Unraveling the Fate of Peter Parker: Could ‘Brand New Day’ Spell His End?

The debut trailer for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” paints a rather bleak picture for our hero. Not only is he grappling with loneliness, but he’s also experiencing profound changes that could significantly impact his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The lingering question is whether Peter still has a place in this evolving landscape. As he faces a grueling journey in his next adventure, there looms the unsettling possibility that he might not survive.

Drawing from the trailer and available information about “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and future Marvel endeavors, there’s speculation that Peter Parker’s days in the MCU could be numbered. While comic book lore often sees characters return from the dead, a somber farewell might be in store for our beloved web-slinger. Here’s why this could be the case.

It’s crucial to approach leaks with skepticism, as many self-proclaimed insiders have a mixed track record. An account known as My Time To Shine Hello, which has had some accurate predictions in the past, recently shared, “There are rumors this happens in Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” accompanied by a comic panel from “Kraven’s Last Hunt” depicting Spider-Man emerging from a grave.

It’s important to take so-called leaks from self-proclaimed scoopers with a grain of salt, as most of them are hit and miss. The X account My Time To Shine Hello, which has had some success in the past, recently posted “There are rumors this happens in Spider-Man Brand New Day” next to a comic book panel from “Kraven’s Last Hunt” where Spider-Man emerges from a grave. 

It’s important to note the wording My Time To Shine Hello uses. They don’t state anything definitively. It’s just that there are “rumors” a similar scene may play out in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” It’s also noteworthy that, in this particular storyline, Spider-Man doesn’t technically die. Kraven shoots Spider-Man with a powerful tranquilizer dart that sends him into a death-like, comatose state. Kraven then buries Spider-Man, who eventually crawls his way out to create the iconic image. 

It’s not much to go on, but it does suggest Spidey could die (at least temporarily) in “Brand New Day.” Whether we get a recreation of that image or not is another story. It doesn’t seem like Kraven the Hunter will appear in the film. It would’ve been nice to get a Spider-Man movie with Kraven as the antagonist (especially as the solo Kraven film was such a letdown). Either way, this quote-unquote “scoop” isn’t the only evidence that Spider-Man is about to have a very bad day.

There is an “Amazing Spider-Man” comic arc titled “Brand New Day,” which picks up after the events of “One More Day” where Peter makes a deal with Mephisto to erase his marriage to Mary-Jane Watson. And after Spider-Man’s secret identity was revealed to the world during “Civil War,” the deal also makes everyone forget that, too. “Brand New Day” is a soft reboot, making it a good title for the upcoming film, which also functions as something of a soft reboot where Peter Parker is on his own without any help from Stark technology. But after watching the trailer, it’s clear “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is taking chunks from another Spider-Man comic. Specifically, there’s a lot of iconography to hint that “Brand New Day” will borrow from the mid-2000s story arc known as “The Other.”

In this arc, Peter is dying from a radiation-based illness caused by further mutations from the spider bite that gave him his powers in the first place. The “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” trailer shows Peter suffering from an illness, even blacking out at one point. In “The Other,” he visits the smartest people in the Marvel universe for help, including Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk. In “Brand New Day,” sure enough, Peter visits Bruce (Mark Ruffalo). Peter ultimately dies at the hands of Morlun in “The Other,” but he doesn’t stay dead for long, emerging anew from a web cocoon. The “Brand New Day” trailer has a scene of Peter seemingly waking up in a web cocoon, which hints at a similar scene of Peter dying and then being reborn.

The idea of Peter Parker’s body mutating isn’t exclusive to “The Other.” 1990s kids may also remember that particular storyline from “Spider-Man: The Animated Series,” which remains the gold standard for Spider-Man cartoons. During Season 2, in the “Neogenic Nightmare” arc, Peter’s body changes, and at one point, he grows some extra arms. This is just the appetizer, though, as he eventually mutates into a creature known as Man-Spider, which is basically the hero as a giant, animalistic spider monster. Does the MCU have the guts to dive into pure body horror? That remains to be seen, but it’s possible Peter Parker could die temporarily in a metaphorical sense.

If Peter “dies” and transforms into a giant spider, that would work very well thematically for what “Brand New Day” is going for. He doesn’t exist anymore. No one knows who he is. He has no friends, and even Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) is dead. It would make sense for “Brand New Day” to see Peter dive solely into being Spider-Man, which is literally the only identity he has left. And if his human side is more of a burden than anything at this point, it would also make sense to have that manifest physically as him being a giant spider — at least for a little bit. It would certainly make “Brand New Day” stand out from all the other previous live-action Spider-Man movies.

In addition to Bruce Banner, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” will bring Jon Bernthal’s Punisher into the mix. It remains to be seen how big of a role he’ll have, but there’s a good chance he’s the one to put Spider-Man down. If “Brand New Day” wants to recreate the aforementioned panel in “Kraven’s Last Hunt” without Kraven the Hunter, the Punisher could be a good replacement. That’s especially true if the movie borrows more from the “Neogenic Nightmare” arc than it’s letting on.

