The second Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer confirms that Spider-Man holds a major advantage over Jean Grey, the kind that could be pivotal in their deeply psychological battle. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker returns this summer as a hero the world no longer remembers, working alone after the memory wipe that ended Spider-Man: No Way Home. His body keeps changing in ways he cannot control, and his powers grow stronger by the day. A dangerous new force is moving through New York, and the city has almost no way to stop it.
The second trailer reveals that Spider-Man is the only person in New York who can resist the new threat’s power, and the only one who can even sense it. William Metzger, the director of the Department of Damage Control, breaks the news to Spidey himself, describing an enemy the government cannot handle, admitting, "It appears we’re faced with a threat we can’t control, one we can’t even see."
Later in the footage, Metzger can be heard in the background telling Peter, "You’re the only one who is immune to it. You’re the only one who can sense it."
This immunity traces back to Peter’s mutating DNA, the same change he keeps trying to suppress. The mutation has made Peter stronger, and his Spider-sense even more potent, making it difficult to penetrate his mind. Against a telepath who can freeze a crowd and seize their minds, this single advantage could be Peter's saving grace come July 31.
The threat itself stays hooded for most of the trailer. Sadie Sink’s character never shows her face, though her telekinetic blasts freeze bystanders in place and let her leap from one body to the next. Marvel and Sony have not confirmed who she plays, but she's been widely reported to be portraying Jean Grey.
The muted green-and-yellow coat she wears in the trailers is one of the clearest pieces of evidence that she’s playing the famous X-Men telepath, since that's the character's trademark colors.
Metzger brings his own interesting history into the story. Tramell Tillman, fresh off Severance, plays the Damage Control director, and in the comics, William Metzger led an anti-mutant militia before Magneto killed him. His presence hints that the government’s hunt for this telepath is part of a wider campaign against mutants, the kind of conflict that could set up Marvel’s upcoming X-Men reboot.
Spider-Man Being Immune to Jean Grey’s Powers Isn’t Too Surprising
Many fans might be surprised that Spidey has this advantage, but Spider-Man’s resistance to telepathy is not a Brand New Day invention. In the comics, his spider-sense works like a constant alarm, and that buzzing static makes his mind hard to read and harder to seize. He threw off the Hypno-Hustler, who once hijacked an entire nightclub, and powered through Psycho-Man’s emotional control after it broke the rest of Avengers Academy.
Because Peter fights on instinct, acting before he thinks, telepaths struggle to predict his next move, let alone steer it. The MCU takes that idea and runs with it, turning his out-of-control mutation into the very reason a psychic enemy cannot reach him, which makes logical sense since his Spider-sense is extremely heightened now.
The bigger question is why a young Jean Grey would terrorize New York at all? The trailers paint her as the villain, but that might not be the full picture. It's completely plausible that Metzger is not as innocent as the trailer portrays.
He runs an anti-mutant arm of the government, and his comic counterpart spent his career hunting people like Grey. A frightened mutant lashing out at the agency trying to cage her looks far more like Jean’s story than a plain villain turn.
Interestingly, Spider-Man is not the only one who seems to slip the telepath’s grip. When her wave of force rolls through a crowd and freezes everyone, Frank Castle keeps moving, untouched. This might not necessarily be because Frank is immune as well, just Grey leaving Frank be because she may need his help.
In some shots from the first trailer, we see her restrained to a chair, an indication that she's being hunted. She and Spidey likely clash at first because she's retaliating against the DODC's oppression, and he's been hired to help them. Whatever her motivations are, a battle with Spidey is certain, and his brand-new powers might just come in handy.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
