Sony Pictures took over CinemaCon on April 13 for one of the bigger studio presentations of the week, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day was front and center. The Tom Holland-led fourth Spider-Man film is one of the most anticipated releases of 2026, slated for July 31, and Sony used the Las Vegas event to give exhibitors a look at exclusive footage from the film. Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman called it "as big as anything we have ever made," while Holland, in a video message to attendees, promised it would be "the most emotional Spider-Man movie we have ever made."
The clip picks up with Tom Holland's Peter Parker in the wake of No Way Home. Doctor Strange's memory-wipe spell left him a stranger to everyone he loved, including Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds and Zendaya's MJ. The footage follows Peter as he tracks Ned to a college party, where he discovers his old friend has been obsessively trying to unmask Spider-Man through an app called Spidey Tracker, complete with a wall of notes and a chatroom.
Ned still considers himself one of Spider-Man's biggest champions, wanting only to thank the wall-crawler for saving his life. He just has no idea the person standing across from him is the man he's looking for.
Then comes the detail that caught more than a few people's attention. Ned reveals he's narrowed his search down to two suspects: Tony Revolori's Flash Thompson and Martin Starr's Mr. Roger Harrington. On the surface, this isn’t that big of a deal and even comes across as funny. But for Marvel Comics readers, this scene holds a deeper meaning, giving birth to a new theory worth breaking down.
A section of the fan base believes that Ned's suspicion of Flash as a potential Spider-Man sets up Agent Venom's MCU debut. This is because of Flash's complicated history with the symbiote in the comics. So essentially, Ned may be foreshadowing Flash's comic book destiny of becoming a Spider-Man substitute via the Venom symbiote.
Flash Thompson’s Complicated History With the Symbiote
In Marvel Comics, Flash Thompson's transformation into Agent Venom is one of the stranger arcs the character gets. The high school bully who tormented Peter Parker, but worshipped Spider-Man without knowing they were the same person, eventually grew out of his cruelty, joined the military, and lost both his legs serving overseas.
The US government then approached him with an offer to bond with the Venom symbiote for 48-hour intervals, use it to serve on black-ops missions, and walk again. Naturally, Flash said yes.
Under the designation Project Rebirth 2.0, Flash became Agent Venom, a government-controlled version of the symbiote that he kept in check through drugs and strict time limits.
He eventually joined the Secret Avengers, the Thunderbolts, and even the Guardians of the Galaxy during his run as a symbiote-bonded hero. Later, after losing the Venom symbiote, a chance encounter with an experimental Anti-Venom formula reacted with trace amounts of the symbiote still in his body, creating a new bond and a new alias, Agent Anti-Venom.
How Flash Thompson Could Become Agent Venom in the MCU
Flash Thompson becoming Agent Venom in the MCU sounds like a stretch, but is it, though? What gives credence to this theory is what happens in the post-credits of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
When Doctor Strange's spell pulled multiverse-displaced figures back to their home dimensions, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock got swept back with them. But he left behind a small glob of the Venom symbiote, which the film showed crawling off the bar counter on its own. The symbiote is in the MCU, unattached, and looking for a host.
That was more than four years ago in the real world. Brand New Day is positioned as the film that finally starts paying off No Way Home. Footage we've seen so far suggests the story leans heavily into the identity mystery left by No Way Home's memory wipe.
With Ned actively investigating who Spider-Man is and Flash Thompson landing as a prime suspect, the film seems to be drawing a direct line between Flash and the web-slinger. If this is the case, there's a chance that Flash Thompson gets attached to the symbiote and becomes Agent Venom in the MCU.
There's also a compelling creative argument for going this route. Sony's Spider-Man Universe films have put Eddie Brock front and center across multiple entries, from Tom Hardy's solo Venom in 2018 through Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance.
Audiences have had a thorough look at that particular take on the symbiote, and the character's arc in that corner of Sony's universe has largely run its course. Bringing the symbiote into the MCU under a completely different host is a fresh angle that makes sense.
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.
