Heading into a new era of Spider-Man films led by Tom Holland, director Daniel Destin Cretton has a golden opportunity to bring back a classic Peter Parker tradition. Since Spider-Man's introduction to the MCU in 2016, the character and his stories have notably deviated from past iterations. A few leading examples would be MJ being Michelle Jones (Zendaya), not Mary Jane, or Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) delivering the "with great power, comes great responsibility" speech to Peter before her death.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a restart for the MCU Spider-Man story. It is expected to hit its July 31, 2026, release date, marking a four-and-a-half-year gap between installments. With that comes the chance to bring back a fan favorite part of Peter's story.
A key element of Peter Parker's life was missing from the MCU's Home trilogy: his work as a photographer for The Daily Bugle. In fact, Holland's six on-screen appearances do not include any interest in photography. The Daily Bugle didn't appear in the MCU until Spider-Man: Far From Home, with J.K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson (JJJ), with an Infowars-esque take on the news outlet.
Thus far, in this iteration, JJJ has been a pure antagonist to the story, revealing Peter's secret identity in Far From Home and focusing on Spidey's downfall in No Way Home. There was even a deleted scene where Peter confronts Jameson in his dirty Daily Bugle apartment.
This is a fall from grace from the other iteration of Simmons' newspaper editor, where Tobey Maguire's Peter provided the best photos of Spider-Man to The Daily Bugle.
Peter's photography work for the Bugle was a main part of the entire Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, which began 23 years ago in 2002. It's how the young hero earned money while in college and fighting crime in his spare time.
Similar to what DC fans just got with The Daily Planet in James Gunn's Superman, The Daily Bugle was a central location of those films, with its own crew of characters like Robbie Robertson (Bill Nunn), Hoffman (Ted Raimi), and Betty Brant (Elizabeth Banks).
This lived-in workplace was absent not only from the past 10 years of Spider-Man storytelling but also from both of Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man films. There was a bit of a middle ground, though, with Peter notably taking photos of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) around school, hinting at his hobby.
Then, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter was shown emailing J. Jonah Jameson photos of Spider-Man, but neither the Bugle nor its editor-in-chief was ever shown on screen.
Despite not making an appearance, Jameson's brash personality was still displayed through the quick email response, which was nothing more than a subtle nod to Peter's side hustle.
Heading into Spider-Man 4, Marvel Studios could dig deeper into Peter's roots and create a memorable character-driven story about love, loss, and taking photos of himself to scrape by while fighting The Hulk.
Bringing Peter's Photography Back in Spider-Man 4
Based on the reported character ensemble of Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), Punisher (Jon Bernthal), Scorpion (Michael Mando), and a reenergized Savage Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Spider-Man is going to have his hands full in Brand New Day.
Peter taking up his traditional photography hobby, or side job, in Spider-Man 4, could be a natural progression of the character. Now that he's completely isolated, having to rebuild new relationships as Peter Parker after everyone forgot his identity, forming new interests would make a lot of sense.
In addition, for the first time in the MCU, Peter doesn't have many resources at his disposal. He is creating his own suits and living in a small Manhattan apartment. The time gap between No Way Home and Brand New Day, including whether Peter is enrolled in college, is also unknown.
The issue with Peter becoming a photographer in the MCU is that The Daily Bugle isn't a bustling newsroom, as that idea is a bit outdated in the modern state of journalism. Hopefully, there's some creative way to modernize this tradition, which would help ground this new chapter of Holland's webhead.
Plot details are heavily under wraps, but the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day is loaded, including the return of Zendaya and Jacob Batalon.
Joining them are Tramell Tillman, Sadie Sink, and Liza Colón-Zayas, all in undisclosed roles, making the story of Spider-Man 4 impossible to know.
