Spider-Man: Brand New Day Just Added A Villain Never Before Featured In Live-Action, And There's A Fascinating Spider-Verse Connection

There are many reasons to be hyped for the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. For starters, it continues the story from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Home trilogy, which has been one of the franchise's greatest successes in its history, but it is also including a number of amazing characters whom fans have been wanting to see in a wall-crawler blockbuster for years – including Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner a.k.a. Hulk (not to mention that we're evidently going to finally see Michael Mando's Mac Gargan become Scorpion). Exciting as all of that is, however, this latest casting addition might be the most fascinating yet.

Deadline is reporting that another villain has been added to the ensemble in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and not only is it a character that audiences have never seen in live-action before, but it is a casting move that has an intriguing connection to the Spider-Verse films. The trade is reporting that Marvin Jones III, known to many as the rapper Krondon, has signed on to play Lonnie Lincoln a.k.a. Tombstone, which is a character that he voiced in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

This is fun news arriving at a bit of a bad time for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Production on the upcoming Marvel movie has been paused after star Tom Holland sustained a concussion on set. There is no suggestion presently that the delay is going to impact the release of the blockbuster, which is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters in the middle of next year.

It is not yet clear how Tombstone will be fitting into the plot of the MCU film or how big his role will be. Introduced in Marvel Comics in 1988 and crated by writer Gerry Conway and artist Alex Saviuk, the character is a tough and vicious crime boss who is best known for his albino skin and flat top hair cut. He has been portrayed to have enhanced strength and toughness, and he also makes a habit of filing his teeth into fangs to enhance his scary appearance. After voicing the character in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Marvin Jones III will also be back in the role for Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse in addition to Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

But here's the big question now: is there actually going to be a connection established between the live-action and animated canons? This has been previously teased before, as Donald Glover made a cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming as Aaron Davis and then also made an appearance (costumed as The Prowler) in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

In addition to all of the names mentioned above, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is also set to feature Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, and Liza Colón-Zayas, and it is being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton – who previously collaborated with Marvel Studios making Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. Production is expected to start up again before the end of the month, and Sony has scheduled the film for July 31, 2026. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates about the blockbuster, as it is easily one of our most anticipated upcoming features.