SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” now playing in theaters.
As “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” director Destin Daniel Cretton delved deep into development, he spent time figuring out which villains would be most exciting to watch in an action sequence. “Brand New Day” has no shortage of villains, from The Scorpion (Michael Mando) and crime boss Tombstone (Marvin Jones) to Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). One particular idea he had was to bring in The Hand, the mystical clan of ninja assassins.
“What better foe to put him up against than a bunch of magic ninjas?” Cretton asks in a clip promoting the Sony/Marvel blockbuster.
The film’s climax comes after Jean Grey is captured and detained by the Department of Damage Control (DODC), the same agency that kidnapped her sister, Sara (Olivia Booth-Ford). Tom Holland’s Spider-Man rushes to rescue Jean and stop her from enacting revenge on William “Bill” Metzger (Tramell Tillman), the director of the Department of Damage Control. There, he encounters The Hand, a group of magic ninjas controlled by the powerful mutant.
When crafting the film’s action sequences, stunt designer Peng Zhang had one directive: keep the fight grounded. (Not literally — this is “Spider-Man” after all — but metaphorically.)
