Spider-Man: Brand New Day Ending, Explained: What Does It Mean For Peter's MCU Future?
After seven years of post-Endgame uncertainty, the MCU has found its footing again with Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The movie is a genuine franchise rebooter that’s also one of the best standalone entries in the franchise's history. There are a whole host of reasons for this (the humour and emotion, the seamless introduction of mutants and the X-Men, the doing away with shiny Stark-era technology, the more mature tone), all of which come to a head in the film's superbly gripping finale.
Let’s take a spoilery closer look at exactly what goes down at the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Jean Grey Is the Villain (Until She’s Not)
As most fans had speculated, Sadie Sink’s character in Brand New Day is the powerful mutant telepath, Jean Grey. This isn’t revealed until the second act of the movie, by which point Peter only interacts with her through the various people she jumps through and controls using her powers.
After Peter manages to place one of his prohibitors on her in the Damage Control vault, she wakes up in a perspex cell like the one Magneto was confined to in X2. It’s at this point that Bill Metzker (an anti-mutant activist in the X-Men comics) is revealed to be the main villain. Metzker then conducts the same experiments on her (an attempt to map and replicate her powers) that he did on her sister, Sara. Inadvertently, he also lets slip that the experiments eventually killed her.
Looking up, Grey notices that the thing she’s been searching for, named “V-Max”, and the last image that Sara sent her telepathically before dying is nothing more than the brand of her cell’s air filtration system. Unsurprisingly, this devastating moment triggers an enormous reaction in Grey, who explodes in a similar way to Charles Xavier in Logan. This freezes everybody within a two-mile radius of the holding facility on Roosevelt Island. She then carries Metzger inside with her mind, with the clear intent of killing him before Peter arrives.
Spidey Comes to the Rescue With the Help of... Peter Parker?
Peter, the only character immune to her mind control powers, enters the facility but is stopped just short of Grey’s room by the group of ninja assassins known as The Hand—who are being controlled by Grey. A huge fight scene erupts (some of which we saw in the trailer), which basically leaves Peter on the ropes, having been badly beaten as well as impaled with a sword.
With Jean in his head explaining that some natural things are not meant to be suppressed, Peter decides to remove the inhibitor which has been keeping the volatile arachnid side of his DNA at bay. For a moment, it looks as if this will also drag him to the dark side, only for him to find a measure of control at the last second, thus confirming that he has found a way for the Spider and Peter to coexist within him.
From here, he gets to have a Neo as “The One” moment from The Matrix, as the world goes slow motion around him and he subdues The Hand with ease. Peter then enters Grey’s room just as Frank Castle is shown setting up his sniper rifle outside the barrier of Grey’s mind control, just before she’s about to take Metzker’s life.
Aunt May's 'Return', Spider-Man's Brush with Death, and Jean Grey's MCU Future
Knowing that going toe to toe with Grey is not going to help, Peter lets her into his head for the first time, inviting her into a core memory he shared with Aunt May. He allows Grey to enjoy the memory as if it was hers, with May explaining that there will be moments in her life when the things that make her special will scare people, and that she shouldn’t be afraid when it does.
The moment helps her to realise that she has a lot in common with Peter and isn’t alone—a realisation that Peter has simultaneously. They come back to reality just as Castle takes his shot—which Peter senses just in time to take the bullet for her.
For a moment, as a pool of blood begins to form and Peter puts on that worrying “Mr Stark?” face from Infinity War, it feels like the unthinkable is about to happen—but then Grey steps into his mind once more to take over his breathing. She stays there overnight to keep him alive, long enough for his body to heal.
When he comes to the next day, she leaves him and hops a bus to what looks like a very leafy part of upstate New York—the kind of environment where a certain School for Gifted Youngsters can usually be found…
Will Peter's Life Go Back to Normal?
After waking up in the hospital with a guilt-stricken Frank Castle by his bedside, the unlikely duo share a bonding moment that basically confirms it won’t be the last time we see them together in the MCU. Frank then puts on Peter’s mask to distract the crowds outside as Peter leaves anonymously among them, stopping for a moment to soak in the appreciation.
We then jump forward to find him back on his feet, apparently heading off to study. He gets a call from Detective DeWolff, who tells him not to worry about a bank robbery that’s going on so he can get back to living at least a little bit of normal life. Peter then drops into a bodega where he spots Ned having lunch.
Peter approaches him, and Ned recognises him from the party. He then introduces himself as Peter, and Ned holds out his hand—prompting Peter to go for their secret handshake. Ned slowly starts to remember it, as if by muscle memory, before looking up with a new realisation in his eyes and saying, “Peter?” just as the credits roll. Could this be the beginning of a return to Peter's past normality?
