SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ now playing in theaters.
After months of speculation about who Sadie Sink is playing in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the movie has finally hit theaters and Spidey fans can see for themselves which comic-book character she’s bringing to life
As many people predicted, the red-headed “Stranger Things” star is in fact playing Jean Grey, one of the original members of the X-Men. We’ll no doubt be seeing her in the MCU’s planned “X-Men” movie, though no details on its cast or release have been announced.
Sink’s identity is shrouded in mystery as “Brand New Day” begins, and her face isn’t revealed until roughly halfway through the film. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man begins investigating a new villain on the loose in New York City who has the power to possess bystanders’ bodies (as long as they’re less than 33 feet away). She uses her abilities to “jump” between between people’s minds and attempt to break into the headquarters for the Department of Damage Control. The organization, which is responsible for cleaning up the messes after superhero battles, has something that Jean wants locked inside a vault.
After a failed break-in attempt using a possessed Scorpion (Michael Mando), Sink turns to a stronger, larger and greener wrecking ball to get inside of Damage Control: the Hulk. She takes control of Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and removes the inhibitor device that prevents him from turning into the Hulk. Spider-Man teams up with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher to take down the green giant and stop the him from destroying the Damage Control skyscraper entirely. Jean manages to break into the secret vault, but she’s tranquilized and apprehended by Tramell Tillman’s Damage Control CEO Bill Metzger.
It’s here that Damage Control is revealed as the real villainous organization in the movie. Metzger and his team hold Jean hostage and run tests on her to understand how her psychic powers work. A flashback reveals that Jean had an older sister named Sara who could also possess people’s minds. One day in the park, Sara gets abducted by Damage Control officers, and she possesses Jean’s mind to run away and save her younger sister. When Jean is imprisoned, she realizes she’s locked in the same cell that was used to hold Sara, who had died while being tested on by Damage Control. Jean overpowers their restraints and creates a gigantic psychic bubble that freezes in place nearly everyone in New York City.
Spider-Man is the only person who can overcome Jean’s psychic powers, and he’s able to reason with her to drop her vendetta against Damage Control. While Jean probes Spidey’s mind and lives through a tender memory he has of his late Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Punisher is miles away lining up a sniper rifle to take out the mutant threat. As he fires the bullet, Spider-Man pushes Jean out of the way at the last second, but is hit by the gunshot himself. A devastated Punisher rescues Spider-Man and brings him to a hospital, where he eventually recovers; Jean had been using her powers to keep the hero alive, but she leaves before Spidey can say goodbye.
In the final moments of the movie, Jean is seen riding a bus out of the city. Could she be heading upstate to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters? The famous mutant school is located in Westchester, and the fall foliage suggests school may be in session soon. There aren’t any references to the X-Men or other mutants in “Brand New Day,” but it seems clear that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Sink. It also seems like Damage Control may be morphed into a more evil corporation that’s anti-mutant in the future.
The “Stranger Things” breakout star is the third actor to take on the famous telekinetic mutant in live-action. In Fox’s previous “X-Men” movies, Jean had been played by Famke Janssen in the original film trilogy Then in the prequel series, “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner had taken on a younger version of the mutant.
Now, it seems that Sink will be part of the next generation of X-Men in the MCU. We’ve seen several “X-Men” actors reprise their Fox roles, like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Patrick Stewart as Prof. Charles Xavier and Kelsey Grammer as Beast. In “Doomsday,” Stewart and Grammer will be joined by James Marsden as Cyclops, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Channing Tatum as Gambit. After living in their own X-universe, the stars will be thrust into the MCU, joining forces with the Avengers and Fantastic Four to take on Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. With Sink’s casting, it seems like the MCU is prepping a new, younger cast of X-Men to join their sprawling universe of heroes.
