Marvel Comics has just announced that it is returning to one of Spider-Man’s most controversial storylines. Spider-Man has been around since almost the start of Marvel Comics, and there have been some polarizing storylines, to put it lightly. Things like The Clone Wars and One More Day remain among the most hated Spider-Man storylines ever created. However, some storylines get lumped in with those polarizing tales, including the infamous Brand New Day story that followed Spider-Man’s deal with Mephisto in One More Day. It is that classic timeframe that Marvel is returning to, with a new series that Marvel claims will affect today’s storylines.
Marvel announced that Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day debuts in May, with Dan Slott returning to the title with artist Marcus To (X-Force). The storyline sees Dan Slott returning to the story in which he started his long and successful run on Spider-Man comics, and he has a chance to tell a new story that will play into what is happening in Spider-Man books today.
Spider-Man Creator Talks New Brand New Day Storyline
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Dan Slott has written more Spider-Man comics than almost anyone in history, proving that his run on Brand New Day was the start of something special, and not as bad as some fans might remember. This comes down to the writer’s love for the character. “Spider-Man is my favorite character in all of fiction. Heart on my sleeve here—I love writing Spider-Man,” Slott said in the press release. “We’re going to reveal hidden secrets and plant explosive seeds that will pay off and affect what’s happening in Spider-Man’s world today! These will be stories that matter and that will have major consequences!”
The story introduces something called The Lexicon, which Wilson Fisk possessed. This is a directory of all of Kingpin’s criminal enterprise, and Spider-Man believes it could bring down the entire New York City criminal underworld. However, both the Negative Man wants it to compete with Kingpin, and Punisher wants it to kill everyone on the list. Spider-Man realizes he now has a giant target on his back. The fact that he never used it to this day is the mystery this series will deal with, as well as the fact that it is likely going to come into play in today’s Spider-Man world.
“We’ve got the killer art team of Marvel’s biggest secret weapon, Marcus To, and new shorts by the Inkpot Award-winning legend, Marcos Martin,” Slott said. “With Marcus, this is going to be one of the best-looking books on the stand, and with Marcos, we’re going to have these incredible short features that will ensure that NEW readers can jump right in, even if they’ve never read a Brand New Day issue!”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is Better Than Remembered
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
The new Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day series will see Slott returning to the Brand New Day storyline, which ran from 2008 to 2012 and saw the creator tasked with relaunching Spider-Man’s story after the controversial One More Day, which was a storyline by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. Slott did the best he could with the cards he was dealt and actually delivered a series of great Spider-Man stories for hundreds of issues, including introducing Superior Spider-Man.
The entire plan for Slott was to relaunch Spider-Man in a new world where no one knew his identity, Harry Osborn was alive again, and Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane never happened. While that latter event is what most fans look at the story with distaste, Slott delivered some incredible stories, and this is the canon that Spider-Man lives in to this day in Marvel Comics. The idea of going back to this time period and introducing something fans have never seen before, while setting up some new future stories, is very exciting news.
Currently, Spider-Man comics are waiting as the Wall-Crawler returns to Earth after an extended time in space, where he almost died more than once. No one knew what happened to him, and while Ben Reilly tried to keep the facade of Peter Parker still being on Earth, and Norman Osborn tried to play Spider-Man, with often disastrous results, it is time to get Spidey back on Earth and fighting crime. While there are a lot of things he has to deal with upon his return, including an Aunt May who feels dismissed and a Mary Jane who is now Venom, The Lexicon is likely to play into the story, and that all begins with this flashback series starting this May.
The Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1 hits shelves on May 13, 2026. Dan Slott writes the issue, while Marcus To and Marcos Martin handle the art duties. Phil Jimenez did the cover art, while Pat Gleason drew a variant cover.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!