For months, fans have been spinning webs of speculation about Stranger Things star Sadie Sink's mysterious role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Now, with the film swinging into theaters on July 31, Sink is finally lifting the curtain—just a little—on her secret Marvel debut.
In a new interview with Collider, Sink opened up about the intense secrecy surrounding her character, comparing it to her time on Stranger Things Season 5. "At this point, it is even more intense," she said. "Last season was hard with the coma of it all... But this, I can't even say who I'm playing, which is pretty extreme."
Theories have run rampant online, with fans guessing everything from Jean Grey (potentially bridging the X-Men into the MCU ahead of Avengers: Doomsday) to Spider-Girl, Firestar, or Gwen Stacy. Sink admitted she's been amused by the sheer volume of guesses. "There was a new character every day, it seemed," she laughed.
Interestingly, Sink revealed that Marvel fans actually knew about her casting before she did. She saw online rumors that she was up for a role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and just two days later, she got the call. "That was just wild to go from reading something to it actually being a possibility," she said.
Once she was officially cast, Sink had to wait until she arrived in London to finally read the full script. But director Destin Daniel Cretton kept her in the loop from the start. "They were pretty transparent with me. I had a good sense of what I'd be doing," she explained.
The film picks up after the heartbreaking events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Peter Parker (Tom Holland) isolated as everyone he loves has moved on without him. To make matters worse, a strange mutation is taking hold of him—one that might be the key to stopping an invisible threat to New York City. The cast also includes Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk.
Sink also shared that she's already seen the finished film, and it matched her expectations. "Weirdly, I think it was exactly what I thought it would be," she said. "Everything that we thought we were making on set, like the tone, all really translated beautifully."
As for keeping secrets from the press—and avoiding Tom Holland-style slip-ups—Sink said she's been careful. She did confide in a Stranger Things castmate she lived with during Season 5, as well as a few family members. "In the beginning, I was really terrified to say anything," she admitted.
For more on the film's place in the MCU, check out our breakdown of Spider-Man: Brand New Day's MCU timeline. And for a deeper dive into Peter Parker's darker journey, read our interview with Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, and Jacob Batalon.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31.
