At long last, Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man film (and the ninth live-action Spidey film overall) has a title. But it’s not a title without controversy. The new MCU Spidey film will carry the name Spider-Man: Brand New Day. For this fourth entry, Sony and Marvel Studios are ditching the “Home” title theme of the previous trilogy. But that’s not where the name controversy lies. No, “Brand New Day” was the name of an era of comics for the wallcrawler where Marvel Comics essentially rebooted his adventures, seemingly undoing years of storylines. Or, as readers later discovered, merely amending years of stories. First, a little backstory on why comic book Peter Parker ever needed a “Brand New Day” to begin with.
“Do You Take This Wallcrawler as Your Lawfully Wedded Husband?“
For the first 25 or so years of his publication existence, Marvel defined Spider-Man as being the “Hard Luck Hero.” He got his powers as a working-class kid, and he was constantly struggling to pay bills and keep his head above water. And as an average guy, even grown up, he struggled in his romantic life too. Sure, he had plenty of girlfriends over the years. But for reasons both tragic (Gwen Stacy) and non-tragic (Felicia Hardy), he couldn’t ever seem to make those relationships work long term. That is, until 1987, when, after years of flirting and dating, Peter Parker married supermodel/actress Mary Jane Watson. And that’s when the problems began.
Spider-Man and MJ’s Marriage Causes Storytelling Problems
At first, Marvel got a lot of publicity out of marrying off their company mascot. They even staged a wedding at Shea Stadium, with Stan Lee himself officiating. But soon after, the comic book writers struggled with how to maintain the Spider-Man titles as an ongoing soap opera. Especially with a lead character happily married to a gorgeous and vivacious woman. They tried replacing Peter with a (bachelor) clone, and fans hated it. Then, they seemingly killed MJ, but fans hated that too, and she returned. This dilemma went on for two decades. Sure, Marvel could have had Peter and MJ just get a divorce. But Marvel also didn’t want Spider-Man as a bitter divorced guy either. What to do? Maybe some dark magic was called for.
The Controversial “One More Day” Story Undoes 20 Years of Peter and MJ’s Marriage
In 2007, then-Marvel EIC Joe Quesada took drastic measures. During the events of the event series Civil War, under Tony Stark’s guidance, Peter Parker revealed his Spider-Man identity to the world. The consequences were immediate. Some of Peter’s enemies shot Aunt May, a direct result of his reveal. Enter the demon lord Mephisto. Marvel’s substitute for Satan made Spidey an offer: he would undo Peter’s identity reveal to the world, wiping it from everyone’s memories. In addition, any actions from that reveal vanished, like the shooting of May Parker. In exchange, Peter and Mary Jane would have to give up their marriage, as if it never happened. And both had to agree. Both Peter and MJ made that Devil’s Bargain in this story, titled “One More Day.” Longtime Spidey writer J. Michael Straczynski so hated this development, he asked Marvel to remove his name from the story. They didn’t.
Marvel’s “Brand New Day” Gives Peter Parker a Fresh Start
The resulting fallout of “One More Day” was “Brand New Day.” Peter’s new status quo is a back-to-basics approach that seemingly erased years of adventures. Aunt May was alive and well, uninjured. Peter’s BFF, Harry Osborn, who had died years earlier, was also somehow alive again. Peter was a struggling bachelor again, never having married MJ. Fans were not happy, wondering what parts of Spider-Man’s long history they’d invested in even counted anymore. Especially as MJ was crucial to (at that point) twenty years of stories. Many of the “Brand New Day” stories, mostly written by Dan Slott, were actually quite good. But the continuity erasure kept a lot of fans from enjoying them. And the term “Brand New Day” became triggering for fans.
Since 2008, a lot of “Brand New Day”‘s seemingly jarring continuity changes have been amended. Peter and MJ never married, but did remain a cohabiting couple for years. So all those Peter and MJ stories from the late ’80s/early ’90s and 2000s happened. It’s just that MJ and Peter experienced them without having ever married. They merely broke up, instead of getting divorced. And Harry Osborn’s “death” years earlier? That was just a fake-out from Mysterio. But even with all these amendments to what at first seemed like a more sweeping continuity change, Marvel’s edict remains. Peter Parker must remain single, at least the mainline 616 Peter. The Peter Parker in the current Ultimate Spider-Man series remains middle-aged and married to MJ.
The MCU Already Adapted “One More Day,” Very Loosely
MCU Peter Parker adapted “One More Day,” at least in part, but without undoing a marriage, and without Mephisto. In the MCU, Peter’s identity was revealed to the world, and the fallout led to Aunt May’s death. And magic was used to undo the world’s memories of Peter Parker. But Doctor Strange took it even further than Mephisto. While Mephisto undid Peter and MJ’s nuptials, Strange made it so everyone forgot Peter ever even existed. That, of course, included his MJ, played by Zendaya. So while these teenagers didn’t have a marriage to undo, MJ doesn’t even remember ever dating Peter. MCU Peter somehow got it worse. He didn’t even get a returned-to-life Aunt May to show for it.
We expect the MCU Brand New Day to be just as loosely based on the original comics as the MCU adaptation of “One More Day” was. While we know the world doesn’t remember Peter Parker at the end of No Way Home, it does know Spider-Man exists. Heck, Wilson Fisk even mentions him indirectly in Daredevil: Born Again. Peter will likely have a new supporting cast, and be a “down on his luck” guy again, without an MJ (or Ned) in his life. We’d guess that’s where the similarities end. We’d be genuinely shocked if it went any further than that. Frankly, the MCU Spider-Man only appeared in six movies over five years. It’s not like he had decades of adventures to undo. Regardless, fans shouldn’t fret too much. No Way Home is one of the most loved movies in the MCU canon, and it’s based on a hated comics story. Spider-Man: Brand New Day may wind up the exact same way.
