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Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) Spoilers- About That “Mysterious” Character And That Ending

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*Warning! This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and/or don’t want anything spoiled, then you might want to click off the article right now! You have been warned!*

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has hit theaters everywhere and it’s expected to make money and a LOT of it, far surpassing initial box office projections and expecting to earn an bat*hit insane $900+ Million worldwide in it’s opening weekend ALONE! If those projected stats hold, that will make it the biggest opening weekend of the year, the biggest opening weekend of the decade, and the second biggest opening weekend of all time, only surpassed by Avengers: Endgame‘s $1.2+ Billion opening weekend in 2019. With what was looking like a very underwhelming summer movie season outside the animated movie involving toys taking on iPad screens, the 20 year-long sequel that could’ve just been a zoom call, and original horror flicks with a beer money level budget, Brand New Day and The Odyssey was able to get the summer box office the kick in the pants it DESPERATELY needed before the kids go back to school! Movies really are coming back, baby! I guess all it took was putting Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal in more things!

Even taking in Spidey’s insane popularity among worldwide audience, the fact that Brand New Day was able to make THIS level of money without needing the likes of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire to drive audiences to the theaters is a special kind of impressive. Yes, I know the buzz killers out there will bring up inflation and the ACTUAL number of ticket prices but come on, regardless if this movie came out in 2026 or 2006, this is still an INCREDIBLY impressive opening weekend.

The main question is how did they do it? How did this movie have such mass appeal among fans and moviegoers? What is it about this particular movie that it was able to tip over the edge of not just potentially making more than the No Way Home but nearly guarantee to join the rare two billion dollar club with the likes of Avatar, Titanic, and Avengers: Endgame?!?!

Many will say it has to do with the movie delivering the exact kind of Spider-Man adventure that everyone was wanting after No Way Home! After going from a big bombastic multiverse style adventure which paid off the loose ends of not just Tom Holland’s own respective trilogy but also the likes of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, following that up four and a half years later with a smaller-scale, street level film that’s just about Peter Parker going through his personal needs as Spider-Man along with a couple of MCU friends along for the ride just felt like the perfect route to take! Credit should be fully given to Mr. Holland for that, who has claimed that he scour the internet after No Way Home to deliver the exact kind of Spider-Man film that the fans wanted.

But I think it also had to do with the right amount of twists and turns and surprises that are to be found here, all which work as not just fun fan service and crowd pleasing moments but also plays actual, legit importance of a role to the film’s overall themes and messages. You have the Punisher, the Incredible Hulk, and even Yelena, A.K.A. the new Black Widow, that are present and accounted for here. And of course, you also have the one mysterious character in the movie, played by Sadie Sink, who also just so happens to be *SPOILER ALERT* Jean Grey!

That’s right! After all that bizarre “mystery box” build-up in the marketing/PR press talk from Sony and Marvel, the worst kept secret in a mainstream movie since “Benedict Cumberbatch is totally NOT Khan!” from 2013’s Star Trek: Into Darkness and the worst kept secret in the superhero python since “Jason Todd is totally NOT the Arkham Knight!” from 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight is pretty much exactly what everyone thought it was going to be. Sadie Sink is now Jean Grey, the well-known red haired mutant from the X-Men, who is almost certain going to be playing a huge role in the MCU moving forward as Marvel Studios begins to re-introduce the X-Men and will probably make an appearance in at least one of the upcoming Avengers movies, Doomsday and/or Secret Wars.

To be fair, if you consider the context of the film, you can understand why Sony and Marvel were so eager to keep Sadie Sink’s character a secret. Having an antagonist involve someone that has the powers to telepath, telekinesis, and possess themselves into someone’s else body no matter who it is does make for an intriguing mystery for our main character. Even if the audience member themselves can see it the reveal coming from a mile away as to who the character herself is, seeing how Peter discovers the identity of this new character does help see his character progress throughout the course of the film.

At the beginning, you see a Peter Parker who now believes that Peter Parker himself doesn’t matter anymore, only Spider-Man does. After Doctor Strange cast the spell that made everyone forget who he is and losing Aunt May, Peter only sees value in himself as Spider-Man, not as Peter Parker. As a result, he has kept himself in an incredibly sheltered life, making zero contact with any old friends and not even attempting to chase any potential life changing college degree. He’s only committed himself to be a full-time Spider-Man, being able to accomplish many tasks through his tenure as a “prime” web swinger, teaming up with NYPD detective Jean DeWolff, to take on the big known crooks in the city he’s sworn to protect. To put it simply, he has nothing left…..except Spider-Man.

