An insider report revealed that one Spider-Man: Brand New Day villain storyline will continue a rather repetitive MCU trend. Even with seven Marvel villains reported to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the identity of the movie's main antagonist remains a mystery. The July blockbuster is bringing back one familiar villain in Michael Mando's Mac Gargan, aka Scorpion, who was last seen in prison in Spider-Man: Homecoming's post-credits scene.
According to a post on Patreon from scooper Daniel Richtman, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will see Tom Holland's wall-crawler and Jon Bernthal's Punisher teaming up to fight "mind-controlled Damage Control agents" who are aiming to break Michael Mando's Scorpion out of prison, where he has been since Homecoming.
Sadly, that plot point continues a boring trend for MCU villains, as the concept of brainwashed battles has been overused in recent years. Brainwashed characters tend to have little agency, and almost every time, they are freed from their control with no lasting consequences or casualties.
The trope has been used with the HYDRA-controlled Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch manipulating the heroes in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Loki with his sceptre in The Avengers.
Even in the Spider-Man franchise alone with No Way Home, one could argue that Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn was controlled by the Goblin serum.
Similarly, Alfred Molina's Doc Ock spent most of Spider-Man: No Way Home under the control of his malfunctioning tentacles, as Otto Octavius was a genius scientist with no villainous agenda.
Set photos already spoiled Spider-Man's face-off with Damage Control, seemingly culminating Peter Parker's city-wide pursuit of this tank, which was widely captured last year during the MCU movie's production in Glasgow and Basingstoke.
Damage Control is expected to play a major role in Brand New Day, with Severance star Tramell Tillman cast as the agency's leader, who one could argue is Marvel Studios' answer to the DCU's Rick Flag Sr.
As part of Spider-Man 4's action-packed chase, the Punisher will get a major upgrade with a new and improved version of the battle van that he drove on Netflix in Daredevil and his two-season solo spin-off series.
It seems that the pursuit could expand behind bars, as Richtman also revealed that Spider-Man will fight a group of ninjas in the prison, with more recent updates indicating that group may be the Hand from Netflix's Daredevil.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day's Mind-Control May Have an X-Men Connection
Previously, Daniel Richtman reported that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink's MCU character will possess mind-control powers (via Cosmic Marvel). Unless Spider-Man: Brand New Day features multiple mind benders, it seems her mystery character will be the one breaking the Scorpion out of prison.
It remains unclear who Sink will play in Brand New Day, but Marvel Studios may be setting her up as a franchise mainstay, as she will reportedly reprise her role in Avengers: Secret Wars next year. Many are convinced that the Stranger Things breakout is playing Jean Grey and could star in Phase 7's X-Men reboot.
There is some basis for this theory, as Brand New Day will see a mutant-hunting villain pursuing Sink's character. But one has to wonder why Grey, a usually heroic figure, would be breaking Scorpion or anyone, for that matter, out of prison.
It's easy to see Spider-Man and Punisher having some conflict of their own during this prison breakout battle, with Jon Bernthal's anti-hero being willing to kill the brainwashed while Tom Holland's web-slinger tries to free them from control.
