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You know what Spider-Man has always been missing? Something to haunt the dreams of children and adults alike. At long last, that seems to be about to change, thanks to the first trailer for Spider-Man: Brave New Day. While many fans might be focused on the appearance of Hulk or Punisher (or even Scorpion), Marvel fans who grew up with the '90s animated series know that there is something dark and terrifying coming in Spider-Man 4.

The trailer features a lot of what we already suspected about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Tom Holland’s webslinger is adjusting to a world where no one knows Peter Parker, but everyone knows Spider-Man. That is one of the core tragedies of Spider-Man: how does he balance his two, often conflicting identities?

We get bits of Bruce Banner and the Punisher here. And a glimpse of Scorpion in action, but near the end of the trailer is when things really get interesting. A body-swapping villain that jumps from one person to the next is going to test Spider-Man’s ability to fight bad guys. However, it seems that one of the big plot points of this film isn’t what is happening in New York City but what is happening inside Peter Parker himself.

There are some changes happening in Spider-Man. The webslinger gets some upgrades in the form of organic webshooters, but the downside seems to be that his body is mutating. The radioactive spider that bit him before his first appearance in Civil War isn’t done working its magic, it seems. Now, if this sounds familiar, it is because it was a famous storyline in Spider-Man: The Animated Series back in the 90s. In that storyline, Spider-Man turned into a horrific monster with eight arms, eight eyes, and a nightmarish appearance and a new penchant for violence. It is usually referred to as the Mutation Arc and, trust us, it was absolutely terrifying as a kid.

So if the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer left you feeling a little uneasy, the good news is that it was intentional. The bad news is that it is going to get way worse when the movie finally comes out on July 31, 2026.

Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...

• Best Spider-Man comic books 
• Spider-Man movie watch order
• Spider-Man's actors, ranked
• and the Spider-verse explained!

Just watch out for that radioactive blood.