New Information Comes To Light on Leading Actor Replacement in 'Spider-Man 4'

Could this actress be playing a character out of left field?

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man journey began with a cameo in Captain America: Civil War (2016) before Jon Watts’ trilogy charted his evolution from a web-slinging teen in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) to a hero shouldering tremendous loss in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). That path reached a Multiversal crescendo in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which smashed box office records and brought Holland face-to-face with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s versions of the character.

Despite Holland once admitting he hoped to pass the mantle to Miles Morales before hitting 30, he’ll be right at that milestone when Spider-Man 4 swings into theaters on July 31, 2026, with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) directing.

Following the end of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Holland confirmed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Spider-Man 4 was officially in motion. Marvel and Sony revealed the title to be Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), and it’s set to release just a few months before Avengers: Doomsday (2026) drops. From Joe and Anthony Russo, the film brings Robert Downey Jr. back to the MCU as Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom alongside multiple other former and current MCU stars.

Plot details remain a mystery, though Watts previously described his trilogy as a long-form retelling of Peter Parker’s beginnings. Producer Amy Pascal teased to Deadline that the next chapter will address Peter’s choice to live solely as Spider-Man after erasing his identity from everyone’s memory.

“Well, we have to deal with the fact that he decided he was going to give up being Peter Parker, and he was going to focus on being Spider-Man because being Peter Parker was too hard,” Pascal explained. “So that’s what the movie’s about… There’s room to grow.”

One major shift comes with Zendaya’s MJ. Earlier this year, according to industry insider Jeff Sneider, it was reported that she would appear in Spider-Man 4 but with a “severely reduced” presence due to overlapping commitments like HBO’s Euphoria Season 3, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 3, and Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic The Odyssey—where she’ll reunite with Holland.

That reduction could open the door for another key character from Peter Parker’s history. Rumors suggest Gwen Stacy may play a role, with the reported working title “Blue Oasis” sparking speculation that it draws from Jeph Loeb’s acclaimed 2002 comic “Spider-Man: Blue”.

“‘Spider-Man: Blue’ was a comic written by Jeph Loeb in 2002 that ran for six issues. The story is set on Valentine’s Day and presents a Spider-Man who feels ‘blue’ or depressed as he sits atop the Brooklyn Bridge,” The Cosmic Circus explained. “The story retells how Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy first met and fell in love in a beautifully told story that melts even the coldest of hearts.”

Casting rumors were eventually given a major boost. Deadline reported that Stranger Things breakout Sadie Sink—best known as Max Mayfield—will join Holland in Spider-Man 4. While she had long been linked to the role of mutant Jean Grey in Marvel’s eventual X-Men reboot, insiders indicated she would instead portray a Multiversal version of Mary Jane Watson.

“[Jeff] Sneider, if you remember, was the first to break the story that Sink was the frontrunner for Jean Grey in Marvel Studios’ X-Men and admits to being surprised that Sink was announced for Spider-Man 4 instead of the mutant reboot, but says he heard from his sources last night that Sink will likely be playing Watson, not Jean Grey,” Comic Book Movie reported.

Since then, Sink has been confirmed to be part of the movie, but her character role is yet to be revealed. While reports suggested that another version of MJ or even Jean Grey was a possibility, a new report claims that Sink may be portraying another role.

“It’s said that “Annabelle Adams” is being used as a possible codename for Sink’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day character, though the question mark seems to suggest that it may be who she’s actually playing,” Comic Book Movie reported.

But who is Annabelle Adams?

Annabelle Adams is a supporting character in the Scarlet Spider comics—specifically, “Scarlet Spider Vol. 2,” starting with issue #1. She is a bartender (and occasional singer) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, where Kaine Parker—Peter Parker’s clone who becomes the Scarlet Spider—frequents the bar.

Her motivations are murky; in one instance, she burns a warning letter from Madame Web meant for Kaine before leaving. There’s speculation in the storyline that Annabelle might be the villain Shathra in disguise after she impersonates Annabelle in the 24th issue of the comic book series.

In the MCU’s current timeline, Zendaya’s Michelle Jones-Watson lost all memory of Peter after Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell to erase his existence from everyone’s mind. Bringing in Sink as a potential love interest could add a fresh dynamic while further underlining Watts’ trilogy as Peter Parker’s extended origin story.

Before the wall-crawler’s next outing, the MCU recently wrapped up Phase Five with Thunderbolts* (2025) after Captain America: Brave New World. More recently, Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrived in July 2025.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will debut on July 31, 2026, ahead of Avengers: Doomsday landing in December 2026.

Elsewhere in the MCU, Kevin Feige recently confirmed that Black Panther 3 is in the works. The news arrives as veteran producer Nate Moore, who has been part of Marvel Studios for 14 years, departs following the completion of Captain America: Brave New World.

What’s your take on Zendaya’s smaller role in Spider-Man 4 and Sadie Sink’s potential casting as Annabelle Adams? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.