It’s been one year since Sony announced the title of the new Spider-Man film. Now, at the same event, it showed a full scene that gives us a bit more insight into what that title actually means.
That title, of course, is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and at CinemaCon 2026, audiences saw even more of the struggles Peter Parker (Tom Holland) must go through this time around. Years have passed since saving the world by erasing his memory, and now, with his former friends home from college, new problems emerge, both externally and internally.
Holland recorded a video for the event where he called Brand New Day the most emotional and grown-up Spider-Man movie yet, a brand new day indeed. To show that, they screened a scene that we saw parts of in the first trailer. Peter is sitting in a bodega when Ned walks in looking for some mini-kegs. He buys them, and Peter follows him to what turns out to be a party. A housewarming for Ned and his roommate, MJ.
Peter crashes the party, drinks a gross beer, and finds himself in Ned’s bedroom. There, he finds a Chewbacca mini-figure, which is a nice callback, and then looks at a bulletin board. It’s filled with news articles about Spider-Man. Ned comes out of the bathroom and admits that he’s been trying to figure out who he is. Not because he’s creepy or wants to unmask him, but because Ned explains Spider-Man saved him and his friends a few times in high school, and he’d love to thank him in person.
Ned starts to break it down. He knows Spidey is from Queens and has even narrowed it down to a few neighborhoods. He said he has two prime suspects and shows photos of Tony Revolori as Flash and Martin Starr as Mr. Harrington. Peter laughs.
As this is happening, MJ walks in. She’s anxious that there are so many people in their apartment and says the odds are a few of them are sociopaths. She says hi to Peter, and he hands her flowers. She asks his name, and he says it’s “Maynard,” though he can barely say it. Ned assumed they knew each other, since he’s at the party after all, but he says he’s just a neighbor. “A friendly neighbor,” she says.
Ned asks MJ if she went on an interview today, and she did. In fact, she got the job. But she turned it down. “I don’t want to work for a soulless corporation,” she says. Ned understands but says that’s kind of every corporation. But, MJ says, something is telling her that she should be waiting for something great. As she kind of glances in Peter’s direction as she says that, a character played by Star Wars: Ahsoka‘s Eman Esfandi enters the scene.
We don’t get his name (fingers crossed it’s not “Paul”), but he brings them some top-shelf liquor, which Ned appreciates. He then slides up to MJ and gives her a kiss, saying, “That’s my girl.” Peter sees this and leaves.
The scene was followed by a few scenes from the trailer, followed by a new one where Spider-Man stands in front of a bunch of thugs and stretches before beating them up. He jokes that he’s not as young as he used to be.
So, we still don’t know who the villain is or what the story is, but we do know that a slightly older and wiser Peter is facing more than just the villains. He’s facing the effects of his past.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi), Spider-Man: Brand New Day brings back Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Michael Mando, and Mark Ruffalo from various corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then adds new characters played by Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) and Tramell Tillman (Severance). It opens July 31.
Stay tuned to io9 for more news from CinemaCon this week!
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