Spider-Man: Brand New Day's First Trailer Quietly Debuts A Captain America-Esque Villain

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is both the latest movie set in the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe and a direct sequel to 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home. That film ended with Peter Parker (Tom Holland) being magically erased from the world's collective memory, allowing him to do regular, street-level superhero stuff as Spider-Man again and freeing him from the aching storytelling architecture of the dozens of MCU films that came before that, his own included. It's also added to his personal drama, as the woman he was in love with, MJ (Zendaya), no longer remembers him, either, even though he remembers her all too well.

The "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" trailer boasts several notable cameos that will make Marvel Comics fans light up. Specifically, "Brand New Day" will include appearances by both Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. Michael Mando will similarly show up as Mac Gargan, a villain who played a tiny part in 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming." This time, though, he's finally going to be outfitted with an elaborate mechanical tail and fulfill his destiny by becoming the Scorpion. Those with sharp ears should even recognize Keith David's voice in the "Brand New Day" trailer, although his role hasn't yet been revealed.

Most excitingly for fans of obscure Marvel characters, Spider-Man has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it fight with a maroon-clad masked crook with knives on his feet in the early "Brand New Day" footage. This character is known as the Tarantula, a Spider-Man villain who was introduced in Marvel's comic books back in 1974. He's basically the Captain America of his (fictional) native country of Delvadia.

The Tarantula in the "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" trailer looks a lot different from the one seen in 1974, of course. But it's unmistakably him, as the creatives behind "Brand New Day" have gone out of their way to restage the Spider-Man-Tarantula fight depicted on the cover of the comic book where the character first appeared. That was "The Amazing Spider-Man #134," for the record, and the cover was drawn by celebrated artist John Romita. 

In the comics, the Tarantula (real name: Anton Miguel Rodriguez) hailed from Delvadia, the South American nation where he served as a revolutionary. He seemed to believe more in violence than politics, however, and was kicked out of the revolutionary faction after murdering a guy for no reason. In bitterness, he swapped sides, taking up with the fascist government. He was granted a superhero identity by these fascists and served as a symbol of the regime, hunting down and killing dissidents. He was like a mirror image of Captain America, another hero given a symbolic, patriotic makeover by his government. Something happened, though, and the Tarantula also ran afoul of the fascist government, forcing him to journey to the U.S. There, he became a vicious, super-powered criminal, which was when Marvel readers caught up with him.

Initially, the Tarantula had no super-powers and was merely a skilled hand-to-hand fighter and agile acrobat. The knives on his feet were mere weapons he attached to his boots, and he had small retractable knives on his gauntlets. Then, in the comics of the 1980s, the Tarantula was given super-powers by an evil mega-corporation, and he mutated into a giant spider creature.

It remains to be seen if the Tarantula's mutations will be a part of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," much less if the character will have a significant part to play in the movie's story. Based on the brevity of his appearance in the "Brand New Day" trailer, one might intuit that his role will be very small. Then again, the film's main conceit seems to be that Peter Parker himself — infused with spider DNA — is also mutating. The trailer makes it look as if Peter can now produce his own webbing out of his body, rather than relying on the wrist-mounted web-shooting machines that he previously built himself. If Peter's mutating, then it stands to reason, at least thematically, that he might face a villain who has undergone similar mutations (the opposite of the story of the Sam Raimi-directed "Spider-Man 2").

That being said, it additionally remains to be seen if the Tarantula seen in the trailer is the one I described above. Like all comic book characters, the Tarantula has undergone several changes and identity swaps over the years. In 1988, the Delvadian government selected a second agent to serve as the Tarantula, an individual named Luis Alvarez. A third Tarantula, identity unknown, appeared in a comic in 2002 only to be succeeded by the fourth Tarantula, Jacinda Rodriguez, the daughter of the original. The fifth Tarantula was a woman named Maria Vasquez.

Will any of the above characters be name-checked in "Brand New Day?" Only time will tell. At the very least, Marvel fans will have ample opportunities to clap their hands in delight at the recreation of another notable Spider-Man comics moment.

"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" will open in theaters on July 31, 2026.