Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be a Spider-Man movie unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s got a Hulk, a Punisher, and a myriad of street-level villains, all while showcasing Tom Holland’s Peter Parker restarting his life after Doctor Strange’s spell made everyone forget who he is. The grounded approach is more familiar with the pre-MCU Spider-Man films.
However, Brand New Day will still clearly be very different from the solo films the wall-crawler has had previously. The inclusion of major MCU heroes as supporting characters is one thing, but it’s who won’t be involved that is even more notable. The film will break the oldest Spider-Man movie trend, barring an unforeseen and unexpected development.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is The First Spider-Man Movie Without An Iconic Character
Tom Holland unmasked and bleeding in Spider-Man: No Way Home
Spidey fans will get to see a host of familiar characters in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is at the forefront, and Zendaya’s MJ will also be back. However, this will be the first time Aunt May is not in a live-action Spider-Man movie.
Peter’s loving, protective aunt is a pivotal figure in the character’s story, with Marisa Tomei bringing the most youthful portrayal of her to the screen in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. She followed in the footsteps of Rosemary Harris in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy and Sally Field in Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man duology.
Yet, No Way Home killed Aunt May in a surprising twist. Her death at Green Goblin’s hands completely changes Peter’s life, and Marvel Studios even had her be the one to give her nephew the “with great power there must also come great responsibility” line.
Following her death, Tomei is not returning as Peter’s aunt in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Marvel could always deliver a surprise and include a flashback/memory scene to get her in for a cameo, but that is not currently confirmed to happen, nor is it totally necessary.
So long as that doesn’t happen, Brand New Day will be the first Spider-Man movie without Aunt May. It’d only be the second time ever that Spider-Man has been in a movie without his aunt, as Avengers: Infinity War is the only other May-less live-action film that her nephew appears in.
How Losing Aunt May Will Impact Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Peter Parker and Aunt May in Spider-Man: No Way Home
The loss of Aunt May will be significantly felt in Brand New Day and beyond. She is the one who is always there for Peter, someone who can give him advice and navigate the difficult situations. May is his family, and now he is completely without that. His parents are gone. Uncle Ben died long ago. And now, Aunt May is no longer around.
This absence would be massive for any Spider-Man movie, but it will be even bigger here. With Peter now living a life where he has no one close to him, he’s completely alone. Rather than being able to lean on his family when the rest of the world is against him, he’s chosen to be by himself, even living in a small apartment, which is presumably the first time since childhood he’s not lived with May.
That could shape a portion of Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s story, then. Rather than seeking a familial reunion or keeping them safe from a distance, it will likely be MJ and Ned who take on that role. His friends are the closest thing Peter has to family now, even if they don’t fully remember the years of adventures they’ve had together.
After all, this isn’t the comics where Aunt May is alive in the “Brand New Day” storyline. So long as she is absent from the movie, there creates room and a need for MJ specifically to take on an even more important role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Release Date
July 31, 2026
Director
Destin Daniel Cretton