Dorchester Prison makes a fleeting appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is released in cinemas today.

The film is proving so popular with local cinemagoers that the showings at the Plaza in Dorchester for tonight, Wednesday, July 29, have sold out.

Eagle-eyed Marvel fans first spotted the prison in the film’s trailer, which was released in March.

The former jail in the county town’s North Square, which hosted the Spider-Man film crew in November 2025, featured in a brief but distinctive scene showing the prison’s central atrium and former B-Wing.

(Image: Marvel/Sony Pictures)

The exact significance of Dorchester Prison will become clear, although fans speculated that the atmospheric Victorian jail could play a role connected to the film’s criminal underworld or one of its imprisoned villains.

The appearance marks another major screen credit for the historic Dorchester site and underlines Dorset’s growing reputation as a filming destination for high-profile film and television productions.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

The former prison has previously featured in Netflix’s Luther: The Fallen Sun, BBC drama The Gold, and ITV’s A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.

It also continues to attract visitors through guided history tours and ghost-hunting events.

The county has enjoyed a series of high-profile productions in recent years, with Lyme Regis’s Cobb featuring in Wonka and Netflix’s adaptation of Persuasion, while west Dorset has also welcomed productions including Ammonite and Heartstopper.

When crews arrived in Dorchester late last year, production vehicles, technical equipment, and filming signs transformed the area around the prison, while locals speculated that scenes for the fourth Tom Holland Spider-Man film were being shot behind the Victorian walls.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day sees Holland return as Peter Parker following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which ended with the world forgetting Parker’s identity.

Filming took place in other UK locations including Basingstoke and Glasgow.

Zendaya returns in the film as MJ, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Jon Bernthal as The Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, and Michael Mando as Mac Gargan, while Stranger Things star Sadie Sink has joined the cast.

Let us know in the comments below what you thought of it – we’d also love to hear whether you spotted the prison and what its role is in the film!