never made it to the screen.
Silver and Black
Of all of Sony’s unrealized projects, Silver and Black probably came the closest to being made. Development on a Black Cat solo film ultimately evolved into a film intended to see Felicia Hardy and Silvija Sablinova share the screen in what would have been a pretty wild adventure, full of twists, turns, betrayals and quite a few big name Spidey villains and even a few heroes. You can take a deep dive into what the 2018 version of the film might have been had Sony not abandoned it in 2020.
Jackpot
Following the box office success of Venom in 2018, Sony began developing scripts for several films, including Jackpot. In 2020, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow writer Marc Guggenheim, who wrote three issues of Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot in 2010, was revealed to have been working on the script for two years.
If Sony’s plans to bring a Jackpot solo film to the screen has been an effort to put Mary Jane Watson in the spotlight, they may have been, at the very least, commendable. However, MJ didn’t suit up as Jackpot until 2023 and Sony’s film may have been shelved by then. Instead, Guggenheim‘s screenplay featured one of the other iterations of the character: Sara Ehret (11 comic book appearances) or Alana Jobson (12 comic book appearances). Given that Guggenheim’s Marvel Comics series involved both characters, it’s possible that the film may have followed suit.
So little was ever officially revealed about Sony’s Spider-Woman project that it was widely believed to be another name for Madame Web. While the latter somehow made its way to the big screen, the former–which could not have been any worse than Madame Web–never did.
In February 2020, just after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped Hollywood in its tracks, Sony began searching for a director for a Jessica Drew-led Spider-Woman film. At the time, the studio was hoping to have Spider-Woman in theaters on October 7, 2021 and by late summer 2020, had locked Olivia Wilde in as director. According to comments by Wilde, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios may have been working closely with Sony on Spider-Woman despite being hands off on the studio’s other Spidey-adjacent fare. But why?
The live-action rights to Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman fall under a very unusual agreement between Marvel and Sony. According to the agreement, Marvel Studios can use Jessica Drew freely with one caveat: without the approval of Sony, they cannot refer to her as Spider-Woman. That doesn’t mean there aren’t great Jessica Drew stories to tell, only that it’s almost certainly in the best interests of both studios to collaborate on a Drew project in a way similar to how they’ve worked together on Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
And then…the trail went cold. It seems all parties have moved on and unless Marvel Studios has plans for Drew, the character may never make it to the big screen.
Hypno-Hustler
Inspired, undoubtedly, by a March 2022 tweet by me, Sony greenlit a Hypno-Hustler movie in December 2022.
Arguably the most bizarre of Sony’s decisions to build a Spider-Man universe without a Spider-Man, El Muerto would have featured Bad Bunny as the in-famous Juan-Carlos Sánchez who, as you undoubtedly know, was a Mexican legacy luchador who wore an enchanted mask which bestowed him with superhuman powers. At the time of the film’s announcement, El Muerto had two full-fledged appearances in the pages of Marvel Comics.
Perhaps the only interesting tidbit to have emerged about what El Muerto may have been came in 2023 when it was revealed that Sony planned to use classic Spidey baddie Tombstone in the film. According to a trade report, Sony planned to have Marvin Jones III, who voiced the character in the animated Spider-Man; Into the Spider-Verse, bring Tombstone to life in El Muerto. WWE superstar Sasha Banks was also reportedly set to play an unknown role in the film. Alas, El Muerto is deceased, if it ever lived at all.
As was the case with Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel Studios and Sony’s next Spidey collab has been subject to an absurd amount of rumors and speculation ahead of its expected Summer 2025 start of production. With so many wild and wide-ranging reports making the rounds, it has become incredibly difficult to make sense out of what to actually expect from the film when it hits theaters in 2026. However, assuming the studios intended to follow the path upon which they set their hero at the end of No Way Home, some possibilities do make more sense than others.
One of the more realistic routes the film might take would be to follow Peter Parker’s new life in which his old friends no longer remember him and he transitions to a more traditional Spider-Man. It’s reasonable to assume that might include Parker enrolling in college, perhaps at Empire State University, where, in the comics, he met a whole new group of characters who played major roles in his life including Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy. And now a new report from a trusted insider has people beginning to believe that the latter may be headed to the MCU in Spider-Man 4.
According to Daniel Richtman, Marvel is considering Furiosa: A Mad Max and The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy for an unknown role in Spider-Man 4.
While some corners of social media are flocking toward speculation that the actress may be in the running for the role of Felicia Hardy/Black Cat, another intriguing possibility has also generated some by buzz as fans consider that Taylor-Joy would make for a pretty damn great Gwen Stacy.
Of course, it speaks to both the actresses range of talents and popularity that Taylor-Joy’s name would be associated with two very different characters, both of whom played integral roles in both parts of Pete’s life. While this would mark the third live-action iteration of Gwen (with Bryce Dallas Howard and Emma Stone each having portrayed the characters in Sony’s previous Spider-Man franchises), Hardy has really never been fully realized in a Spider-Man film.
Certainly should Taylor-Joy portray one or the other of the two characters, it would not necessarily mean the other would be ruled out of an appearance in the film. Previous rumors have circulated that Marvel was interested in Sydney Sweeney and a “Madelyn Cline-type” actress for a role in the film. Either of those stars could arguably fill the role of Felicia Hardy alongside Taylor-Joy as Gwen. At this point, even though trades will likely break casting news in the new year, it may be some time before the true nature of the new film, and the roles within in, becomes clear.
Spider-Man 4 is currently expected to swing into theaters on July 24th, 2026.
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