However, this mindset starts to change once Peter comes in contract with not just his two best friends in MJ and Ned but also with Jean Grey. Much like Peter, Jean is also out on her own in the world, invading custody from Department of Damage Control (DODC) after they abducted her sister Sara. Instead of following the traditional comic book origin story with Jean unlocking special powers within herself after being involved in a car accident, she developed her powers alongside her sister, based on their mutant physiology rather than by a special radiation or serum.

Throughout the course of the film, Jean is using mind games on Peter, who tries to help the DODC to subdue her before she becomes a very serious threat to New York City. She dares to hope mind herself into those that are close to Peter, most notably MJ, where she is not only the first person to discover post-spell that Peter Parker is Spider-Man but that she is willing to use that knowledge to go after the people he loves and manipulate them.

It’s only after a long game of cat-and-mouse and a very entertaining fight sequence with the Incredible Hulk that we haven’t seen on screen in nearly a decade where Peter is finally able to subdue Jean and turn her in. Before losing consciousness, Jean mentions someone by the named Sara, who she has been aiming to find since she got taken by the DODC. Although the head of DODC, Bill Metgzer, claims that Sara was a recently deceased colleague Jean learned about while possessing his mind, we later find out that is a load of bollocks and that Sara is actually referring to Jean’s sister. And the one message that she was given in her head to remember her sister, is that of V-Max.

After we see Jean being interrogated by Metgzer at the DODC, we see that V-Max fading text appear once again. However, that text doesn’t actually represent where Sara is but what her last fading memory was before she died. Yep, the exact kind of interragtion that Jean herself is being through is the one that killed her sister!

Much like how Peter react after the Green Goblin killed Aunt May, Jean has gone full unhinged, wanted to tear apart Metgzer lime from lime. And much like with Peter in the film, the unlocked rage and trauma unlocks even stronger abilities in Jean, including more powerful telekinesis and a large-scaled psychic “bubble” effect that can freeze people’s minds across a wide variety of area, which in the film results in good chunk of NYC. Despite Sara being killed by the same experiments that the DODC is using on Jean, she can now those same experiments to return the favor to Metgzer.

As I mention in my review, this was the moment where the film become CLOSE to losing me. While Jean’s origin story is indeed tragic and makes her character sympathetic, this did NOT feel like the right place or film to introduce her character to. With a near 10 minute long stretch where we don’t even see Spider-Man, this is where the film felt like it was going to completely fall apart, proving the naysayers right that this film is just an advertisement for the MCU’s X-Men and nothing more. However, things take a different turn once we cut back to Peter here.

I should mention that throughout the film, Peter is the one person who is strong enough to resist Jean’s powers to enter his mind. Whether it’s because of Peter’s newly gained abilities or his strong “will”, he’s still himself when he comes in contact with Jean. But that confrontation is put to the test towards the climax, which see Peter making his way toward the DODC to stop Jean but has to come against a large group of ninjas, A.K.A. the Hand, in order to get to her. It’s at this moment where not only the film regains it’s footing but also ties everything together beautifully, proving that this is indeed Spider-Man’s movie first and everyone else’s second.

Throughout the whole film, we see Peter struggling to return to his former self as Peter Parker and not just as Spider-Man. The inhibitor that he gain from Bruce Banner has been keeping his new powers and his own mental state in check…..until this very moment. As the Hand starts to overwhelm to the point where he’s coughing up blood and Jean is on the verge of just not killing the man who murdered her sister but also getting fully inside Peter’s head, she proceeds to ask our hero one distinct question that perfectly describes the theme of the movie in a nutshell:

“Are you Peter Parker or are you Spider-Man?”

Peter willingly replies: “I’m both!”

It’s at that moment that Peter finally lets go, accepts his new abilities, and defeats the hand to get to Jean Grey. Not just because he’s Spider-Man but he’s also Peter Parker. He’s able to have full control of himself and NOT let what he has suffered throughout the course of the film get to him. This is Peter regaining his duology once again!

After resisting all movie long, Peter finally lets Jean into his mind, where she finds an old memory of Aunt May on the day that she discovers that he is Spider-Man. It’s a brilliant scene that shows May accepting her nephew for who he is and loved him for himself. Regardless if Peter is Spider-Man or not, Aunt May will always love her nephew. It’s with this moment that Jean understands what it’s like to experience loss, realizing she is not alone and discovers once again what it’s like to connect with someone.

