Spider-Man: Brand New Day Director: Hulk "Wasn't A Mandate" Character
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day Director: Hulk "Wasn't A Mandate" Character
Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Destin Daniel Cretton has explained that there was no mandate from Kevin Feige for the Hulk to appear, and that they had to request Bruce's appearance.
Published Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:48:08 -0500
by Kaitlyn Booth
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Article Summary
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton says Hulk was not a Marvel mandate for the film.
- Cretton revealed that he had to ask Kevin Feige for permission to use Bruce Banner in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
- The director said Marvel was not pushing characters into the story, including Hulk and Jean Grey appearances.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day is being praised as a strong example of script-first filmmaking over cameo-driven spectacle.
If you've ever been sitting in a Marvel movie and it seems like there is just reference after reference within the story, sometimes that are hardly relevant to the plot at all and seem like they are tacked on, it can seem like there might be someone behind the scenes telling storytellers that certain characters or plot points have to make an appearance. It's unclear whether something like that has ever happened, but the biggest Marvel movie is currently Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and several aspects of that film seemed like cases where someone behind the scenes was telling director Destin Daniel Cretton that this character or plot point had to appear. However, Cretton has gone on the record to defend Marvel Megaboss Kevin Feige, since people assume if there was someone who could unilaterally say 'this character must appear in this movie' it would be him, and revealed in an interview on NPR's Fresh Air podcast (via GamesRadar+) that a character like the Hulk has to be cleared with Feige before he could be used in the film.
When speaking about Jean Grey appearing in the film, Cretton explained, "Kevin's not necessarily ever pushing things on us. Once we know what we want, we have to go to him and ask, like, 'Is that going to work? Can we use this character in our movie?' The same with Hulk, too. We had to ask Kevin. It made sense to our movie to have the Hulk, it wasn't a mandate to put him in. We had to request, and Kevin let us do it."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is doing extremely well, to put it lightly, so we can hope that the lessons Marvel learns from this movie are the right ones. Star Tom Holland and Cretton have both said a lot about making sure that the script worked, while the Russos are blatantly speaking about going into Avengers: Doomsday with no script. Brand New Day was filmed on location, while many scenes in Doomsday once again look like a soundstage. The lesson to learn from Brand New Day isn't "make sure the Punisher, Hulk, and Yelena show up when you introduce an X-Men," but all of the practical aspects, because the cameos are good, but the rest of the movie around all of that needs to work to elevate a movie from good to great.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day – Summary, Cast List, Release Date
It's a BRAND NEW DAY for Peter Parker. Fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that doesn't remember him—and the pressure of seeing his old friends move on without him— sparks a change in Peter he may not have the power to control. But that transformation might also be the only thing that can stop a shocking new threat to the city and those he loves – a powerful villain no one can even see. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker, but he hasn't forgotten them.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando, and Mark Ruffalo. It will be released in theaters on July 31, 2026.
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