Spider-Man: Brand New Day Nearly Featured a Different Identity-Swapping Villain Before Sony's Kraven the Hunter Got in the Way

Spider-Man: Brand New Day astir introduced a precise antithetic identity-swapping villain to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) than the 1 it ended up going with.

Yes, it's true: Sadie Sink plays Jean Grey successful the caller Spidey movie. The fan-favorite X-Men telepath pops up successful Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) beingness arsenic Spider-Man: Brand New Day's mind-controlling villain, but according to words shared by screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers connected The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith, the movie came adjacent to putting the spotlight connected a antithetic subordinate of Spidey's rogues gallery: Dmitri Smerdyakov, a.k.a. Chameleon.

From moving connected from his mind-wiped friends to coming to grips with changes successful his arachnid DNA, Spider-Man: Brand New Day deals with the conception of metamorphosis. It's the backbone of the caller MCU movie's story, and it's the archetypal thought McKenna and Sommers homed successful on. From there, the question was, 'Who's going to beryllium the villain?' Jean Grey was yet what made the astir sense, but Chameleon stuck astir agelong capable to beryllium successful the moving arsenic the movie's main atrocious guy, astatine slightest for a small while.

"We came up with metamorphosis, and everyone was precise excited astir that idea. Then, we were trying to travel up with a villain," McKenna said. "I deliberation [Marvel Studios brag Kevin Feige] himself admitted that we had caput control, but we hadn't settled connected what quality that would beryllium for the villain that had caput control. Early days, we were talking astir Die Hard with a Vengeance. Like, 'Can we conscionable bash a Spider-Man communicative that was acceptable successful ground-level New York, wherever you had a mysterious bomber, a villain who was fundamentally toying with Spider-Man?'

"Erik and I, close aft we had the metamorphosis communicative thought that radical were connected committee for, we were trying to deliberation of a villain that would acceptable that bill, and we were thinking, 'Gosh, what's a Spider-Man classical villain that nary 1 has truly done yet successful the films?' We were going, 'Chameleon?' But however bash you bash that?"

McKenna acknowledged that the MCU had already dived into shapeshifting Skrulls storylines a fewer times already, truthful Chameleon would request to beryllium reworked without losing his individuality arsenic an impersonator. The Spider-Man: Brand New Day screenwriter added that, if helium stuck, helium whitethorn person been reworked to usage mind-control powers.

Instead, the Chameleon thought was tossed speech due to the fact that helium coiled up showing up successful Sony's panned 2024 movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kraven the Hunter. Dmitri shows up arsenic Kraven's half-brother and is played by Fred Hechinger. Despite the opportunities to spell successful a antithetic direction, it led to Chameleon being cut, though it's unclear who yet pulled the plug.

"It was like, ugh, you can't bash Chameleon, but that got america connected the way of caput control, and past caput power yet led to america getting who was the cleanable quality for that role, who was Jean Grey," McKenna added. "That was a journey."

The X-Men superhero whitethorn person coiled up being the improbable villain of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but it surely seems to person worked retired successful Marvel's favor. After breaking records successful its opening play successful theaters, the film's latest update has seen it scope $2 cardinal globally to go the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie of each time.

Reviews from audiences and critics person been favorable, too. IGN gave it a 7/10, saying it " efficaciously refocuses connected the astir reliable pillars of the webslinger: battling interior turmoil, swinging astir NYC redeeming the day, and looking chill portion doing so."

For more, you tin cheque retired wherefore McKenna and Sommers accidental Jean Grey "technically" didn't termination anyone during the events of the movie. You tin besides work astir the chopped cameo from a fan-favorite Daredevil character.

Michael Cripe is simply a freelance writer with IGN. He's champion known for his enactment astatine sites similar The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be definite to springiness him a travel connected Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).