But then, Frank Castle tries to take a shot a Jean Grey from outside but ends up getting Peter in the process, sustaining him with a near-fatal wound that has him on the near death bed. Jean is able to use her powers to help keep Peter alive, refusing to lose him just like she lost her sister. In the aftermath, Jean that has been consumed with guilt leaves the city on her own, the DODC is under investigation from the NYCP along with the disappearance of Metzer, and with the citizens of NYC right by his side, Peter realizes that he doesn’t need to be alone to be Spider-Man, he can be Peter Parker as well.

The final sequences contains Peter visiting his Aunt May’s grave once again to bring their arc to a full circle, a last-minute added scene with Peter reconnecting with Ned and doing their classic handshake together, giving Ned a hint that he might remember who Peter is, and a rather bizarre post credit scene where the spider tracker is tracking Spider-Man off of planet Earth, potentially hinting at Spider-Man’s role in either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars.

On paper, Spider-Man: Brand New Day seems like an act of desperation. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe far pass it’s hay days, you would think a Spider-Man movie that feels the need to shoehorn in a bunch of fan favorite Marvel characters such as the Punisher, Hulk, Yelena, and having to introduce Jean Grey to get folks excited for the X-Men coming would be as cynical and cash-grabbing as it gets. But, even when you argue their placement in terms of plot isn’t entirely necessary, they still connect well to Peter Parker and the film’s overall thematic arcs.

The Punisher serves to help Peter’s isolation with an isolation of his own, the Hulk serves to help Peter fight the inner demons that’s inside of him, MJ & Ned are there to show that Peter isn’t the only ones who feel like something is missing in their lives, Yelena is there because she also feels lonely and needs connection with someone else. And of course Jean Grey is there to serve as a mirror to Peter’s arc, as both “special” beings who have lost loved ones and are conflicted on how to handle the “special” powers within themselves.

I was worried when I heard that all these characters are going to be in it but this is perhaps the most natural uses of fan favorite characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Much like Andrew and Tobey in No Way Home, their presences only serve to GROW Tom’s Spider-Man and not shrink him in any way. The movie remembers to put Tom’s Spider-Man front and center. And even when there comes moments where it SEEMS like it is losing track of it’s lead protagonist, those moments always ends up coming right back to him when it is needed.

It might’ve took four films but Brand New Day feels like Tom Holland finally being able to carry the Spider-Man mantle on his own two feet with no assistance from the previous versions required. Even with the returning Marvel characters that are here and the newly introduced one that will certainly come back in other Marvel movies later on down the road, it doesn’t take away the fact that Tom Holland has now become his own definite Spider-Man, providing a different kind of special sauce that neither Andrew Garfield or Tobey Maguire had in their versions. I don’t mean this to downplay the previous Spider-Men but more to WELCOME them to the library as well.

I’m so happy Tom Holland fought for so long and hard to make Brand New Day the best Spider-Man movie he could possibly make. He no longer needs the training wheels, he can now push the lovely bike down the road and never look back! Go Spidey go!

Supergirl (2026) Spoilers- About That Ending

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*Warning! This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Supergirl (2026)! If you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want anything spoilers, then you might want to click off the article right now! You have been warned!*

So, uh…..the new Supergirl movie came out this weekend. And just like with every other estrogen-fueled superhero movie that is not about Princess Diana of Themyscira (and even that eventually fell flat on it’s face a few years later with it’s sequel), it has had it’s wide share of controversy. I would go over exactly what *some* of this controversy stirs from but literally just think of any woman-lead ANYTHING that has come out post-GamerGate and you will know exactly what I’m talking about. And as much as folks would love to rally behind this film’s defense, Supergirl (2026) is just not good or interesting enough of a movie to die on it’s hill.

It has received a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the first project in the DC Universe to receive that rating (The MCU didn’t have a single rotten rated film until Eternals in 2021 btw!), it got a very poor B- rating on CinemaScore (With Superman 4‘s C and Joker: Folie A Deux‘s D being the only two DC films that have received worse ratings), and even the audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes have been just decent at best (ranged around 75 to 76%). Because of these mixed reviews and poor word of mouth, Supergirl (2026) underperformed in even it’s slimest of expectations this weekend, grossing a dreadful $37 million domestically and only $62 million worldwide, that’s lower than the opening weekends of Morbius, The Marvels, & Joker: Folie A Deux. To put it simply, things are not looking good for Supes’ cousin at all.

So, what exactly happened here? While the stirred controversy I mentioned earlier before is nothing out of the ordinary, not even hardcore DC fans, moviegoers, or actual sane people not brainwashed by Fox News are coming to their (Super)girl’s support! Was it with Supergirl (2026) that is not connecting with anyone? The character has had her success in comics and television but can’t seem to translate that onto to the big screen, with both the 1984 version with Helen Slater and the 2026 version with Milly Alcock being financial bombs.

