First Look at MJ’s New Boyfriend in Spider-Man: Brand New Day Sets Up Marvel’s Most Hated Character

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Sony and Marvel are generating excitement for the new Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with a unique marketing campaign. Instead of releasing a standard trailer, they’ve been sharing short video clips with fans and online personalities around the world, creating a chain of reveals. While the complete trailer comes out today, the bits and pieces already released suggest a difficult time for Peter Parker (Tom Holland) after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) erased everyone’s memory of him. We’ve already seen how tough life is for Peter without his mask, a hint of a confrontation with the Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and a sad moment of Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) not recognizing him. The latest clip released is particularly emotional.

A recent clip posted on Instagram by choirafrica shows Peter watching MJ (Zendaya) at a party. She’s happily interacting with another man (Eman Esfandi), and Peter can only look on from across the room. This scene powerfully reflects the ending of No Way Home – Doctor Strange’s spell made everyone forget Peter Parker, so MJ has no memory of him and has moved on with her life. He’s forced to watch her appear happy with someone else, knowing she doesn’t remember him.

Is MJ’s New Boyfriend the MCU’s Paul?

The identity of the mysterious new character in the recent Spider-Man: Brand New Day storyline is still officially a secret, but many fans believe it’s Paul Rabin. Paul first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 in April 2022, created by Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr. His introduction showed him happily married to MJ and raising a family – the life many readers always wanted for Peter Parker. However, instead of portraying Paul as a villain, Marvel presented him as an ordinary man whose main purpose seemed to be keeping Peter and MJ separated. This decision unsurprisingly upset fans, and Paul quickly became one of the most disliked characters Marvel had created in years, seen by readers as simply an obstacle to Peter and MJ’s relationship.

The potential timing of a certain character’s appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is particularly interesting. By introducing a character similar to Paul in the upcoming film, Brand New Day, the story can use the existing negative feelings many viewers already have towards him. This also opens up new storytelling possibilities that weren’t fully explored in the comics, especially since the MCU’s version of MJ doesn’t have the same complicated past with Peter as her comic book counterpart. If the spell from No Way Home is undone, as rumors suggest, MJ could regain her feelings for Peter even while still being with someone else. Whether this new love interest is presented as a sympathetic character or someone the audience is meant to dislike is still unknown, but either way, the film turns a controversial comic book storyline into a key element of Peter and MJ’s relationship in the MCU.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.

As a huge Marvel fan, I’m really wondering if they’ll actually bring Paul into the MCU. What do you guys think? Let’s chat about it over on the ComicBook Forum – come join the discussion!

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2026-03-18 10:10