LAS VEGAS – After short presentations earlier in the day from Sony Pictures Classics, Angel Studios, and StudioCanal, Sony Pictures took the spotlight in their traditional Monday night slot for CinemaCon 2026. And, thankfully, the studio’s chairman and CEO, Tom Rothman, kicked things off with a bang by showcasing the almost guaranteed blockbuster, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” The first part of the presentation centered on two new teaser posters you can find embedded in this post. The second saw Tom Holland appear digitally alongside his big boss.
Appearing close to a hologram effect, but not really, Holland didn’t explain why he couldn’t be in Vegas (Sony’s “Jumanji: Open World” stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black made the trip), but he did tease that this movie was a more “emotional” and “grown-up” installment. Rothman then introduced the clip, which definitely has director Destin Daniel Cretton’s imprint on it.
The extended sequence saw Peter Parker (Holland) in a corner store where he randomly catches his old friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) picking up some alcoholic beverages. Of course, after the dramatic events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” anyone who knew Parker has completely forgotten him. Parker follows Ned back to his apartment, where he runs into some friends heading up to a housewarming party that feels more house party than anything else. Crashing the festivities, but being completely ignored, Parker finds his way into Ned’s room, where he discovers that Ned has been on a mission to find out the true identity of the person underneath Spider-Man’s mask. When Ned comes out of the bathroom, he reassures Parker, who, again, does not remember, that he isn’t a stalker, but just wants to thank Spidey in person for saving him and his friends numerous times while they were in high school. His two top suspects? Based on where he’s pinpointed Spider-Man’s location in Queens, it’s got to be either Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) or his one-time teacher, Mr. Harrington (Martin Starr).
When MJ (Zendaya), the one-time love of Parker’s life, pops in, he can barely speak coherently. MJ gives him a look, but doesn’t think twice about it. Parker and Ned follow her back to the kitchen area, where her current beau (Eman Esfandi) shows up to say hello and give her a kiss. The tease then cut to some action shots of Spider-Man from the trailer, and then a new scene where the Web Slinger jokes with some security forces that he has to stretch first because he keeps forgetting he’s “not in high school anymore.” He then proceeds to kick ass.
What stood out most from this footage was how starkly different it was from the action sequences teased in the first trailer. This is very grounded, beautifully timed to look like film footage (almost grainy) that we haven’t seen in a “Spider-Man” movie since the Raimi years. Rothman hyped this chapter as Holland’s finest performance to date, and judging from what was screened, it could be.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” earned over $1.9 billion, the highest-grossing film in Sony history. Rothman and Sony’s corporate leaders are hoping that “Brand New Day,” which also features Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), comes pretty close to matching it. We’ll find out when it arrives in theaters on July 31.
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