The Marvel Cinematic Universe consistently puts out new content, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Moviegoers are always looking forward to upcoming Marvel movies, the next of which being Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have countless questions about what director Destin Daniel Cretton has up his sleeve for the blockbuster. And some folks think the movie's trailer is hiding the real villain in plain sight.
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer recently arrived online, but unfortunately brought more questions than answers. Aside from who Sadie Sink is playing, fans are especially curious about who the movie's main antagonist will be. On theory (via ScreenRant) is that Mister Negative and his Inner Demons will be the villains, and that the trailer actually edited them out to mislead fans. As a reminder, you can check out the clip below:
The idea behind this fan theory is that the footage of various members of The Hand are actually a red herring. They think that these ninjas from the trailer are actually Mister Negative's henchman The Inner Demons, and that they've been removed in order to keep that secret. Fans are pointing specific frames from the above trailer including the following:
This shot has set the internet ablaze. While some thought that perhaps Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire were missing from the left side of the frame, another theory thinks that the Hand ninjas that are seen are actually included to throw fans off the scent of Mister Negative and the Inner Demons. Only time will tell who is correct, but smart money says moviegoers will be looking out for this moment once Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters.
There is some precedent for the franchise misleading fans with footage. The No Way Home trailer edited out Garfield and Maguire from a scene where Spider-Man was shown battling various villains from the multiverse. So why not repeat this move for Brand New Day?
When the trailer was first released, fans were surprised by the return of The Hand, a group that was largely feature in Netflix's Marvel shows. There will presumably be some moviegoers who have never heard of the shadow group that's known for causing trouble in NYC. So what if the ninjas aren't actually in the movie, and they're instead Mister Negative's minions?
It's more than possible this is just a rumor, but the discourse shows how much fan excitement is surrounding the next Spider-Man movie. And with both Punisher and Hulk included in the blockbuster, it feels like just about anything could happen.
All will be revealed when Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31st as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we get more information about its contents sooner rather than later.
