Each of Spider-Man’s first three films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ends with a huge, Earth-shattering change for Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland). At the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) discovers her nephew Peter is Spider-Man. At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the whole world learns Spider-Man’s identity. And at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, a magic spell cast by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) makes everyone forget his identity. (Only now, as I’m writing this, do I realize how similar these are.)
In contrast, Spider-Man: Brand New Day doesn't have that kind of twist ending. For the most part, the story gets wrapped up in a satisfying ending and we have a pretty good idea of Spider-Man’s status quo for the time being. That said, there’s still some stuff that’s worthy of examination.
Warning: Massive spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Brand New Day
What happens to Spider-Man at the end of Brand New Day?
Kicking this off with Spider-Man, by the end of the movie, he realizes that his life requires some balance for his own mental sanity. While he was trying to keep Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) safe by not telling them who he was after the magic spell at the end of No Way Home, he changes his mind. While MJ finds out about their past relationship from the note Peter was going to give her at the end of No Way Home, Peter voluntarily reintroduces himself to Ned. At the end of the film, the two share a sweet moment with their secret handshake from high school. Ned remembers the handshake, seemingly breaking Doctor Strange's magic spell. The ending suggests that, after this, they'll go back to being BFFs.
As for MJ, it’s a little less clear. She directly tells Peter she doesn’t love him in the movie, though she seems to leave the door open for something in the future. She’s not “inviting him upstairs” in that way, as it’s just to hang with her and Ned, who are roommates, but maybe Peter and MJ’s relationship will evolve (especially since it sounds like MJ’s boyfriend is a jerk).
What happens to Bill Metzger at the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
The villain in the movie — and I mean the real villain, Department of Damage Control director Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman) — gets away amid the chaos of Spider-Man accidentally getting shot by the Punisher. He’ll likely return at some point, though I’m sure Damage Control will undergo some changes (or at least get the Hand off their payroll).
What happens to Bruce Banner and The Punisher at the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) presumably goes back to teaching after his latest Hulk-out, though perhaps prospective students will be less eager to enroll. The Punisher (John Bernthal), after bonding a bit with Spider-Man, will probably return to his booby-trapped hideout to consume some more chili, though maybe his heart has softened a bit after he nearly killed Peter by mistake.
What happens to Jean Grey at the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
The most intriguing ending has got to go to Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). After learning that her sister died as a result of the experiments the Department of Damage Control was conducting on her, she’s pretty much alone in the world besides her new friendship with Spider-Man. From the ending, the Punisher explains that, after Spider-Man was shot, Jean kept his mind alive until his body healed. Once he recovered, she left the city on a bus headed to an unknown destination.
The camera angle for the bus is interesting though. We get a bird’s-eye view of the bus traveling upward toward the top of the frame. To me, that suggests she’s heading to upstate New York, where Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is typically located. While we have no idea if Professor X exists yet in this universe, the camera angle choice does seem deliberate and we know that Jean has nowhere else to go.
We may not find out for a while though. Avengers: Doomsday clearly seems to be focused on the X-Men from what was Fox’s X-Men movies, and it might be too much for the film to also introduce a new team of X-Men while they’re also reintroducing the old team. (Then again, neither of the other actors who have portrayed Jean in a Fox movie before appears to be in Doomsday either, so who knows.)
I’m sure we'll eventually find out where she’s headed and, presumably, we’ll meet a brand new Professor Xavier, too. For this go-around, though, he better not have any hair. Apologies to James McAvoy, who was a good Professor X, but it took way too many movies for him to finally look like the character.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters now.