‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Ending Theory Could Rewrite Marvel’s Entire Future

Few films this year have sparked as much online debate as ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ After shattering box office records around the world, the movie now seems to be earning a different kind of attention, the kind fans reserve exclusively for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest mysteries.

WARNING: this article contains plot details for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ If you haven’t seen it yet, we’d recommend holding off until you have.

It all centers on one seemingly small scene tucked after the credits, which immediately set off a wave of theories about where Peter Parker’s story goes from here. The scene shows Ned Leeds’ “Spider Tracker” app as he tries to locate Spider-Man. He first finds him in New York, but then loses the signal, and the tracking device pulls away from Earth, heads into space, and finally displays the message “Location found.”

Most fans have interpreted that scene in a fairly straightforward way. The prevailing theory holds that Holland’s Spider-Man has left Earth and that the story continues in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ or ‘Avengers: Secret Wars.’ That idea fits neatly with existing speculation that Peter Parker will soon become part of the wider Avengers conflict against Doctor Doom.

But an alternative theory is slowly gaining traction, coming from a journalist who has closely covered the Marvel universe for years. Tom Power of TechRadar believes the tracker might not be following Holland’s character at all, since the film never confirms that the app tracks exclusively the MCU’s Spider-Man. If the device can actually detect any version of Spider-Man across the multiverse, the entire scene takes on a completely different meaning.

Power builds his case on the idea that the location signal could belong to one of the earlier cinematic Spider-Men, either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield. His reasoning is especially interesting because it leans on the real-life connection between the actors who’ve played the character.

Writing for TechRadar, Power writes, “Holland, Maguire, and Garfield all shared the screen in 2021’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ If they still keep in touch, it’s plausible they’ve discussed their possible involvement in one or both forthcoming Avengers films, with Maguire potentially telling them, in the strictest confidence, that he’s in ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ For the sake of my offbeat theory, I hope that’s the case.”

What makes this theory particularly compelling is that Marvel has yet to officially confirm whether Maguire will even appear in the upcoming Avengers films. That uncertainty only feeds fan speculation further, and audiences have grown accustomed to hunting for hidden clues in every frame of a post-credits scene.

Regardless of which theory ultimately proves correct, it’s clear that ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ isn’t just interested in closing one chapter of Peter Parker’s story. Instead, the film leaves the door wide open for storylines that could reshape the entire future direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the fates of characters many assumed had already wrapped up their arcs.