Before landing on an emotional Jean Grey-centric story that helped Spider-Man: Brand New Day become the highest-grossing film of all time in the US, the movie once known as Spider-Man 4 was almost very, very different. And in a new interview, Brand New Day co-writer Chris McKenna has revealed some surprising early ideas that we hope make their way to the big screen one day.
Speaking on the Bulwark Goes to Hollywood podcast, McKenna – a writer on every Tom Holland Spider-Man film to date – explained how he and co-writer Erik Sommers struggled to find the right villains during early development on both No Way Home and Brand New Day due to the complicated shared-custody agreement between Sony and Marvel Studios for Spider-Man's extended universe of characters. This led the pair to explore some unexpected avenues during early script development.
"We were told they were never going to make a standalone Kraven movie… and we had fun ways to get into the Kraven character," McKenna said. "Kraven turning New York City into, like, a Home Alone trap for Spider-Man, where he's got booby traps everywhere, and [is] just hunting down Peter Parker. He could be either hired by someone, and maybe [you] don't even have to make him the centerpiece villain, but just someone who's stalking him the entire movie."
But, as we know, an ill-fated Kraven standalone was already in the works, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, ruling out a secondary role in a Spider-Man movie. "And then it was a joke. It was like, 'Oh no, Sony's making a standalone Kraven movie.' Like, you've got to be kidding me," McKenna said.
As for Brand New Day, the latest Spidey outing wasn't initially conceived as an introduction for Jean Grey, with McKenna and Sommers exploring other possible scenarios for Peter during early development. Among those ideas: a courtroom comedy featuring Peter's returning legal representative Matt Murdock.
"We had Peter so done with New York with his past that he goes off and sort of is a badass hero in Southeast Asia, taking down Southeast Asian gangs," McKenna explained. "He's living on a boat, like on a river, and cleaning it, fixing the engine, making his own web fluid. And then he gets a message in a video about Spider-Man back in New York, like charming fans. He's like, 'What?' There's some imposter in New York.
"So then he has to go all the way back to New York to deal with this imposter, like 'Who is this guy?' And he gets there, and he finds out this guy is using my web fluid, and he's using my suit. And it turns out the guy has done what Peter Parker had never done, where he actually had copyrighted the Spider-Man brand, like trademarked it, and had his web fluid.
“Then [Peter] had to hire Matt Murdock as a lawyer to help him fight. Because Peter Parker gets a cease-and-desist from this other guy [saying] you can't pretend that you're Spider-Man. And so it began this whole thing that was pretty fun, but it was just a different story."
While both ideas sound tremendously fun – we're particularly fond of Kraven hunting Spider-Man around New York – Sony and Marvel Studios are undoubtedly pleased with where they landed, given Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now the highest-grossing film of all time domestically after passing Star Wars: The Force Awakens' decade-long record. And, hey, there's bound to be a Spider-Man 5 to tap into those unused ideas with great potential.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out now. For more, check out our Spider-Man: Brand New Day review, or our spoiler-filled guide to the Spider-Man: Brand New Day ending explained.
