MJ’s Mysterious New Boyfriend in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Might Be a Villain Marvel Just Killed off in the Comics

Easter eggs hidden in plain sight have become something of a signature move for Marvel Studios over the years, but few have been quite as sneaky as burying a character’s identity exclusively in the subtitles rather than the actual credits. That’s exactly the kind of clever misdirection fans are now uncovering weeks into ‘Brand New Day”s record-breaking theatrical run.

The mystery centers on a character who barely registers more than a minute of screentime, yet has managed to spark one of the more heated fan investigations since the film’s release. What started as a throwaway party scene moment has since ballooned into a full-blown detective hunt across social media.

Fans who caught subtitled screenings of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ have reported that MJ’s new boyfriend, played by ‘Ahsoka’ star Eman Esfandi, is named Paul according to the film’s open and closed captions. Esfandi’s character is otherwise only credited in the movie itself as “The Boyfriend,” giving him no on-screen identity beyond that vague label, which only deepened the mystery once eagle-eyed viewers spotted the subtitle detail.

That name carries real weight for longtime comic readers. The naming choice appears to be a direct reference to Paul Rabin, a character introduced in Marvel Comics back in 2022 as a new love interest for MJ during a period of separation from Peter Parker, and one who quickly became, according to reporting, “an almost universally hated character” among fans of the source material.

In the film, Paul’s entire role amounts to attending Ned and MJ’s housewarming party, where a kiss between him and MJ sends Tom Holland’s Peter Parker spiraling emotionally. That brief but pivotal moment played prominently in the film’s marketing before release, though his name was deliberately withheld from any official credits or promotional materials.

Interestingly, Marvel Comics recently gave the character a definitive send-off in its source material, killing off Paul Rabin in a recent issue of “Venom” as part of a storyline in which MJ bonds with the iconic symbiote. According to reporting, the comic issue doubled down on the character’s perceived insignificance, having Paul tell MJ in his final moments that he “didn’t matter and never did,” a sentiment some fans feel the film echoes by declining to name him outright.

Not everyone is convinced the subtitle detail definitively confirms the character’s identity, however. Some fans have floated alternate theories suggesting Esfandi could instead be playing other comic characters like Tarantula, Boomerang, or even Harry Osborn, though none of those theories carry the same direct textual evidence as the subtitle naming.

The mystery adds another layer to what’s already become one of the more speculation-heavy releases of the year, following closely behind the film’s surprise Jean Grey reveal involving Sadie Sink’s character. Director Destin Daniel Cretton has previously confirmed the film’s original cut ran significantly longer before final trims, leaving open the possibility that additional footage exploring MJ and Paul’s relationship may have ended up on the cutting room floor.

Whether or not this subtitle detail definitively confirms Paul Rabin’s identity, the ambiguity has only added fuel to ongoing fan speculation about where MJ’s romantic arc goes from here, especially given the film’s hints that she may be starting to recover memories of her relationship with Peter.

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