According to a new report, Spider-Man 4 will mark the debut of the MCU's first-ever mutant-hunting villain. Next year's Spider-Man: Brand New Day will see Tom Holland's wall-crawling hero going up against a whole host of big bads. Who exactly these characters will be remains unclear, but there have been some whispers about some potential candidates.
Of course, Michael Mando has been confirmed to return in the upcoming movie, assumed to be playing the Marvel Comics character, the Scorpion, and there have been rumors of a potential female shapeshifter playing a villainous role. However, there is one name that could hint at a potential mutant twist for Spider-Man 4.
Insider Alex Perez wrote in a new report that Tramell Tillman's mystery Spider-Man: Brand New Day character could be the MCU's very first mutant-hunting villain. According to the industry vet, the Severance star will play the new leader of the Department of Damage Control (DODC), who is on the hunt for Sadie Sink's yet-to-be-named metahuman.
Perez posited that after the new Spider-Man film, the DODC will be rebanded within the MCU, setting up the terrifying Anti-Mutant Enforcement Agency. This government outfit is known in the comics as being key antagonists for the X-Men, and, in part, one of the key reasons for the world's anti-mutant sentiment.
If this changeover happens in the film itself, Tillman's new character would be the first solely mutant-hunting villain in Marvel Studios' super-powered franchise. There have previously been characters to have squared off against those with the X-Gene in the MCU (i.e., Cassandra Nova and Mr. Paradox from Deadpool & Wolverine), but they have not been expressly hunting down mutants in the same way.
The first mutant they may be after could be Sink's new MCU character, as she has been rumored to play the iconic X-Men, Jean Grey, since she was first announced to appear in the 2026 film.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to come to theaters on July 31, 2026. Plot details are still scarce on the project, but Marvel Studios has teased that it will center on an older Peter Parker, no longer in high school, and ready to prove that he is New York City's masked protector. Brand New Day will once again star Tom Holland with Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton at the helm.
Who Could Tramell Tillman Be Playing in Spider-Man 4?
After several months of knowing that Tramell Tillman will be in Spider-Man 4, fans finally seem to have a bit clearer picture of who he could actually be playing. Tillman, his reported connection to the DODC, and the news that the Anti-Mutant Enforcement Agency is on the way, set the stage for an epic super-powered story coming to Spider-Man 4 and the MCU moving forward.
One name that has been floated in the wake of this report from Perez is Boliver Trask. Trask is best known in the comics as the mind behind the mutant-killing Sentinels program and a key figure in the overall X-Men story.
There have been reports that Marvel Studios has its eyes on Trask for a potential looming threat for its post-Secret Wars story, so why not introduce him now, setting the foundation for a long and fruitful future for the character in the MCU?
Even Perez mentioned that Trask (along with Mister Sinister and the Sentinels) will reportedly be a focus of Marvel Studios' X-Men story. If Tillman is, in fact, playing Trask, fans should be delighted, as the 40-year-old has already proven that he has the chops to bring a character like Trask to life.
