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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is keeping the identity of Sadie Sink’s character a secret until fans see the movie for a “very real reason” that director Destin Daniel Cretton believes fans won’t “get mad at.”
The mystery behind who the Stranger Things alum is playing has dominated online conversation around the film ahead of its launch in theaters on July 31. Sink has been almost entirely absent in trailers, though has now begun giving interviews on Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s promotional tour, with rather amusingly tight-lipped results.
Beyond a marketing tactic to get fans speculating, though, Cretton has insisted that fans will ultimately appreciate being kept in suspense — even if most are now pretty convinced that Sink has been cast as X-Men star Jean Grey (although for her part, Sink has only officially confirmed that she’s not playing Spider-Man or Aunt May).
“If people are gonna get mad, I can’t control that!” Cretton told Rolling Stone, when asked if the secrecy would ultimately feel like a wind-up. “I wish everything was a secret.
“Some people wanna know everything, and some people don’t,” he continued. “There are certain people like me — if I know I’m gonna watch a movie, I try not to even watch the trailers.
“But you’ll see when you watch the movie that there’s a very real reason not to tell people who Sadie Sink is playing,” Cretton concluded. “And I don’t think you’ll get mad at it. I think you’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’m glad I didn’t know that.'”
Last year, it was reported that Sink will be back in 2027’s climactic Multiverse Saga finale Avengers: Secret Wars, something that seemingly sets her up for a far bigger MCU role. Of course, Marvel is currently prepping its big X-Men reboot, which is being helmed by Thunderbolts/The New Avengers director Jake Schreier. Introducing Jean Grey now would allow Marvel to gently introduce audiences to the idea of a fresh generation of X-Men, before fans get to say farewell to various legacy characters who are returning for Avengers: Doomsday.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Sink discussed the huge amount of secrecy over her role and described not being able to say who she’s playing as “torture.” Still, there’s not long to wait now until Spider-Man: Brand New Day finally arrives on July 31 and we finally get some answers, while Sink will presumably be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
As part of the same interview, Cretton confirmed what many had expected after seeing the film’s bulging roster of enemies: that it will begin with a villain montage, showing Spider-Man clearing up New York during the four years since the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Our guesses would be that this is where we see the likes of minor villains such as Tarantula and Tombstone.)
Cretton also addressed Tom Holland’s recent reveal that the film’s title would only make sense in “the final frame of the movie.” While refusing to elaborate further, Cretton did not agree with Holland’s assessment. “The title, to me, does reflect where he ends up,” the director acknowledged. “The journey of this movie is about searching for that feeling of a brand-new day. I don’t think he really has that feeling in the beginning of this movie.”
Finally, asked about Marvel’s long-held plans for a Shang-Chi 2, Cretton said he would “love to see” it happen, and was “talking to Dave Callaham, our writer, about it just a few weeks ago, so fingers crossed.”
Image credit: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
