Sounds like Spider-Man is about to have a truly awful day. A reliable MCU scooper is teasing a Tom Holland vs. Hulk throwdown in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and the clues about how we get there are oddly specific.
The rumor: Hulk is back, and he is not in a friendly mood
Industry watcher Alex Perez (via The Cosmic Circus) used his November Q&A to tease that Hulk returns with a nastier edge this time, to, in his words:
"unleash the savagery"
That tracks with what Perez said back in September, when he suggested Hulk shows up in Brand New Day so dark that he:
"might even kill someone"
Put those together and yeah, the implication is exactly what you think it is: Spider-Man vs. a very dangerous Hulk. Nothing is confirmed by Marvel, but that is the drumbeat.
- Title: Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
- Cast: Tom Holland, Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Mark Ruffalo
- Release date: July 31, 2026
How do you get Savage Hulk back after Smart Hulk?
It has been a minute since the uncontrollable version took over. After Avengers: Endgame, Bruce settled into Smart Hulk mode. So how do you rip that bandaid off and bring back the rage monster? Set photos might have dropped a breadcrumb.
On August 1, 2025, @MCUFilmNews shared shots from the Brand New Day set featuring an armored truck/tank stamped with a demon-like emblem (the pics were credited to @Arach_07). Fans quickly tied that symbol to the Inner Demons, the thugs who work for Mister Negative in the comics.
If that read is right, we might be meeting Mister Negative for the first time on the big screen. Quick refresher: he is a Dan Slott and Phil Jimenez creation from 2007’s The Amazing Spider-Man, a split-personality villain who toggles between generous community figure Martin Li and the crime boss alter-ego Mister Negative. His whole deal involves Darkforce and Lightforce energy, which he can use to manipulate people and sow chaos.
You can see where this is going. One very plausible theory: Mister Negative messes with Bruce Banner’s mind, cracking open the door for the uncontrollable Savage Hulk to barrel back into the MCU. To be clear, Marvel has not confirmed any of this. But the symbol, the set piece, and the Perez teases all line up a little too neatly to ignore.
The bigger arc: Doomsday now, World War Hulk later?
The rumor mill does not stop at one movie. The talk is that Hulk’s story continues into Avengers: Doomsday and then possibly tees up a World War Hulk film. Perez says a solo World War Hulk is still "in development."
Important caveat: the classic World War Hulk arc involves Hulk being exiled to Sakaar and returning to Earth for payback. So far, neither Brand New Day nor Doomsday has obviously planted those seeds. Translation: even if WWH is being developed, the path to it is not clearly mapped on-screen yet.
Perez also claims Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is in Brand New Day and that this version of Hulk is scarier than the one we have gotten used to. Between that and the set chatter, expect something way meaner than the Endgame-era Green Guy.
The takeaway
If Perez is right, Brand New Day sets up a Spidey vs. Hulk clash with Mister Negative stirring the pot, and that chaos may ripple into Avengers: Doomsday. A full-blown World War Hulk is reportedly on a whiteboard somewhere, but the on-screen setup is not there yet.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters July 31, 2026.