What is the ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ comics storyline and does it hint at the film’s plot?

Spider-Man: No Way Home was a dream movie for wallcrawler fans, uniting all three big-screen Spideys for a truly jaw-dropping multiversal adventure. It ended with the bittersweet erasing of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker from everyone’s memory, though left him primed to begin a new superhero career as a self-made, street-level Spider-Man.

Now, finally, we know when we’re going to see this play out. Spider-Man: Brand New Day will release on Jul. 31, 2026, meaning it’ll come hot on the heels of Avengers: Doomsday, which lands on May 1, 2026.

Anyone who’s seen No Way Home will know the new status quo presents a literal “new day” for Peter Parker, but the specific phrase “Brand New Day” also refers to a 2008 comics run of the same name, which may give us some clues about what to expect from the plot. So, here’s how it goes down in Marvel Comics.

The ‘Brand New Day’ plot

This story follows immediately after the “One More Day” storyline, in which Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary-Jane Watson was erased by Mephisto, along with a soft reset of Spidey’s world. Now his secret identity is once again safe, Harry Osborn and Aunt May have returned from the dead, and Pete is sporting his mechanical webshooters.

“One More Day” is considered one of the all-time worst Spidey stories but, given that the MCU Spidey is also dealing with a reset of the status quo in which nobody knows his secret identity, a loose adaptation of “Brand New Day” makes sense.

The run also features several plot points we’d expect to see on screen. For example, in the comics, Parker realizes The Daily Bugle is in dire financial straits and is craving new Spidey pics to boost sales. J. Jonah Jameson actor JK Simmons has refused to confirm or deny whether he’s returning in Brand New Day, only saying “No spoilers. Sorry, I’m not telling”. That said, seeing Holland’s Spidey working for Jameson would be hilarious, so we hope it happens.

Thankfully for Zendaya fans, Mary Jane is also part of the comics’ storyline. Though she and Pete didn’t get married, they were in a long-term relationship that didn’t work out and are frosty towards each other. That won’t be the case in the MCU as Zendaya’s MJ has completely forgotten Pete, though we strongly suspect they’ll be back in each other’s arms by the time credits roll.

Mister Negative is from this story in the comics…what a peak evening. https://t.co/T7ncN8PAGL pic.twitter.com/2VoxWaiKdu

— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) April 1, 2025

There’s also a key villain who may feature in Brand New Day from the comics storyline. Most prominent is Martin Li/Mister Negative, who runs a homeless shelter but is secretly a crime boss with bizarre magical powers. His status as a villain was greatly boosted by a central appearance in the 2018 video game Marvel’s Spider-Man, so his leaping the MCU would make sense.

It’s also possible that Brand New Day is only taking the name and nothing else from the comics. After all, we expect Tom Holland to at least appear in Doomsday or Secret Wars in some capacity, and if the events of those movies are as world-changing as Infinity War/Endgame, we may find Spidey in a very different place than we left him at the end of No Way Home. Here’s hoping we get some more hints soon!

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