While I can go into things I pointed on in my review such as the barebone storytelling, uninspired direction, subpar looking visuals, and the main villain with somehow even less charisma and memorability than whatever the hell Christopher Eccleston was suppose to be playing in Thor: The Dark World, the moment that really sealed this movie’s faith for me was with Kara Zor-El’s final decision she makes at the end. It’s a decision that not only contradicts the source material it’s based off of but also contradicts the entire point to Supergirl’s arc in the movie.

In case anyone is unaware, Supergirl (2026) is based off Tom King’s 2021-2022 comic run of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. In that version, we seen a young Kara being striped down from what would you expect from young blooded female superheroes. Instead of being portrayed as the biggest piece of eye candy you have ever seen or the ultimate girl power fantasy, Supergirl is just a girl who lost everything in her life at such a young age. She was raised on Krypton, watched everyone she loved perish away, and now has no one but herself and her lovable dog Krypto. It made for an interesting portrayal that you usual see from older, male superheroes.

Instead of using her superpowers to save as many people as she can and do pure good like her cousin, Superman, she instead uses it to go to red sunned planets to get drunk, party like a punk rockstar, and kick whoever ass gets in her way. That is until she has a come to Jesus moment and is offered a journey with another young girl named Ruthye, to take vengeance against the man who killed her parents, Krem. Kara refuses at first until Krem comes along the way to crash the party and puts a needle right through everyone’s favorite alien dog, Krypto. And just like that, the two go on a quest for revenge, to not only find Krem to put him out of commission but also to uncover the secrets behind this group known as Brigands, a group of space pirates and human traffickers.

It’s throughout the course of the film where you get to see just how Supergirl differs than Superman. Instead of finding family and love like her cousin did, she found only pain and lost. Instead of using her powers for the means of helping others, she uses her powers for the means of helping herself. And as the movie claims, instead of finding the good in everyone, she only she’s the truth. It’s loneliness that trumps togetherness, selfishness that trumps selfness, and being a realist that trumps being a optimist. Regardless of whether or not you think the film and/or comic goes too far with it’s “edgy” portrayal of Supergirl, you can’t deny it does help separate Kara than just being a gender-swapped version of Superman (something which CW’s Supergirl got bluntly excused off as that show went on).

However, the real dealbreaker that seems like was the one element that both super siblings could agree on is to NOT be a killer. While Superman (2025) certainly had a body count of some sort, you never got the sense that Clark Kent would go out of his way to kill someone out of the lime, even his worst enemy. And that is the one element that Kara wants to portray herself has to. Throughout the entire film, she tells Ruthye that killing is not the answer. No matter what Krem could’ve possibly done to take everything away from her, killing him would not bring ANYTHING back for her. Instead of leaving filling out that black hole inside of her, it will only just make that hole bigger forever and consume what good is left in her.

We then come to the final confrontation where Ruthye has Krem exactly where he wants him, he’s on his knees and vulnerable. If there is a more open time to kill him, it’s this one. However, once again, Kara arrives and tells her to spare his life, reminded her again that this won’t change anything and will basically just gives him exactly what he wants. After immense hesitation, Ruthye agrees and spares his life.

It’s that this moment where you expect a slight change from the ending of Woman of Tomorrow. While doing a notable time jump is perhaps out of the question, you can still have Supergirl make a move that leaves a big mark on Krem’s face, a scar that will remind himself of what he did to earn that mark. Whether it’s a cane or not, you can still have Supergirl acts as a mean of revenge that doesn’t take away her arc. However, director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira decided to go in a complete different direction have Kara flat out kill Krem herself. Yes, you heard that correctly!

SUPERGIRL KILLS KREM!!!

That’s right! Instead of just giving him a ding to the head while getting the antidote to cure Krypto, Supergirl picks up her sword and kills Krem. Despite the fact that Kara has spent the whole movie preaching to Ruthye about how you can’t kill people because of how wrong it is, she does the dirty deed herself. Not only is that a complete betrayal of the Woman of Tomorrow comic itself, it’s a betrayal of Supergirl’s arc in the movie itself.

