Spider-Man: Brand New Day nearly featured a different identity-swapping villain before Sony's Kraven the Hunter film established its own version of the Chameleon. Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers revealed in an interview that Dmitri Smerdyakov, also known as Chameleon, was considered as the antagonist for the latest MCU Spider-Man installment.
The core concept of metamorphosis was central to the early development of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. McKenna and Sommers explored various villainous possibilities that could align with this theme. "We came up with metamorphosis, and everyone was very excited about that idea. Then, we were trying to come up with a villain," McKenna explained. Initially, the filmmakers considered a grounded New York story akin to Die Hard with a Vengeance, featuring a mysterious bomber toying with Spider-Man.
Chameleon emerged as a potential candidate because he is a classic Spider-Man villain who had not yet been prominently featured in the MCU. However, the screenwriters encountered challenges in adapting the character without simply replicating the shapeshifting abilities seen in the MCU's portrayal of Skrulls. "We were going, 'Chameleon?' But how do you do that?" Sommers questioned.
Ultimately, the idea of using Chameleon was shelved because the character appeared in Sony's Kraven the Hunter film, released in 2024. In that movie, Dmitri Smerdyakov is depicted as Kraven's half-brother, played by Fred Hechinger. This overlap in character usage made it unfeasible for Marvel Studios to proceed with Chameleon as the villain for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
"It was like, ugh, you can't do Chameleon, but that got us on the path of mind control," McKenna stated. This led to the filmmakers settling on Jean Grey as the villain, whose mind-controlling abilities fit the metamorphosis theme of the film. The choice proved successful, as Spider-Man: Brand New Day has achieved over $2 billion globally, becoming the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie to date. Critical reception has also been largely positive, with IGN awarding the film a 7/10 and noting its effective focus on Peter Parker's internal struggles and heroic actions.