All Of Jean Grey’s Powers In ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ Explained
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) recently swung into theaters, confirming the popular fan theory that Sadie Sink was portraying Jean Grey in the film. The film marks Jean Grey’s official Marvel Cinematic Universe debut several years after the franchise began slowly integrating the mutants into the shared universe.
Her appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is significant as it officially kicks off the MCU’s X-Men reset. Additionally, it’s exciting that the MCU's boldest X-Men set-up doesn’t bring in just any mutant, but Jean Grey, the most powerful mutant in Marvel comics. In the film, Jean hasn’t fully come into her powers yet, but there are teases of their epic scale. Use our guide to learn all about Jean’s unique powers in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Mind Control
Jean’s main telepathic power in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a form of mind control. She can enter the mind of nearly any individual, see what’s inside, and take control of their body and actions. For the first part of the movie, she’s an unseen force, exerting her influence wholly through other people.
When she’s controlling someone, she sees through their eyes, talks through them, and can make them run, fight, or virtually anything she wants them to do. While she’s in the individual’s mind, the host essentially blacks out and has no memory of her control once she leaves. With this ability, she orchestrates complicated prison breaks, impersonates MJ (Zendaya), and even gains control of Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
Mind-Hopping
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Jean is still just a teenager who doesn’t quite understand her powers, so there are limits, such as how close she needs to be to someone to control their mind. During a chase, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) learns that Jean can only enter the minds of those within a 30-foot radius.
However, her unique ability of mind-hopping or jumping allows her to bypass this caveat. She can travel from mind to mind, jumping from one host to another to reach a target that’s further away. The unique ability is a cross between mind control and teleportation. Using this method, she can travel just about anywhere, and to anyone, and many times hops citywide, so long as a 30-foot gap doesn’t break up the chain of minds she inhabits.
Psychic Bubble
Initially, Jean’s powers are limited to mind control and her mind-hopping in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. However, under intense emotional and physical duress, she taps deeper into her abilities, getting closer to her comic book-accurate powers. Her greatest feat is casting a psychic bubble across a large portion of Manhattan.
Her powers go far beyond a 30-mile radius, trapping thousands of people across New York in a telepathic bubble that freezes them in place. Given that tears pour from MJ’s eyes as she’s frozen, it appears the people are still conscious but physically immobilized by the psychic hold.
Telekenesis
As her powers rapidly expand in strength and scope, Jean also displays sophisticated telekinesis in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Using her mind, she breaks through a containment glass Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman) placed her in for experimentation. After freezing much of Manhattan, she narrows in on Metzger, using her mind to pull him across the room to her.
Once he’s in front of her, she simultaneously controls numerous shards of glass with her mind, directing each of them towards him, and holding one precariously at his neck when Spider-Man approaches. Her ability to exhibit such precise and meticulous telekinesis while also maintaining her psychic bubble and mind-controlling The Hand is quite impressive.
Vital Regulation
Spider-Man: Brand New Day also depicts Jean performing a feat of telepathy that goes beyond typical mind control. While she uses her abilities to control people’s words and actions, she also unexpectedly uses them to regulate Peter Parker’s breathing.
At the end of the movie, Peter sustains a near-fatal bullet wound. When he awakens in the hospital, the film reveals Jean has been breathing for him via a psychic link, sustaining his vitals until he awakens and recovers enough to breathe on his own. It’s both touching and a testimony to her power that her telepathic abilities extend to life-sustaining forces rather than just using hosts as puppets.
