‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Almost Had a Massive Villain Showdown, and Destin Daniel Cretton Wants to Bring It Back
Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man sequel has already built an impressively packed rogues gallery heading into its July 31 release, pulling from some genuinely deep corners of the comics to fill out its villain lineup. Between Scorpion, Tombstone, Boomerang and a crew of Hand ninjas, Peter Parker’s latest adventure was never short on threats.
As it turns out, that already stacked lineup almost got even bigger. Director Destin Daniel Cretton has revealed new details about the film’s development that suggest ‘Brand New Day’ came remarkably close to featuring one of the most villain-dense sequences in the character’s cinematic history.
Speaking with Nerdtropolis, Cretton confirmed that the film originally included a massive fight scene packing in numerous classic villains before the sequence was ultimately cut. He said the film was going to throw a whole bunch of villains into one giant fight, explaining that the team had already designed many of the characters before deciding to remove the sequence entirely.
Cretton described the process as genuinely fun, noting that the creative team had looked at a lot of old comic classics while developing the scrapped sequence. Rather than scrapping that design work entirely, he suggested the characters could potentially resurface in a future installment down the line.
That kind of structural decision echoes a similar choice Marvel made with last year’s ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps,’ which originally featured its own extended opening sequence showing the team battling a lineup of classic villains before trimming the scene for pacing purposes. ‘Brand New Day’ appears to have followed a comparable path, prioritizing screen time for the threats that actually drive the film’s core plot forward.
The film’s confirmed villain roster is already unusually deep even without the cut sequence. Michael Mando returns as Scorpion, finally delivering on a tease planted all the way back in 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ while Tarantula, Boomerang and Ramrod make their live-action debuts alongside Marvin Jones III’s take on Tombstone.
Which Spider-Man villain would you most want to see in a future movie?
Cretton has also hinted in separate interviews that he even considered bringing in familiar superhero names like Shang-Chi at various points during development, suggesting the film’s scope was genuinely ambitious before landing on its final, more focused version. Given how packed the finished movie already appears based on trailers, it is easy to imagine just how sprawling that original cut sequence must have looked on paper.
Producer Amy Pascal has separately expressed hope that Cretton will continue directing future Spider-Man installments, praising his ability to blend strong action sequences with genuine emotional character work. That kind of continued collaboration would make a natural home for these previously designed but unused villains to eventually make their way back onto screen.
With ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ set to swing into theaters July 31, fans now have even more reason to wonder what a potential fifth Spider-Man film might bring. Given how much material Cretton and his team apparently developed and shelved for this installment, that next chapter could arrive with an already substantial head start on its own rogues gallery.
What classic villain would you most want to see make it into a future Spider-Man film after being cut from ‘Brand New Day’? Let us know in the comments.
