Movies

Superhero Movies

Does Spider-Man: Brand New Day's Ending Set Up Miles Morales? An Investigation

By Ethan Anderton

July 30, 2026 7:00 pm EST

_

Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios

This article contains major spoilers for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," so proceed with caution!_

Tom Holland has been playing Spider-Man for a decade now, beginning with his debut in "Captain America: Civil War" back in 2016 and followed by the beginning of his solo franchise with "Spider-Man: Homecoming" in 2017. Having just turned 30 in 2026, the British actor is still a relatively young star, but just like Peter Parker teases before he gets into a fight with some Damage Control agents in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," he's not in high school anymore, and similarly, it's likely that Tom Holland won't be able to keep webslinging for another 10 years.

But the question is, when will Tom Holland stop being our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? For a moment, in the third act of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," you might think that this movie was going to end up being a surprise farewell to the character, after jumping in front of a sniper bullet shot by Punisher (Jon Bernthal) that was intended for the movie's mystery villain, Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). But then you realize that's not likely to happen without anyone else ready to take up the mantle of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, many fans are probably thinking that the end of "Brand New Day" still hints at the presumed and likely inevitable arrival of Peter Parker's most beloved successor: Miles Morales, the character who has thwipped his way to box office success with the animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" franchise. But does the ending of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" truly hint at the debut of Miles Morales, or are people reading too much into a simpler resolution? Let's take a closer look.

In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter Parker is pushed to his limits

Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios

"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" begins by showing the years that follow Peter Parker's decision to have Doctor Strange cast a spell that makes everyone forget that he's Spider-Man. Just as the end of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" set up, the most difficult part of this is that both MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) forget that they even knew Peter Parker at all. But "Brand New Day" shows how hard this is on Peter.

A montage runs through the time MJ and Ned spend at college, living as roommates, finding success, and thriving in a life without Peter. Meanwhile, the once promising scientific mind who was so excited to go to college with his friends has lost himself in Spider-Man. Pained by seeing Ned's occasional social media videos with MJ, Peter has no choice but to swallow his agony and swing on as New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. In fact, that seems to be his only focus, utilizing a police scanner app and jumping on crimes as soon as they happen, even if it's something that the NYPD could easily handle without him

Speaking of the NYPD, even one of their own takes notice of how obsessive Peter has become with fighting crime. Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) is in constant contact with Spider-Man, not unlike how Commissioner Gordon works with Batman. There's no Spidey signal, but they keep in touch via mobile phone, and she comments to the webhead that it doesn't seem like he has time for anything else. Furthermore, though he's in touch with DeWolff all the time, he hasn't even taken a moment to learn the names of her kids, presumably too scared to care about anyone after losing everyone who was close to him, from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and now MJ and Ned.

Peter Parker needs help being Spider-Man

Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios

Peter's obsession takes a darker turn when his dedication to being Spider-Man results in his arachnid DNA becoming more prominent, resulting in organic web shooters suddenly sprouting from his wrists and a more animalistic approach to fighting crime taking over, making him a formidable but cruel and even careless crimefighter. One particular incident with Scorpion results in the accidental injury of a police officer when Peter slams the villain's body into an oncoming police car.

Despite creating a chip that helps regulate the arachnid DNA in his body, Peter still struggles with being both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Ultimately, Peter realizes that he has to find a balance as both, tapping into the additional Spidey power he wields when his arachnid DNA levels rise but never losing touch with Peter Parker as a human. It's all thanks to a flashback with Aunt May in their old apartment, where she cautioned Peter shortly after learning that he was Spider-Man.

It's a different riff on the usual, "With great power comes great responsibility." What is comes down to is that while Peter has a responsibility to use his superpowers to help people, as well as not abusing that power, he also has a responsibility to those he loves, and forgetting that can lead to losing himself. That speech also helps Jean Grey realize the error of her ways when Peter pushes her to sit inside his mind for a moment. And it's also why Peter chooses to start accepting help on the streets.

But will he get that help from Miles Morales?

Does this lead to Miles Morales entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios

While fans might immediately jump to the idea of Peter Parker realizing that he needs help as a set-up for Miles Morales coming into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I think the intention in "Brand New Day" is more about ending this character arc for Peter. He's spent years obsessively fighting crime while trying to bury the pain he felt from losing Aunt May and forcing MJ and Ned to forget him that he lost his way. Instead, accepting the help of Detective Jean DeWolff and letting the NYPD handle crimes that Spider-Man really doesn't need to get involved with shows progress for Peter, who even goes out of his way to say hello to her kids and mention them by name, indicating that he's taking the time to care.

That's not to say this isn't a small step to introducing Miles Morales in the MCU. After all, Peter has to be willing to let others help him if he's ever going to mentor and work with a new webslinger. But we're not likely to see a live-action Miles Morales until the forthcoming animated sequel "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" wraps up.

As for Tom Holland's future in the MCU, fans are waiting to see if he'll be in "Avengers: Doomsday." The appearance of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in "Brand New Day" certainly seems to be establishing a connection between characters to make his familiarity with the New Avengers more apparent ahead of time, but there's a chance that we won't see much of Peter Parker again until the only Marvel movie arriving in 2027, "Avengers: Secret Wars," especially based on the perplexing post-credits scene for "Brand New Day."

For now, fans should enjoy Tom Holland as Spider-Man while they can, because unlike Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, he probably can't do this forever.

"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is in theaters now.