Spider-Man: Brand New Day's writers explored a multitude of story ideas before settling on the film's final narrative, with many concepts discarded to avoid overlap with Sony's burgeoning Spider-Universe film franchise. Writer Chris McKenna shared that early discussions for the film involved significant changes, including alternate villains and even a British alter ego for Peter Parker.
McKenna explained to The Bulwark that the process of determining the film's villain was particularly protracted, with Jean Grey's role not finalized until just under a year before production began. Despite years of development by McKenna and co-writer Erik Summers, who have worked on all of Tom Holland's Spider-Man appearances, the core concept of Peter Parker undergoing an uncontrollable metamorphosis took time to gain traction. McKenna noted that this metamorphosis story was an initial pitch that was initially rejected before being revisited and ultimately embraced as the most "simple, potent, cool idea."
One discarded narrative path saw Peter Parker adopt a persona to interact with MJ, who did not recognize him. This included Peter using a British accent, pretending to be British despite his Queens origins, after meeting MJ as Spider-Man and feeling the need to disguise his voice. In this version, he would have introduced himself to MJ as Ben Reilly. The writers also considered early versions where MJ might have discovered his identity, a plot point that was later scrapped.
A significantly different concept would have opened with Peter as a "badass hero in South East Asia," operating from a boat and creating his own web fluid. He would receive a message about an imposter Spider-Man in New York who had copyrighted his brand. This would have led to Peter hiring Matt Murdock and receiving a cease and desist letter from the imposter.
Another explored idea involved Peter falling ill and hallucinating a message from his bodega cat to hunt Spider-Totems. This hallucination, brought on by appendicitis, would have led to him losing his apartment and moving in with neighbors who were revealed to be villains Overkill and Boomerang, uncovering a larger mystery.
The team also considered concepts with a "Die Hard with a Vengeance" feel, pitting Peter against street-level villains throughout a single day. The selection of Jean Grey as the villain was complicated by Sony's ongoing release of films like Madame Web, Morbius, and Kraven, which restricted the use of certain Spider-Man characters.
McKenna detailed the frustration of developing villains only to find them used in other concurrent projects. For instance, The Spot was initially planned as a villain for No Way Home, but this was revised when he was announced for Across the Spider-Verse. Similarly, Kraven was considered, but Sony's decision to produce a standalone Kraven movie precluded his use. Attempts to use Chameleon also faced obstacles, as his half-brother Sergei, who is Chameleon in the comics, was slated to appear in the Kraven film. Furthermore, ideas involving telepathy and mutant territory became complex due to Marvel's own plans for X-Men characters following Disney's acquisition of Fox.
Even the utilization of Shadow King encountered issues, as the character had been used in the Legion TV series. After struggling with a version of the character that could not even be named Shadow King, McKenna finally received confirmation that Jean Grey could be used, a decision made in September 2024, three years after No Way Home's release.
Despite the extensive script revisions, one scene—Peter meeting Yelena in the bathhouse—remained a consistent element from the earliest stages of development, as McKenna felt it would be an enjoyable sequence. As of this month, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has achieved significant commercial success, surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the highest-grossing film of all time in North America, with a global total of $2.47 billion.