Spider-Man: Brand New Day is bracing to swing into theaters. Here are some of our favorite tidbits from a recent press conference with the cast and creatives. Broadcasting from the Big Apple were stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal and Sadie Sink. They were joined by director Destin Daniel Cretton and producers Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige.
Secrecy Surrounds Sadie Sink
Of course there’s often much secrecy surrounding casting in a huge franchise. Even Sink herself didn’t get the script for a while:
“I didn’t have the script for a while, but I talked to Destin a bunch about the character, so I had a good idea of where things were going. Yeah, but it’s quite the secret I’ve had to keep, but I’m such a fan of Spider-Man, Tom’s Spider-Man especially, so it feels very surreal to be joining.”
And no, notoriously terrible secret keeper Holland couldn’t be made to spill the beans.
Fitting The Punisher Into The World of Web-Slinging
Our last outing with Bernthal as The Punisher was in the special, The Punisher: One Last Kill, a decidedly dark, gritty and violent piece that is very much in Frank Castle’s stylings. However the world of this current Spider-Man has focused slightly more on the youthful dynamics of Peter Parker coming into his own. Of merging the worlds Bernthal noted:
Sure, look, I’m enormously protective of Frank and you know, the Punisher fans and what he stands for. And you know, that was a real question for me. And it’s such a testament to Destin and to Amy and to Kevin and to Tom and this entire group. It was a concern for them too. And I often think in art, when you get to sort of the crux of an issue, if you dive into it, if you don’t try to avoid it, if you don’t try to run away from it or if you treat the audience with the respect that they’re also going to have an issue with it, you get something really great.
And I’m so grateful to these guys that it was something that we explored and it was as important to them as it was to me. I think what we set out to do is to make it believable that the Punisher could walk out of one of those TV-MA shows and onto this set and vice versa. And I think you’re going to get that. While also just paying respect to this unbelievable tone of this film and what Destin did.
The Zendaya / Holland Role Reversal
Since this is existing in a universe where everyone has forgotten Peter Parker existed – it’s like MJ and Ned are meeting him anew. This new dynamic provided a refreshing acting challenge for the stars, who have been portraying the trio for nearly a decade.
I think that, you know, in previous films MJ was always the pessimist and it was Peter that was always the optimist. And so it’s interesting to see that reversal. You know, now that he’s alone, he’s kind of adopted that negativity and she’s adopted his positivity without even knowing it.
So there’s clearly something still there. I mean, we always root for them and hope and, you know, because Peter is one of those characters you just love and you want them to make the right decisions.
We can’t wait to see how all of these storylines play out w
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters July 31, 2026.
