Warning: Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
If you catch Spider-Man: Brand New Day in theaters this weekend, you might want to stick around until the very end.
Tom Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Brand New Day, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Holland’s fourth standalone Spidey film picks up after Peter asked Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to make everyone forget who he is in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Brand New Day follows an isolated, lonely Peter as he watches his best friends, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya), move on to MIT without him — or any memory of him. Peter throws himself into his work, fighting crime, taking down villains and dropping off flowers at Aunt May’s (Marisa Tomei) grave.
Peter’s routine is disrupted by the emergence of a powerful, mysterious telepath who can possess people and control them like puppets. That character is — you might’ve guessed it — Jean Grey, played by Sadie Sink. Jean is initially presented as a villain until it’s revealed that she’s simply a teenager desperate to find her sister, Sara (Olivia Booth-Ford), a fellow telepath who was captured by the Department of Damage Control (DODC), experimented on and ultimately killed.
Furious after figuring out her sister’s fate, Jean unlocks a new level of her powers and sets out to kill Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman), the director of the DODC. But Peter gets through to her by allowing Jean to access his mind and witness a memory of Aunt May comforting him about the loneliness of being different and assuring him that there are people who love him for who he is. Peter reminds Jean that losing someone doesn’t mean they have to spend the rest of their lives alone — and that she’s not alone because she has him.
The heartfelt moment is cut short when Frank Castle/Punisher (Jon Bernthal) fires a bullet at Jean from a distance, breaking the telepathic hold she has over everyone within a one-kilometer radius of the building. Peter jumps in front of the bullet to protect Jean and is critically injured. When he wakes up in the hospital, he learns that Jean used her powers to keep him alive before leaving town.
The film ends with Peter running into Ned at the deli. Ned still doesn’t remember that Peter was once his best friend. Peter introduces himself, and the two instinctively do their signature handshake without missing a beat. The familiar gesture appears to jog Ned’s memory, and he seemingly remembers who Peter really is. Peter smiles at Ned, and the movie ends.
There’s no mid-credits scene, but there is one brief stinger after all the credits have rolled.
In case you missed it, or want a full breakdown of what it means, here’s everything that happens in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day end-credits scene.
What Happens In The ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ End-Credits Scene?
The end-credits scene doesn’t feature any actors. Instead, it focuses on Ned’s Spidey Tracker app, which he created to follow Spider-Man’s whereabouts — not to unmask his identity, but to thank him for saving him and his friends’ lives in high school.
The app shows that Spider-Man has been spotted in his hometown of Queens. Suddenly, it registers a new sighting. Ned’s app voice says, “New Spider-Man sighting. Location unknown,” as the map zooms out from Earth into space. After a brief glitch, the app announces, “Location found,” with a pin indicating that Spider-Man is somewhere in space.
The scene ends with the text: “Spider-Man will return.”
What Does It Mean?
Like many recent Marvel films, the Brand New Day end-credits scene sets up the next Avengers team-up as part of the Multiverse Saga.
The Captain America: Brave New World end-credits scene reinforced the multiverse concept, while Thunderbolts ended with the New Avengers detecting the Fantastic Four’s spaceship entering Earth’s orbit. Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier later told Collider that the scene was filmed by Joe and Anthony Russo on the set of Avengers: Doomsday.
The mid-credits scene in 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps further teased the upcoming crossover by showing Doctor Doom kneeling before Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm’s (Vanessa Kirby) son, Franklin, while holding his silver mask.
The Brand New Day end-credits scene doesn’t specify which project Spider-Man will return in, but fans may have to wait longer than expected.
Avengers: Doomsday, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular villain, is the next film on Marvel Studios’ slate and is scheduled to open on December 18. The sprawling list of confirmed cast members includes Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, among many others. Holland, however, is notably absent from the announced lineup. While he could still make a surprise appearance, it’s also possible that Spider-Man won’t return until Avengers: Secret Wars, which arrives on December 17, 2027.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently told Empire that there won’t be a new MCU film between Doomsday and Secret Wars as the studio shifts its focus toward quality over quantity.
“We didn’t want to be spread thin, and the Avengers is as important as it comes. And Secret Wars, in particular for Empire readers, who know the comics, is a setup in and of itself to the future, to what’s next,” he said.