Despite what some might claim, NO, Krem is NOT killed in the comic run. Not only was this confirmed by comic writer Tom King himself in 2024, it’s made obvious in the final few pages where Krem is laying on the ground and covering his face after he just got wacked by an older Ruthye’s cane. He didn’t die there nor was he killed by Kara. It was actually Ruthye letting out years of vengeance inside of her and dumping it all over Krem right after he spent 300 years in prison, while Kara watches. Whether you think that’s tacked on or not, it still keeps Supergirl’s characterization consistent by her being as an edgy anti-hero that doesn’t feel the urge or teaches to kill. And the fact that writer Ana Nogueira interpreted that sequence as something different and didn’t even bother to check in with Tom King himself or do a quick google search is baffling to me.

But it hurts Supergirl even more in the movie itself. While Kara doesn’t see herself as being a Mr. (or Mrs.) Goody Two Shoes hero like her cous, Supes, she still draws the line at killing because that is what separates her from being an anti-hero to a straight up villain. That’s why she keeps telling Ruthye to NOT kill Krem, once you start down that dark path, you will never come back from it. It’s what keeps her from being Supergirl to just being Homelander with a vagina (or basically Stormfront). However, in the case of Supergirl (2026), it almost seems like a decision that would be more in line with what Zack Snyder’s version of Supergirl would be like instead of James Gunn.

Now, this is not me trying to defend the actions of Krem himself. He was objectively a terrible person who is the caught of tracking children and young girls alike. He deserved the most cruel and unusable punishment imaginable but I don’t think Supergirl killing him is exactly that. It almost feels like he got exactly what he wanted. Instead of living out the rest of his days in a jail cell, possibly turning into the same depressed and jaded individual that Supergirl herself became at such a young age, he now is left off the hook scott-free. And our main heroine let him do just that.

The only way this could’ve possibly work if we saw a certain change in Kara in the aftermath of her killing Krem. However, instead of seeing a sense of doubt or her being mentally scarred by this decision, she kinda just carries on like normal. She reunites with Ruthye one last time, letting her join along in celebrating the rest of her birth week, and then reunites with Superman on Earth. She doesn’t have a conversation about what transpires or get a hint of how she changed or grew from that experience. It’s back to stage one except she is slightly less depressed and angsty now.

Say what you will about Superman killing Zod at the end of Man of Steel, but at least we were able to get an IMMEDIATE reaction out of him after he did the dirty deed. Literally just SECONDS after he killed one of his own, he screamed in utter pain and agony, almost as if he just killed someone he loved deep down inside. It was then Clark was able to help heal the mental wound inside of him by being closer to his adoptive mother, Martha, and his new girlfriend/partner at the Daily Planet, Lois Lane. I still can’t say I was in love with that decision from Mr. Snyder and Mr. Goyer but you could at least see somewhat of a justification for it given Superman was trying to save literal human lives.

When it comes to Supergirl (2026), Kara killing Krem just seems like a decision that just comes out of nowhere. I don’t know if it’s because they wanted to make that change from the comic to catch people off guard. I don’t know if it’s because they wanted to subvert our expectations by showing how this Supergirl is much different than Superman. I don’t know if it’s because they wanted to show us how Krem basically won because he got Supergirl to break her unwritten rule. And I certainly don’t know if it’s because that’s what Ana Nogueira ACTUALLY thought happened at the end of Woman of Tomorrow so she decides to do the sequence just like that. The fact that I can’t tell you why that decision was made speaks volume to the film’s overall aimless writing and direction.

I’m not gonna act like Supergirl (2026) is the worst comic book movie of all time or even the worst one that has come out recently but it’s this one decision made at the ending with Kara that brings this movie down from being just a simply mid movie to a kinda crappy one. I also believe that is the one decision that is keeping even the most diehard of comic book fans from defending it from the corrupt mainstream media. It showed a fatal understanding of the comic it’s based on and even what the whole film itself stands for.

I’m not saying you have to stay faithful to every comic you adapt to an absolute T or can’t make required changes but you need to at least capture the full hearted spirit of it and why that story has resonated with comic readers all around the world. While Supergirl (2026) can claim it’s honoring it by incorporating certain story elements and characters from the book and bringing in Jason Momoa’s Lobo to steal the show, Kara’s ending actions and the way it’s executed proves that it doesn’t understand the point it’s source material was trying to make nor it’s own point. I don’t think I’ve seen an ending of a comic book movie misunderstood the point of it’s source material THIS hard since The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

I sure do hope that Supergirl (2026) only amounts to a slight bump in the road to whatever DC Studios has planned with their current cinematic universe and beyond. However, if this really is the quality we can expect for projects which James Gunn himself is NOT writing or directing, then we might be back in the same well hole we were in around this time a decade ago with the LAST DC cinematic universe and the ones before that.