Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | June 18, 2026
I’m a sucker for superheroes, y’all. I have been for a long time. They aren’t, like, the end-all be-all for me. There are plenty of superhero stories, across various media, that I have not cared for. I’ve even disliked the same story in both movie and comic book form (looking at you, Civil War). But I still love it, and some of the characters are so thoroughly baked into my DNA that the very sight of them will wipe any negativity from my brain in an instant. Spider-Man is one of those characters.
I don’t know what it is about the web-head, and I’m certainly not alone in loving him, but I do! He’s great! And, when it comes to lie-action portrayals, we’ve seen him played by some really incredible actors. It’s to the point that my favorite interpretation changes depending on which movie or show I’ve watched more recently. Yesterday, I probably would have said Andrew Garfield, because I watched No Way Home recently and he’s phenomenal in that movie. Today? It’s all Tom Holland, babyyyy.
Holland has been incredible as Parker since he first inexplicably swung into the movie I don’t like (your whole motivation is that you got a kid killed, and your response is to put a kid in danger, Tony?! And if he’s not in danger, what are we doing here?!?!). His charm and earnestness are through the roof, and in a world where we have been oversaturated with superhero films (though that seems to be on the downturn), we’re lucky to have a performance like his in the mix to break up the monotony.
We’ll be getting even more soon via Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and the new trailer finally gives us a better scope of the story. It looks like they’re going with the puberty/mutation angle, which I genuinely think I was in denial about. Maybe it’s just something I don’t want to see? I’m unsure. But I certainly thought Peter was getting saved in a shot in the last trailer, but he was clearly using his new, organic webshooters, which is fine, I guess.
We also get our first look/confirmation that resident Thicc Boi Avenger Bruce Banner will, in fact, get all big and green in the movie, and possibly be under someone else’s control when he does. Who is controlling him? That remains the biggest mystery in these trailers. While we get more direct glimpses of them here, the hooded villain of the film has yet to be revealed, save for them having the ability to jump from body to body, like in Fallen (and that’s assuming it’s the hooded figure who is doing that).
For now, it’s safe to assume that the cloaked figure has those powers and is played by series newcomer Sadie Sink. While I do think there could be credence to those Jean Grey rumors, especially given that the film takes place in New York, deals with mutation, and the MCU will be heading toward an X-Men film sooner than later. Locking down an up-and-coming star to play that role would be a huge boon for them. But my guess is it’s one or the other. Either a big villain, who could be from the X-Men universe, or Jean Grey, but not both (probably).
