SPIDER-MAN JUST SWUNG INTO GOTHAM—AND FANS ARE FREAKING OUT
Tom Holland's Spider-Man is about to face something more chaotic than a multiversal meltdown: Glasgow traffic.
Yes, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is heading to Scotland's city center next month for a shoot that's already triggering fan theories, location deep-dives, and questions no one seems ready to answer. Bothwell Street. Oak Street. St Vincent. You know, classic New York spots—if your NYC knowledge comes exclusively from Trainspotting.
So why is Peter Parker suddenly slinging webs where Bruce Wayne once brooded?
SCOTLAND? STREET-LEVEL? SOMEONE'S LYING.
Let's unpack this.
Marvel's next Spidey outing—Brand New Day—is billing itself as a “street-level” reboot. Smaller stakes. Grittier tone. Fewer portals. But with Glasgow now confirmed, joining Italy and Morocco, the math ain't mathing.
What kind of friendly neighborhood Spider-Man needs to film across three countries?
Savage comparison time: this is like if The Wire suddenly shot an episode in Santorini. Gorgeous, yes. Relevant to the plot? Suspiciously not.
Also, Glasgow's history of cinematic shape-shifting isn't new. The Batman (2022) turned it into Gotham. Parts of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and World War Z were also shot there. The city's architecture practically begs to double for anywhere except Scotland. Now Marvel's tapping in—again.
WHY THIS SHOOT MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK
This isn't just location scouting. It's narrative signaling.
The source material for Brand New Day (Marvel's 2008 comic arc) was a divisive hard-reset that saw Peter's marriage to MJ wiped out, his identity re-hidden, and a whole new rogues' gallery introduced. Fans called it bold. Others called it betrayal.
Now, with No Way Home's multiverse chaos still echoing, and early reports suggesting Brand New Day will fuse grounded stories with multiversal weirdness, these international shoots feel less like side quests—and more like a breadcrumb trail to something stranger.
Multiverse redux? Flashbacks to alternate Earths? A stealth Mister Negative arc in Morocco? You tell us.
One location manager reportedly joked, “If Glasgow's New York, then Italy's gotta be… Hell's Kitchen on vacation?” (We think they were kidding. Probably.)
THE VERDICT: STRATEGY OR SPIN?
Here's the uncomfortable truth: Marvel wants to have it both ways.
They're selling Brand New Day as a gritty, character-driven evolution of Tom Holland's Spider-Man. But filming across half of Europe screams “MCU tourism budget.”
So what's the real game? A scaled-down Spider-Man noir—just with multiple continents and possible dimension-hopping? Or are these just budget-friendly stand-ins in a post-pandemic production economy?
And if Glasgow's just New York with better accents… does that still count as “street-level”?
