That 'Brand New Day' Easter Egg You Missed Teases A Huge Spider-Man Controversy
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) trailer features numerous exciting teases of which villains Peter Parker (Tom Holland) will face as he enters a new phase of his Spider-Man identity. In the comics, Spider-Man boasts some of the most fascinating and popular villains of any Marvel hero, so Brand New Day has quite a bit to work with. Michael Mando is finally back in full Scorpion glory, while we also spot glimpses of Boomerang and Tarantula in their MCU debuts.
In addition to these teases, there were a few hints of mystery villains, including an unidentified hooded figure and a seemingly invisible foe. However, one of the most surprising villain teases came in an Easter egg you might have missed. If you look carefully, you can spot a classic Spider-Man villain in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer: Jackal.
The Shocking Villain Hiding In The ‘Brand New Day’ Trailer
The shocking villain hiding in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer is none other than the classic Spider-Man supervillain, Jackal. If you missed him, you’re likely not the only one, as his appearance is a blink-and-you’ll-miss moment. At the 1:05 mark of the trailer, you see MJ (Zendaya) at a party, arranging flowers at the drink table. On the counter sits a metal keg bearing the words “Green Jackal.” The Easter egg references Jackal, a Spider-Man villain who wears a green jackal suit. While it’s a big surprise to see Jackal’s name in the trailer, it may not be a welcome surprise to some comic book fans.
Who Is The Jackal? Spider-Man’s Infamous Villain, Explained
In Marvel Comics, the original Jackal is Miles Warren. He’s a biology professor who met Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy while teaching. However, he secretly developed an obsession with Gwen, and it drove him mad after she died at the hands of the Green Goblin. Determined to get revenge on Spider-Man, whom he blamed for Gwen’s death, he takes on the Jackal identity and begins experimenting with cloning, working to create clones of Peter and Gwen.
Warren’s experiments with clones culminate in Spider-Man facing off with his perfect clone. During the final battle, both Jackal and the clone appear to perish in a bomb explosion. However, the story raised doubts about whether it was the real Spider-Man or the clone who survived the explosion, which eventually gave way to the “Clone Saga.” In “Clone Saga,” Peter’s clone returns after five years hiding under the alias Ben Reilly.
The most shocking twist isn’t the clone’s survival, but the revelation that Ben Reilly is the real Peter Parker, which means, for five years in-universe and two decades of comic book history, Peter was, in fact, a clone. After Reilly tried to replace Peter as Spider-Man, “Clone Saga” introduced another twist: Norman Osborn tricked everyone into believing Reilly was the real Spider-Man, even though he wasn’t. In the end, Peter was still Peter, and nothing changed significantly, but the wild clone ride didn’t sit well with fans.
Why Spider-Man’s ‘Clone Saga’ Was Hated By Marvel Fans
At the time of its release, fans responded harshly to the “Clone Saga,” and you can’t really blame them. The revelation that the character they’d been following for decades wasn’t the real deal was a twist that, while shocking, was not really welcome. After the initial shock wore off, frustration grew with how overly long and convoluted the “Clone Saga” became. The story was so up and down that it led to little to no overall character development for Peter.
It wasn’t even brave enough to maintain its widely hated twist, which means Peter acted out of character for no reason, giving the story very little weight in Marvel Comics overall. Not to mention, the largely retconned story went on for over two years and reached the point where readers sensed the writers didn’t even know where they were going with it. In retrospect, it wasn’t that the story idea was terrible, but its lackluster execution ensured it would live on in infamy.
Is Spider-Man’s Most Controversial Story Coming To The MCU?
Naturally, Jackal’s surprise tease in Spider-Man: Brand New Day raises curiosity for what it means. It could be a harmless, fun Easter egg, or a bigger tease of the movie’s rather secretive plot. In the trailer, you likely noticed that Peter doesn’t seem much like himself. He’s more brooding and depressed, on top of undergoing some sort of physical evolution.
The odd changes in his behavior and powers have led some to theorize that there’s something more to him, such as his having acquired the Venom symbiote. The Jackal’s Easter egg also begs the question, what if Peter is actually a clone? It wouldn’t explain all the phenomena Peter is experiencing, but it could explain some of them. To further raise suspicion, the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer features both Tarantula and The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), who were allies of Jackal in Marvel Comics.
If the MCU were to adapt the “Clone Saga,” it would be a major surprise. The franchise is already pushing boundaries by choosing to make everyone forget Spider-Man’s identity in-universe, so making Peter a clone on top of it would be a bit much. At the same time, though, it might fit in with the multiversal and variant phase of the MCU, as well as the identity crisis Peter/Spider-Man has always dealt with. If Spider-Man: Brand New Day is feeling particularly daring, its adaptation of Spider-Man’s most controversial story remains a remote possibility.
