Brand New Day Has To Break This 7-Year-Long Spider-Man Trend

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is right around the corner with its July 31, 2026, release date, and Spider-Man fans are eager to see what this new installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man movies will entail. The MCU's Peter Parker has been in dire straits before. After all, he went toe to toe with Thanos and then was among the people who were snapped out of existence. However, Brand New Day sees Peter in yet another bleak period in his life, and it's unclear how he will make it out of this one.

At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter had to make the devastating decision to have everyone forget who he is (Peter Parker, at least—not Spider-Man). This included his girlfriend, MJ, and his best friend, Ned. Given the death of Aunt May in No Way Home and Tony Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame, along with the fact that every single person now has no idea who he is, Peter Parker is truly alone, more than he ever has been. The trailer for Brand New Day confirmed that he is still living in that loneliness.

Based on the trailer, Peter has been making strides towards reconnecting with his former best friends—a significant change from his decision at the end of No Way Home to leave MJ and Ned alone, free from the burdens of knowing Spider-Man. While it remains to be seen whether he will fully reconnect with them, there is one thing that Brand New Day absolutely has to do with its ending, and it's something that Tom Holland's Spider-Man movies haven't done since Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Peter Parker 'Lost' In Far From Home And No Way Home

In both Spider-Man: Far From Home and No Way Home, Peter/Spider-Man technically 'loses' in the end. In Far From Home, it seems as though Peter has defeated Mysterio and returned home safely and happily with MJ as his girlfriend, but the post-credits scene reveals something much worse. Yes, Peter had killed Mysterio and seemingly eliminated the threat he posed, but Mysterio had built in a sort of fail-safe for himself, wherein he was able to reveal Spider-Man's true identity posthumously.

In No Way Home, Peter manages to redeem each of the villains who have entered his universe, and he does stop the impending threat of a catastrophic multiversal event due to Doctor Strange's spell. However, ending the movie with everyone forgetting who he is can hardly be considered a win for him. He ends the movie essentially without anything or anyone. In light of both, MCU Peter hasn't ended a Spider-Man movie with a true win since Homecoming.

Spider-Man Needs A Clear Win In Brand New Day

It's not clear yet if Brand New Day will effectively reverse the damage done in No Way Home and, at the very least, have MJ and Ned remember who Peter is (although many are speculating that may be the case given their proximity and prominence throughout the trailer). Whether the movie goes in that direction or not, though, one thing is clear: Peter needs a true, clear win by the end of Brand New Day.

It's clear that the stakes will be incredibly high in Brand New Day, and Spider-Man will be facing a host of obstacles, many of them not even related to the fact that no one remembers who he is. In fact, there are several villains in the Brand New Day trailer alone, indicating that Spider-Man won't be facing down just one major threat in this new movie.

While Peter doesn't need to walk away with absolutely everything resolved by the end of the movie, as that would be boring and unrealistic, Spider-Man: Brand New Day should at least conclude with Spider-Man getting more of a win than he had in either Far From Home or No Way Home.