Spider-Man Brand New Day: Why the MCU needed mutants now

This past weekend Spider-Man Brand New Day was released to theaters and with it brought the addition of the one and only Jean Grey (played by talented actress Sadie Sink) ushering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s era of mutants. But why bring mutants in now and what does this mean for the future of the MCU?

My experience

Spider-man has been one of my favorite superheroes ever since he swung his polyester suit across my parents’ TV screen in 2012. Even six year old me appreciated the dark cinematography and raw New-York feel that The Amazing Spider-Man had within it. This combined with a little bit of a crush on Andrew Garfield and his acting skills easily made him my favorite live action Spider-Man. However, with the release of Spider-Man Brand New Day I fear Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has stolen my heart.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton heard our cries and turned a 18 year old big potato space travel and time bender into the 21 year old friendly neighborhood Spider-Man we all know and love. The movie felt, looked, and sounded absolutely beautiful, I mean the soundtrack, featuring songs like Wolf Like Me by Tv on the Radio and Loser by Tame Impala, was created exactly for young adults in their 20s. The story was easy for the audience to grab onto and bond with and it was exactly what the MCU needed to bring excitement back into the fandom. I mean I started collecting Cloak and Dagger comics again, an activity that has very little to do with Spider-Man, but because of Spider-Man I was itching for more from some of my other favorite superheroes.

The casting as well was just so perfect, not just in the major roles, but in minor roles as well. Tombstone was only on screen for maybe 10 seconds, but that was enough for me to tell that Marvin Jones III is a perfect match for the character. I hope he returns as Tombstone in a future movie. I would love to see his villainous experience from his time as Tobias Whale (Kingpin and archnemesis of Black Lightning ) in DC’s TV series Black Lightning really shine through. And what better choice for detective Jean DeWolff than NYC native and talented actress Liza Colón-Zayas. And there is of course the most amazing Sadie Sink as the omega level mutant, Jean Grey. Sadie Sink has become one of my favorite actors as I got to grow up watching her grow up on Stranger Things and one of my favorite movie trilogies Fear Street. Her incredible ability to command the scene through her range of emotions is only the surface of what makes her so amazing. In this film we saw her experience pain, heartbreak, anger, and rage but she also expressed relief, joy, confidence, and a little bit of mischievousness. Only an actor like Sadie Sink could share all of that with the audience like the way she did.

The Introduction of Mutants

With the introduction of Jean Grey, Marvel has officially brought mutants into the MCU and that brings me so much joy. I know it’s controversial to say, but I really liked the Fox X-Men films they weren’t perfect but they were fun. But why bring the mutants back to the big screen now? Mutants have always represented the Civil rights movements of the U.S especially but not limited to the Queer Liberation Movement. As the mutant race begins to appear in the Marvel world they bring a moral panic. Rich politicians begin to label these people with gifts as freaks of nature and attempt to eradicate the X-gene from their society.

Sound familiar? It should because that is exactly what is happening to queer people in the U.S. today. 62 anti-trans bills have passed in 2026 alone, in my home state of Colorado we have 3 bills that can negatively affect trans folk, on our ballots in the coming November election. That is why I enjoyed this film not just because of what it was but what potential it has for future films to be.

Despite what your old relative at the family reunion might say, representation in movies is very important to society. My college professor once said, “Lived experiences influence media, media influence the audience, the audience influence government, and the government influences legislation.” Now, I’m not saying by having Jean Grey in this years block buster hit queer people are magically going to be accepted into society. What I am saying is that people need to see stories of defeating oppression told especially in times like this. These stories have the ability to bring audiences together and give them light their dark world. It encourages people to keep fighting. Seeing Bobby Drake(Iceman) have to come out to his parents as a mutant in X-2 made me feel seen and less alone in my small rural conservative town. Seeing mutants get mistreated also made my young self question the logic behind the conservative ideology everyone else around me held. Why do we call Dr. Trask evil for wanting to eradicate mutants in a movie, just to turn around and do the same thing to Queer Folk, or people of color, or any other group that is not Straight White Cis Males.

What I hope to see in the MCU’s Future

The story of mutants is the story of U.S. society, I mean even Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants vs Xavier’s X-Men reflects the belief of a “right way” and “wrong way” of fighting for rights. Similar to how ACT UP was always pinned against TAG during the AIDs movement of the 80s, or MLKs movement was pinned against Malcom X during the civil rights movement of the 60s. All these groups were fighting for the same goal but some did it in more aggressive ways that were viewed more negatively by historians. I hope that when we finally see the brotherhood and Xavier, the brotherhood will still show some positives in their fight (even if they are ruthless in the end). I also hope that they won’t loose the source material and mutants will represent what they have always represented, the fight to live freely and as yourself.