The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always thrived on interconnectivity, but the road to Avengers: Doomsday is looking surprisingly sparse. As the colossal event film prepares to dominate the holiday season in late 2026, fans might wonder how the pieces will fall into place. After all, only one other MCU movie is on the schedule before Doctor Doom finally makes his devastating move. That film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, seems like an odd puzzle piece—a grounded, street-level story that deliberately walks away from the multiversal chaos. Yet beneath its gang-war surface, there may be subtle threads tying Peter Parker to the looming Incursion crisis.
Marvel Studios’ 2026 calendar is a sharp contrast to previous years. After releasing three films in 2025—including Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*—the studio has streamlined its output. Only Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July) and Avengers: Doomsday (December) are on the docket. This means the wall-crawler’s fourth solo outing is the final theatrical opportunity to lay narrative groundwork for the Doctor Doom-led catastrophe. The obvious disconnect is that Brand New Day is a deliberate reset. Peter Parker has erased his identity from the world’s memory, and the film leans into a gritty, neighborhood-focused vibe inspired by the controversial comic book arc of the same name. Villains like Tombstone, Mister Negative, and Scorpion hint at a sprawling underground conflict, while the involvement of a savage Hulk suggests brute force rather than cosmic machinations.
So how could this street-level thriller possibly feed into the multiverse-shattering finale? The answer hides in Spider-Man’s recent history. Spider-Man: No Way Home wasn't just a nostalgic crossover; it was a reckless tampering with reality. Peter and Doctor Strange’s botched spell ripped open doorways between dimensions, pulling in alternate versions of the hero and villains. Meanwhile, Strange’s earlier follies in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness further weakened the barriers between universes. Many theorists believe these events directly triggered the Incursion that Doctor Doom intends to exploit—or perhaps the one he himself is orchestrating. If that’s true, then the Sorcerer Supreme and the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man are squarely in Doom’s crosshairs. A man as meticulous as Victor Von Doom wouldn’t overlook the two individuals who unwittingly handed him the keys to universal collapse.
The most straightforward link would arrive in a post-credits scene. Marvel has a habit of tucking universe-altering revelations into stingers, and *Thunderbolts* already teased Doom’s emergence. Picture this: after the final gangland showdown, Peter swings through a quiet New York night, only to have the air around him ripple. A green-hooded figure steps out of a dark portal, observing silently. No world-ending dialogue, just a cold, calculating stare. Spider-Man has faced gods and cosmic tyrants, but a single look from Doom could convey that his street-level days are about to end violently.
An even more woven connection involves the Hulk. The jade giant is confirmed to appear in Brand New Day, presumably as a rampaging savage Green Goliath that Spider-Man must subdue. Early speculation pinned the cause on Mister Negative’s corrupting touch, which can flip a person’s morality. But what if the real puppeteer is Doctor Doom? Using a blend of science and sorcery, Doom could easily incite Hulk’s rage, turning the Avenger into a living weapon pointed straight at Peter Parker. This wouldn’t be a random attack—it would be Doom quietly removing pieces from the board. If Hulk is left mentally shattered or incapacitated, Earth’s defense force loses one of its heaviest hitters. With Spider-Man potentially occupied and rattled, Doom’s path stands less obstructed. Such meticulous sabotage aligns perfectly with a Latverian monarch who plays games within games.
Of course, Brand New Day may also simply strengthen Spider-Man’s personal stakes without an overt Doom cameo. The film could emphasize Peter’s isolation and his vulnerability in a world that has forgotten him, themes that Doom would ruthlessly exploit in the crossover event. A hero unsure of his place in the universe is exactly the kind of broken tool a master manipulator would collect. Whether through direct interference, a subtle post-credit tease, or even a background detail like a news report about unusual seismic activity in Latveria, the groundwork must be laid. Marvel can’t afford to drop a two-and-a-half-hour Doomsday finale on audiences without first planting the narrative seeds.
Whatever the method, Spider-Man: Brand New Day carries an unspoken burden. It’s the last arrow in Marvel’s quiver before the Doom era reshapes the entire saga. Fans should keep their eyes wide open during every quiet moment and every punch thrown between gangsters—because the shadows might just hide the silhouette of a man in an iron mask, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The clock is ticking, and the neighborhood web-slinger might be about to stumble into a war far bigger than any gangland feud.