Spider-Man: Brand New Day director teases Peter Parker's lonely reset
Destin Daniel Cretton says the new Tom Holland film finds Peter Parker isolated, with Sadie Sink’s role still under wraps.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Peter Parker starts Spider-Man: Brand New Day with the world wiped clean of him, and director Destin Daniel Cretton says that loneliness is the engine of the new Marvel film.
In a Rolling Stone interview, Cretton said the fourth Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movie picks up after 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which ended with a spell erasing public memory of Peter Parker. MJ, played by Zendaya, and Ned, played by Jacob Batalon, have continued their lives without knowing him.
The film is scheduled for release July 31. Rolling Stone reports that it also features Jon Bernthal as the Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Sadie Sink in a role Marvel has not disclosed.
Peter Parker goes it alone
Cretton told Rolling Stone that the ending left by No Way Home director Jon Watts gave him a strong starting point: Peter has lost his circle and is treating Spider-Man work as the only thing he has left.
The director said he connected with that version of Peter because he has experienced periods of believing solitude and work were all he was meant for. He described the movie as a story about Peter trying to find a way out of that emotional place.
Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and this year’s Disney+ series Wonder Man, said he does not take on superhero projects just to work in the genre. He told Rolling Stone he needs to find a personal, intimate reason to tell the story.
Sadie Sink’s role stays locked down
Sink’s character remains the big mystery. Rolling Stone notes that many fans believe she may be playing Jean Grey from the X-Men world, but Cretton did not confirm the theory.
Asked whether secrecy can backfire if fans dislike the reveal, Cretton said he cannot control whether people get upset. He told Rolling Stone there is a real reason the character has not been announced and suggested viewers may be glad they did not know in advance.
The movie also includes Tramell Tillman as the head of Damage Control, according to Rolling Stone. Cretton praised Tillman’s work in Mission: Impossible and on television, and said he would work with him again.
Tom Holland pushed the physical side
Holland is also a producer on Brand New Day. Cretton told Rolling Stone that Holland came into the process with strong ideas while remaining collaborative.
The director said Holland’s recent work on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey appeared to add to his willingness to take risks on set. Cretton also praised Holland’s physical control, especially for shots recreating famous comic-book covers at 420 frames per second.
For Spider-Man’s swinging scenes, Cretton said the team studied GoPro videos, wingsuit footage and parkour clips online to give viewers a stronger sense of height, speed and danger. Smaller modern cameras helped the filmmakers chase that feeling, he said.
Cretton also told Rolling Stone that Shang-Chi 2 is still in development and that he recently spoke with writer Dave Callaham about it. He is also attached to a Naruto movie, which he said connects to him through its outsider story.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.