Spider-Man 4 will be fixing a problem that plagued the previous trilogy of MCU films with its latest casting. Production is getting underway on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and several new actors are joining Tom Holland's fourth solo superhero outing. One of these new faces to the MCU is Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, who joined the latest Spider-Man flick in an undisclosed leading role.
Sink is one of several confirmed cast members for the film alongside Holland, Jon Bernthal, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Liza Colon-Zayas. While details about Sink's Spider-Man character are thin, she is believed to be playing a lead role in the film. This inclusion of Sink as a significant character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day helps combat a problem that the entire Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy has experienced: a lack of female characters essential to the plot.
While all three of the MCU's Spider-Man films have included female characters, most of their storylines were sidelined or only included to aid Peter Parker's development. Zendaya's MJ is one of the core characters in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, but her character development is typically tied to her status as Peter's love interest, and she doesn't have many significant narrative arcs of her own. Similarly, Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is a pivotal piece of Spider-Man lore and ended up substituting for Uncle Ben as Peter's moral compass, but her death in Spider-Man: No Way Home meant her importance was limited and left the franchise with one less female character.
Apart from MJ and Aunt May, Spider-Man films have typically been male-dominated affairs. The MCU has drawn on male mentor figures like Happy Hogan, Matt Murdock, or Iron Man and male villains (Vulture, Mysterio, Doc Ock) to fill out Peter Parker's world. Comparatively, something like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduced characters like Spider-Gwen and Peni Parker, who are each important to the film's plot and have their own narrative arcs.
Casting Sink in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, who will appear in addition to MJ (although Zendaya is rumored for a smaller role), introduces another significant female presence to the fourth Spider-Man film. While it's still unclear how exactly Sink's character will factor into the plot of the next Spider-Man, theories suggest she will be more than just another love interest for Peter. This would make her a more important character to the plot and help Spider-Man 4 break a trend from the previous MCU Spider-Man trilogy.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is shifting directors, with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) taking over from Jon Watts. The movie continues the events from Spider-Man: No Way Home, which ended with the world forgetting Peter Parker. Spider-Man 4 will be released on July 31, 2026.
Spider-Man 4 May Have More Female Characters up Its Sleeve
Sadie Sink is a prominent new female cast member to board Spider-Man 4, but she may not be the last. For one, The Bear's Liza Colon-Zayas is another new member of the Spider-Man franchise, although her role is also being kept under wraps, so it's unclear how integral she will be to the story.
On top of this, rumor has it that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is looking to cast a female villain, a first for the franchise. Past villains include Vulture (Michael Keaton), Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and Electro (Jamie Foxx). A female villain would break from tradition for Spider-Man films, allowing the fourth Spidey film to introduce another female character essential to the plot.
Marvel Studios' Spider-Man films have also been known for integrating guest superhero characters from the wider MCU (like Iron Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming or Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home). Rumors already suggest an appearance from Hulk in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. However, several female characters from the MCU could make sense to be utilized for a cameo, like Ironheart's Zelma Stanton or Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones.
