Spider-Man: Brand New Day is hitting theaters in 2026 as one of only two Marvel Cinematic Universe releases, and it will be very different from the first three films. The MCU is betting big on its two releases, though, because Spider-Man is the only franchise that has beaten the billion-dollar mark recently, and Avengers: Doomsday is the first big crossover movie since Avengers: Endgame. That makes the next Spider-Man movie all the more important for Marvel as they try to lure fans back to theaters after a prolonged slump. This makes director Destin Daniel Cretton’s comments concerning, because it sounds like he is making some changes to the formula.
Destin Daniel Cretton spoke with ComicBook at the Wonder Man junket and described how excited he was to make Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as well as the changes he was bringing to the project, helping it stand out from the first three films in the franchise. Cretton, who directed the first two Wonder Man episodes and the movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, said, “directing Spider-Man was one of the roles of a lifetime for me.”
He admitted that he doesn’t like to put a “stamp” on things that would be the “pinnacle” of his career, but he admitted that Spider-Man was different. “I look at every project that I work on and it’s really just, I haven’t done this before, is it exciting for me for the next two years? And Spider-Man is definitely that,” Cretton admitted.
He then looked at the upcoming MCU movie and said that he tried to make it different from the Spider-Man movies that came before. He said he did the same thing when he worked as the showrunner for Wonder Man. “All the creatives involved when I came on board wanted to do something that felt different,” Cretton said. “Of course, it’s still the Spider-Man that everybody loves, but this is a new chapter in his life, and that tonal shift was something that was really exciting to me. It felt really different, and it was an extremely gratifying experience.”
What Does This Mean For Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
Image Courtesy of Marvel
This is an interesting comment from the director, and it is the first time that Destin Daniel Cretton said anything about the film’s different “tone.” While she has only talked about how much she can’t say about the movie, Sadie Sink has also hinted that there were going to be changes in this film tonally from the others. It also makes a lot of sense. When Spider-Man: No Way Home ended, Peter Parker made a drastic decision, and he made everyone forget about him.
This doesn’t make a lot of sense, as his friends (Ned and MJ) both no longer know he exists, but he was still somehow able to get an apartment at the end, meaning he somehow proved he had credit and money to do so. However, just like the Brand New Day storyline in the comics, Spider-Man will start out fresh, and this means things have to change. The main tonal change is likely that Spider-Man will be alone.
In his first MCU appearances, Spider-Man had Tony Stark as Iron Man and Happy Hogan helping him. He had his Aunt May as his moral support and backup, and he had his friends, Ned and MJ, there to help him every step of the way. Now, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, he has nobody there for him. This is a new Spider-Man, and with all the villains supposedly appearing in the movie, he looks like he will be in very deep, and that requires a tonal shift to make it work. Based on Destin Daniel Cretton’s past work, that should make the new movie very exciting.
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