Marvel Studios is set to unload a new wave of chaos on the MCU with Phase 6's next film. So far, only one movie has been released in Phase 6, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but that entry already stacked the deck with major villains, introducing Galactus, Silver Surfer, and even Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom in a post-credits scene. That's about to be built upon this summer, when six more major villains descend on New York City in the MCU's next Phase 6 outing.
Official licensed merchandise for Phase 6's Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been making waves online. A set of blind bag clip figures for the film was recently spotted on Target shelves, and the images have reaffirmed several key antagonists.
The six characters displayed in collectible form paint a clearer picture than even the first trailer did of just how stacked the Phase 6 film's villain roster really is.
First up is Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, who technically isn't a villain but will be throwing fists against Tom Holland's Spider-Man at some point in the film.
Bruce Banner will start the film wearing an inhibitor on his wrist to keep himself in human form. But it's becoming clearer that something goes wrong, the inhibitor fails, and Savage Hulk is unleashed on New York City.
However, Peter prepared for this possibility, or will create a solution in the Phase 6 film, as toy packaging for Brand New Day has revealed a new "anti-gamma web" mode built into his suit.
Also shown in the new merchandise is Tarantula, who's mainly expected to appear at the beginning of the film during an expected montage sequence, but little is known about this Phase 6 MCU villain yet.
One of the more interesting figures in the set is certainly Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), and for good reason. Tombstone, also known as Lonnie Lincoln, was not shown in the first official trailer, and there have been very few official details surrounding the characters.
In the comics, Tombstone is a hardened crime boss with near-indestructible skin and superhuman strength, and the MCU version appears to be leaning into that identity in full.
After a recent reveal of the character design, this new piece of merch seems to fit in nicely with the direction Destin Daniel Cretton and the creative team are going in.
The other Phase 6 coming to Brand New Day is Michael Mando's Scorpion. Mac Gargan is back after being introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming, ready to finally get his revenge on Spidey. The payoff is finally here, and Gargan will suit up in a full mechanized Scorpion exoskeleton to go toe-to-toe with Holland's Spider-Man.
The remainder of the blind bag set includes Boomerang, a gadget-based assassin who relies on razor-sharp thrown weapons, and is confirmed for the film, though his role is expected to be relatively limited.
Finally, Red Ninja represents The Hand, the ancient ninja order making their MCU big-screen debut in Phase 6 after years of Netflix appearances in the Defenders Saga.
There's also inexplicably a Smart Hulk toy, which is a version of the character fans aren't expecting to see, but may hint at where Banner ends up by the end of the film.
Brand New Day on July 31 is going to introduce a lot of villains for Spider-Man to fight, also building out the rogues gallery for Phase 6. The new merch didn't even mention Tramell Tillman's William Metzger, who will likely be hunting down Sadie Sink's character (expected to be Jean Grey), or Jon Bernthal's big-screen debut as the Punisher, a morally gray hero.
That said, this is just the beginning of the Phase 6 villains, with Avengers: Doomsday offering the biggest threat to enter the MCU in nearly a decade.
All Roads Lead to Doom in Phase 6
As impressive as Phase 6's villain roster is shaping up to be in Brand New Day, none of them are the main event. That honor belongs to Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, who will soon be viewed as the greatest threat to the MCU since Thanos.
Marvel Studios deliberately slimmed down Phase 6 to just four films: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, and Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027. Three years, four movies.
It's a lean slate by recent MCU standards, but the restraint is intentional. When Doom finally takes center stage, the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four will all be trying to save their own realities.
On the Spider-Man front, the current buzz suggests Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker is more likely to show up in Doomsday than Holland's, though Holland appears firmly primed for a Secret Wars appearance. Either way, the Phase 6 villains in Brand New Day are Peter's problem, whereas Doom is everyone else's.
