UPDATE: Sony is planning a Brand New Day re-release with footage that was cut from the theatrical version.
Miles Morales suit prototypes made for Spider-Man: Brand New Day turned up at a Hollywood auction this week. A day later, they were gone.
Fans spotted the listings on auction site iCollector on September 21, where the items were described as “chest glyph stunt fabric panel” prototypes made for the movie.
The prototypes carry the design Miles has worn since the comics: a black suit with a red spider emblem and red webbing, made famous by the Spider-Verse movies and the PlayStation games.
The X account Spider-Man News flagged the auction first.
“Stunt plate prototypes for Spider-Man Brand New Day are currently being auctioned off as part of a Hollywood auction,” the account posted. “I have questions.”
By the next morning, the items were pulled.
“So prototypes and fabrics that were made for Spider-Man Brand New Day that were being sold off at an auction has now been removed from the auction,” the account followed up on September 22.
The listings still show up in Google search results, but the auction pages are dead.
Pulled, Not Sold
Here is what has fans talking: the prototypes were removed from the auction. They were not sold.
The thinking goes that Sony or Marvel wanted the items off the market, and fans took the removal as a sign that Miles Morales is coming to the MCU.
Brand New Day was rumored to introduce Miles before release. That did not happen, and the movie kept its focus on Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.
So why do Miles Morales suit prototypes for the movie exist at all? One answer points backward.
A Different Version Of Brand New Day
Brand New Day went through wildly different versions before the one that hit theaters, and the prototypes may have been made for one of them.
Co-writer Chris McKenna walked The Bulwark through the discarded drafts.
In one, Peter ran into MJ and had to disguise his voice with a bad British accent.
“He had to have a persona. So it would be Peter from Queens pretending he’s British because he was trying to disguise his voice. Tom Holland doing an American version of a British accent,” McKenna said.
“He was juggling personas. He has to fall in with her to get in with this mystery, and he’s pretending he’s someone else: Ben Reilly,” McKenna continued. “But he’s Ben Reilly, British.”
Another version sent Peter out of New York entirely. He was living on a boat and taking down gangs in Southeast Asia, until word of an imposter Spider-Man drew him back home.
“He has to go all the way back to New York to deal with this imposter. Like, who is this guy? He gets there, and he finds out, like, this guy is using my web fluid and he’s using my suit. And it turns out the guy has done what Peter Parker had never done, where he actually copyrighted the Spider-Man brand, like trademarked it,” McKenna revealed.
“Then [Peter] had to hire Matt Murdock as a lawyer to help him fight because he got a cease-and-desist from this other guy. You can’t pretend that you’re Spider-Man. And so it became this whole thing that was pretty fun, but it was just a different story,” the writer added.
One more draft had an injured, out-of-it Peter looking for painkillers at a pharmacy when a voice calls his name. It belongs to the bodega cat.
“He’s like, ‘Peter, you were part of a bigger story. You are not alone. I know you feel alone, but there’s a whole community of beings out here that know what you’re going through and are watching after you. There’s an item that you must find. It is called the Spider Totem.’ And then we start going into the whole Spider Totem story,” McKenna said.
An imposter wearing Peter’s suit. A voice telling Peter he is part of a bigger story. McKenna never names Miles in any of it, but the drafts show just how many versions of this movie existed. A Miles Morales suit tested for one of them would surprise no one.
Feige Already Confirmed The Plan
The other answer is the one fans want: the prototypes are for what comes next.
Back in July, Kevin Feige confirmed Marvel has plans for a live-action Miles Morales.
“I think live-action Spider-Man movies have this destiny: to add Miles at some point after the Spider-Verse series is completed,” Feige said.
The timing runs through animation. Beyond the Spider-Verse arrives next year to close out Sony’s animated trilogy, and Feige tied Miles’ live-action debut to some point after that.
Feige also said he and producing partner Amy Pascal have gone deep on what the next two, three, four, even five Spider-Man movies could be.
The next one is already in motion. Sony boss Tom Rothman said “yes” to Spider-Man 5, and Tom Holland and Zendaya both want back in. Amy Pascal wants director Destin Daniel Cretton back as well, which points to a 2029 release.
Brand New Day is the biggest domestic movie of all time, its sequel is coming, and the animated trilogy wraps next year. Now Miles Morales suit prototypes exist, and somebody just made sure they are no longer for sale.
