A new Spider-Man: Brand New Day spoiler regarding Hulk brings to light Marvel Studios' ongoing marketing issues and their need to change ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. Anticipation for Tom Holland’s next Spider-Man outing, set to release on July 31, reached a fever pitch following its March 2026 trailer. Now, instead of Marvel controlling the narrative, a toy company has seemingly revealed a major twist months ahead of the movie’s release.
The spoiler comes from a Hasbro action figure set depicting Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner as the Hulk engaging in combat with Spider-Man. This reveal undermines the film’s official marketing, which only showed Banner briefly in human form wearing his Hulk Inhibitor Device.
Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures had been notably careful with presenting Bruce Banner in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Destin Daniel Cretton-helmed film’s first trailer featured Ruffalo for only a few seconds, during which he wears the wrist device that allows him to remain in human form instead of the polarizing Smart Hulk form he first adopted in Avengers: Endgame. This device, first used in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, was later explained in 2022’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. This toy reveal quickly undid that meticulous setup.
The full action figure set showcases a battle between the infamous green rage monster and Spider-Man, with the included pose clearly depicting a mid-battle moment. In a film already confirmed to feature multiple antagonists, a trailer reveal of this moment, or keeping it a secret until the film's release, would have sent shockwaves through the Marvel fandom. Instead, the merchandise spoiler lands with a thud at a time when Marvel Studios has enjoyed some much-needed critical and audience wins after several rocky years post-Endgame.
Fans have not seen Ruffalo’s Hulk fully unleashed since the opening moments of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, making his return to form a highly anticipated moment. Pairing that with a fight against Spider-Man only raises the stakes further. Unfortunately, that excitement has now been diluted before Marvel had the chance to present it on its own terms.
MCU Marketing Needs a Reset Before Avengers: Doomsday
This situation underscores a broader issue that Marvel Studios can’t afford to ignore as it heads into Doomsday, Secret Wars, and beyond. The MCU has previously excelled at secrecy and controlled reveals, but recent missteps suggest that coordination between marketing and merchandising has slipped.
There was a time when Marvel set the gold standard for protecting major surprises. Endgame famously avoided revealing key plot points in both trailers and merchandise, preserving its biggest moments for theaters. Similarly, Spider-Man: No Way Home went to great lengths to hide Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s involvement, even editing them out of promotional footage entirely.
By contrast, Brand New Day now faces a situation where one of its most exciting twists has already been exposed. The film has secrets left to reveal, but it’s still anyone’s guess as to who actress Sadie Sink is playing. This isn’t just about spoilers, though. It’s about losing control of the audience’s first impression. When fans see something for the first time in a merch drop instead of a carefully crafted trailer moment, or better yet, on the big screen, the impact simply isn’t the same.
What This Could Mean for the MCU’s Future
Avengers: Doomsday represents a critical turning point for the MCU. As the franchise builds toward another star-studded, universe-defining crossover event, maintaining secrecy and maximizing surprise will be essential. If merchandise continues to reveal key plot points ahead of official marketing, it risks undermining the very excitement these films depend on.
This becomes even more important with projects like Doomsday and Secret Wars on the horizon. Both films are expected to feature sprawling casts, massive character reveals, and dynamic twists that will shake up the MCU’s future. Those surprises need to land with full impact, and that can only happen if Marvel regains tighter control over how and when information is released.
While the Hulk spoiler from Brand New Day may seem like nothing more than a frustrating misstep, it reflects a larger vulnerability in Marvel’s current strategy. If Avengers: Doomsday is going to deliver the kind of cultural moment Marvel Studios hopes for, it must ensure that its biggest reveals happen on-screen or in its own marketing, not in a photo of a toy box. For a franchise known for shocking its fans and subverting expectations, that should be a given.
