The recently confirmed тιтle of Spider-Man: Brand New Day may have just explained why Tom Holland was not part of Avengers: Doomsday‘s extensive cast list. In recent weeks, updates for some of the biggest upcoming Marvel movies have come thick and fast. Spider-Man 4 story details and an official тιтle were revealed at CinemaCon 2025, with director Destin Daniel Cretton and star Tom Holland making appearances to tease the next stage of the Web-Slinger’s journey in the MCU.

This came only a week after Marvel Studios’ surprise announcement that applied to another mᴀssive MCU movie of the next few years – Avengers: Doomsday. The announcement was certainly a change of tact for Marvel Studios as it came in the form of a five-and-a-half-hour live stream. The livestream served the purpose of revealing the cast list for Avengers: Doomsday, though with a few notable absences. Now, after Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s тιтle confirmation, one of the absences in question makes a lot more sense.

Avengers: Doomsday’s Cast Announcement Features A Huge Range Of Actors – But Not Tom Holland

Avengers: Doomsday’s Cast Is One Of The Biggest In Marvel’s History

Firstly, it is worth exploring the sheer vastness of Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast and why the likes of Tom Holland were missing from the announcement. The aforementioned livestream saw Marvel Studios slowly revealing set chairs adorned with the names of various cast members. Chris Hemsworth was the first, leading to other Avengers actors like Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Simu Liu, Danny Ramirez, and Tom Hiddleston to be announced over the next five hours. They were also joined by actors who play honorary Avengers linked to Wakanda, like Leтιтia Wright and Winston Duke, and a villain of theirs, Tenoch Huerta.

The other names revealed included the actors who play the team members from the remaining two Marvel movies of 2025: Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Aside from Olga Kurylenko, all main actors from these two movies were confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday. Perhaps most surprisingly, the announcement included Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and Channing Tatum, confirming that members of the Fox X-Men movie timeline will face off against Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom too.

More surprising than those confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, however, were those left out of the announcement. One of the more notable absentees was Tom Holland, with many expecting Spider-Man to be part of the team ᴀssembled to fight Doctor Doom. With Kevin Feige’s Avengers: Doomsday comments recently, it seems the response to Doom will be some Avengers, the old X-Men, the Thunderbolts, and the Fantastic Four. Although more cast members are sure to be announced, Holland was certainly a shocking exclusion.

Brand New Day’s тιтle Teases A Story That Might Not Make Sense If Spider-Man Was In Avengers: Doomsday

A Switch In Scale May Be In Play For Spider-Man

This is because of the comic book storyline of the same name, which essentially served as a soft reboot of Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man stories. In this story, Peter makes a deal with Mephisto to bring his Aunt May back to life, causing mᴀssive changes to the timeline and resetting the classic Spider-Man status quo with some new allies and enemies. If Spider-Man: Brand New Day follows a similar storyline, it is logical to ᴀssume the film will be more street-level than the last few stories the character has appeared in.

It is hard to imagine Spidey focusing on more street-level threats after knowing that a multiversal one like Doctor Doom is out there…

Therefore, if Holland appeared in Avengers: Doomsday a few months before Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this smaller-scale story would make less sense. After all, it is hard to imagine Spidey focusing on more street-level threats after knowing that a multiversal one like Doctor Doom is out there. Moreover, Doomsday is set to lead directly into Avengers: Secret Wars, meaning Spider-Man having another, offshoot story sandwiched between these mᴀssive events makes little sense.

Spider-Man Being In Avengers: Secret Wars After Missing Doomsday Could Be Better

Thanks To Secret Wars’ Premise

The final reason as to why it makes sense that Holland is not in Avengers: Doomsday is that it could be even cooler if he missed this movie, but appeared in Avengers: Secret Wars. Firstly, this would allow Spider-Man: Brand New Day to make sense as a standalone story, something that is admittedly rare for the MCU version of the character. Secondly, it would aid the setup of Avengers: Secret Wars.

The 2027 film is likely to follow the comic book story of the same name, in which Doom creates the realm of Battleworld amid the multiverse collapsing. Battleworld served as a place where the remaining surviving universes coexisted, one of which would likely be the MCU’s main timeline. As a result, Spider-Man being part of Avengers: Secret Wars makes a lot of sense, with the lack of him in Doomsday making his appearance in the former all the more exciting, especially after the story of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.