Spider-Man: Brand New Day Can Officially Break A 14-Year Negative MCU Streak

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is almost here, and it promises to fix a negative MCU streak that has endured for 14 years. Spider-Man: Brand New Day will undoubtedly contain several of the most exciting MCU moments of 2026, given how popular the character is. Beyond that, though, it seems set to fix several issues that audiences have had with the MCU's version of the Web-Slinger.

Since the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, many have wanted the character to return to his street-level roots. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is promising exactly that, from the lack of multiversal stakes to the fact that Spidey is without a proper mentor for the first time in the MCU. Moreover, the movie has the opportunity to introduce wider Spider-Man characters now that MJ and Ned, depsite still being in the movie, are less of a focus in Peter's life.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day's trailer teased this already, with Michael Mando's Mac Gargan/Scorpion returning. All of this indicates that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is fixing some of the gripes Marvel fans have had since his debut in the franchise. The inclusion of other big MCU characters, such as The Punisher and Bruce Banner, exemplifies this. This ties Spidey to the wider universe, though in a different way than his links to Iron Man or Doctor Strange have previously.

Moving beyond the realm of Peter Parker, the inclusion of Hulk can break an even bigger MCU streak, one that has been around for the last 14 years: his transformations.

The last time the MCU directly showed a transformation between Bruce Banner and The Hulk was in 2012's The Avengers. The transition into the third act of that story centered on Banner's turn when he stated, "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry." Somehow, regardless of the many appearances of both Banner and Hulk since then, an actual transformation has not been shown on-screen.

The rest have been cleverly hidden, either for dramatic or comedic effect. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Banner was pushed into a deep hole by Black Widow in the third act before jumping back out as Hulk. He then disappeared until Thor: Ragnarok, which only featured a reverse transformation from Hulk back into Banner. The Banner-Hulk transformation was used as a joke, with the former splatting onto the rainbow bridge and the latter jumping into the fight afterwards.

From Avengers: Infinity War onwards, the character was only ever shown as either Bruce, Hulk, or Smart-Hulk, with no transformations taking place. In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this could finally change. With Bruce confirmed for a big supporting role and Hulk also set to appear, Spider-Man: Brand New Day could show an on-screen transformation between the two for the first time since The Avengers.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is Fixing Another Long-Standing MCU Hulk Issue

While this will fix the 14-year-long wait for another Banner-to-Hulk transformation, it will also fix another issue that MCU audiences have had with the character. The last time that a rageful, uncontrollable version of Hulk appeared in the franchise was in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since then, Hulk has either been sentient, like in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War, or Banner has blurred the lines between the two.

2019's Avengers: Endgame introduced Smart Hulk, which has since been the default version of the character for the MCU, save for the times Banner has appeared with a "Hulk Inhibitor" that allows him to appear human. For fans of the angry version of Hulk, who is an active threat to allies and enemies alike, this has been a disappointing, 11-year-long absence. However, merchandising for Spider-Man: Brand New Day hints that this will change.

Hasbro has unveiled its line of toys for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with several referring to Hulk as "Savage Hulk." This all but confirms that the film will feature the return of the angry, green rage monster audiences have wanted back on screen since 2015.

If so, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will officially break more than one negative MCU streak where The Hulk is concerned; not only will it feature a transformation from Banner to The Hulk for the first time since The Avengers, but that transformation will result in the classic rageful version of the character that has been absent from the franchise for the last 11 years.