In the episode “Chapter 7: Enter the Punisher,” the anti-hero sets his sights on Spider-Man after mistakenly believing that he’s kidnapped the scientist Michael Morbius (who was played by Jared Leto in Sony’s 2022 dud “Morbius”). Punisher has even more of a reason to try to kill him once he mutates into the terrifying Man-Spider and goes on the hunt.

In “Spider-Man: The Animated Series,” Punisher ultimately doesn’t kill Man-Spider. He’s stopped by, of all people, Kraven the Hunter. But “Brand New Day” might merge “Neogenic Nightmare” with “The Other.” Instead of getting killed by Morlun, like in “The Other,” Punisher could do the honors. This could then lead to him getting enveloped in a cocoon and reemerging stronger than before. 

There’s been a lot of speculation so far as to what “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” will entail, but there’s still a lingering Venom question after the events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” That film had a post-credits scene of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) getting transported back into his original reality where Sony had a Spider-Man-less Spider-Man cinematic universe. However, a small portion of the Venom symbiote was left behind in the MCU. 

It’s very possible (some would even say probable) that the MCU will simply ignore this symbiote going forward, but there could be a way to incorporate it into future storylines. If we assume Peter Parker dies in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” he’ll need to get revived somehow, and this small piece of symbiote could be the thing to do it. There’s a precedent for this in the comics — in “Spider-Man: Life Story,” which is an alternate continuity, it’s bonding with the Venom symbiote that allows Peter Parker to crawl his way out of the grave that Kraven buried him in after shooting him.

There’s a key moment in the “Brand New Day” trailer when Peter opens his eyes and they’re jet-black. And, earlier in the trailer, when Peter’s getting out of the web cocoon, one of his arms also looks kind of like it’s been overtaken by a symbiote. These could just be normal parts of whatever mutation he’s going through, but they could also be Peter adapting to the alien hivemind that’s part of his body. There’s a good chance both Marvel and Sony want audiences to forget about Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, but the pieces are there for the MCU to bring Venom into the fold if they want to.

After “Avengers: Doomsday,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe is heading toward “Avengers: Secret Wars.” There have been several “Secret Wars” iterations from Marvel Comics, but the first one from 1984 is noteworthy for introducing Spider-Man’s black suit created via the Venom symbiote. In the comics, Peter’s suit gets ripped on Battleworld, a planet where a bunch of heroes and villains fight one another. He then comes into contact with a device that can repair it. But, in actuality, this device contains the Venom symbiote, which attaches itself to Peter.

Venom has become a Marvel stand-out over the decades, and now that the Tom Hardy “Venom” movies are done and dusted, it’s high time to bring him into the MCU proper outside of an inconsequential post-credits scene. Is it possible that Peter Parker could meet his end in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” but there’s a quick tease of the Venom symbiote attaching to him, hinting that he’ll be back down the line in a new form?

It’s rumored that Tom Holland will not appear in “Avengers: Doomsday” but will return for “Avengers: Secret Wars” in a major way. If Peter dies and gets resurrected with the symbiote, it would make more sense for him to enter the Marvel fray once more on Battleworld with his black suit, maybe even recreating the iconic image where Spider-Man is reacting to his new threads while a bunch of Marvel characters fight one another in the background.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” introduced the idea of anchor beings into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Basically, this is a person whose existence is so crucial to their universe’s survival that, if they die, their reality gradually decays until it’s no more. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) held that designation in Deadpool’s universe, but that’s a different reality from the MCU, which still doesn’t have a confirmed anchor being at this point. One of the leading contenders for the Sacred Timeline’s anchor being is none other than Spider-Man.

If Spidey is the MCU’s anchor being, then his death would have major ramifications beyond just losing a popular superhero. It would mean the MCU itself would slowly erode. Granted, “Deadpool & Wolverine” mentions how this takes place over thousands of years, but the film also introduced the concept of a Time Ripper, which could do it instantly.

What if some nefarious force attains the power to speed up the erosion, meaning the MCU is at risk of total annihilation? This would set the stage nicely for “Avengers: Doomsday.” Something major has to happen for multiple superhero teams to unite for some grand endeavor. The Sacred Timeline (read: Earth-616) could start imploding with Spider-Man’s death, forcing them all to come together to find a way to save it.

The “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” trailer ends with the following voiceover: “And for those spiders who make it through, it amounts to a kind of… rebirth.” That last word says it all. Even if Peter Parker dies in “Brand New Day,” we can confidently say that he’ll come back one way or another. He’s simply too popular to stay dead for long. We’ve gone over several possibilities of how he might die in “Brand New Day,” and most of them only work on the condition that he eventually comes back.

Whether it’s a web cocoon from “The Other” or a Venom symbiote, you can rest assured that if Spider-Man bites the dust in “Brand New Day,” it won’t be the end of Tom Holland’s iteration of the character. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe could finally give us Miles Morales in live-action as a stop-gap, but Holland’s one of the few marketable faces the MCU has left at this point. To steal a quote from “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “They’re gonna make him do this ’til he’s 90.”