Zendaya has a warning for Spider-Man fans heading into Brand New Day: bring tissues. Speaking with Empire for the magazine’s cover story on the film, the actress made clear that the movie goes to genuinely emotional places, calling the state of Peter and MJ’s relationship flat-out heartbreaking.
The comments quickly spread across social media and ignited fan theories about what is in store for MJ and Peter Parker. Given where their relationship stands heading into Brand New Day, the emotional stakes are already high before anyone has seen a frame of the finished film.
The Weight of the Memory Spell
Brand New Day picks up four years after the events of No Way Home, in which Doctor Strange’s reality-altering spell erased Peter Parker from the memory of everyone who knew him, including MJ and Ned. Peter made that choice deliberately and sacrificially, and has spent the years since living anonymously in New York, throwing himself into being Spider-Man full time.
MJ, meanwhile, has moved on with her life, including a new romantic interest played by Ahsoka’s Eman Esfandi. Zendaya told Empire magazine that the emotional weight of that separation is not lost on her even as an actor playing someone who no longer remembers it. “As someone who cares about the characters and cares about these films, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so heartbreaking,'” she said. “You just feel so bad because you want them to be happy, and you know ultimately they would be happier together.”
That creates a unique performance challenge. Zendaya is playing a character who does not share the emotional history the audience holds onto from the previous films. “It’s easy in a way, because I don’t have to play that I know this person,” she explained. “I don’t have to play all the history that they have together because seemingly, to her, they don’t.” The grief is all on Peter’s side. MJ gets to start fresh, which might be harder to watch than any action sequence the film contains.
What to Expect
Brand New Day features a crowded villain roster including Tombstone, Scorpion, Ramrod, Boomerang, and The Hand, plus a still-secret main antagonist that Tom Holland has confirmed has not leaked anywhere. The film also features Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher teaming with Peter, along with Sadie Sink in a tightly guarded undisclosed role.
Despite all of that, it sounds like the emotional core of the film is very much the human story of Peter Parker navigating a world where no one knows who he really is. And while MJ does not remember Peter, she does still know Spider-Man exists, setting up a very different dynamic between the two than anything in the previous trilogy. Zendaya’s comments suggest that Brand New Day is not shying away from the heartbreak baked into that premise.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens in theaters on July 31, 2026. For more on the film, check out our coverage of its record-breaking presales and the first look at Ramrod in the latest TV spot.
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