Spider-Man: Brand New Day returning screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have addressed a major criticism about the character played by Sadie Sink, explaining why her version of Jean Grey starts off as a villain.
The latest chapter in Tom Holland’s Peter Parker saga picks up four years after the events of No Way Home, as the webslinger battles a new enemy and reconnects with Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya), who have no memories of him. The telepathic menace he’s up against is revealed to be none other than X-Men character Jean Grey after a cruel twist in which she takes over MJ’s consciousness and tricks Peter into a kiss.
As the new film has gone over the $1 billion mark at the box office, McKenna and Sommers, who have penned all previous Holland’s Spidey outings, have explained Jean needed to pose a real threat to Peter in order for the central conflict to be believable.
Jay Maidment//Sony Pictures
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“I think technically, she’s not responsible for any deaths. But you come away with the impression, certainly, that she’s caused a lot of destruction and mayhem,” Sommers told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Even if you’re going to have a villain who really is redeemed at the end or goes through a transformation, you have to start them off in a place where they feel formidable. If it doesn’t feel like this is going to be someone who is a challenge to our hero, physically, emotionally, mentally, then you don’t really buy it.
Sony Pictures
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“What we were really excited about was this villain got to be a mystery for so long in the movie,” McKenna added.
“We were in Peter’s shoes. We were not putting the audience ahead of him, so he was reacting to everything, and we were with him reacting.”
There might be a redeeming arc in store for Jean after she and Peter reach an understanding in Brand New Day’s emotional climax, with Sink expected to reprise the character in the upcoming, star-studded X-Men reboot.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in cinemas now.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).