Spider-Man: Brand New Day is finally in theaters, five years after Spidey's last solo flick and after months of speculating just who the heck Stranger Things star Sadie Sink was going to play. It's received a strong critical reception, and has been breaking records left and right on its way to over $1 billion at the box office.

In the lead-up to his fourth outing in a solo Spider-Man film, star Tom Holland made some curious comments about wanting to pass the baton to another actor and spider-themed hero at some point. While many fans are hoping to see Miles Morales eventually make his live-action film debut as the next Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Brand New Day may have included a cameo by a different spider hero, one who's been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for almost a decade and could make a worthy spider successor.

• Ed. note: Spoilers for *Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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Holland's latest Spider-Man adventure finds him going up against a mysterious foe who has the ability to inhabit other people. At one point, Peter Parker seeks out Bruce Banner's help in devising a device that could inhibit the abilities of any super-powered individual. Peter speaks to Bruce after he teaches a class at Empire State University, where a student asks him a Reddit-pilled question about Thanos. That student's name is Cindy, played by Shannon Young Cho. She's credited as just "Cindy" (via IMDb), but some Spider-Man fans are convinced that she's not just Cindy, but Cindy Moon, another Marvel comics character.

Cindy Moon has been a spider-themed hero in the comics since 2014. She's a Korean-American teenager. In the MCU, Cindy appears as a classmate of Peter's in Spider-Man: Homecoming, portrayed by Tiffany Espensen, who is of Chinese descent. Espensen briefly reprised the role of Cindy in Avengers: Infinity War and appeared in the extended edition of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Who is Cindy Moon/Silk?

Anyone who's picked up a Spider-Man comic or seen the animated Spider-Verse films knows Peter Parker isn't Marvel's only spider-themed hero. Peni Parker, Spider-Woman, Spider-Gwen, and Miles Morales are just a few of the prominent non-Peter Parker spider-folks. Cindy Moon is a somewhat recent addition to spider-canon. Using the superhero name Silk, she debuted in 2014. Silk was bitten by the same radioactive spider as Peter and developed similar powers to him. While Peter usually uses mechanical web shooters, Silk can produce organic webbing (like Holland's Spider-Man in Brand New Day) from her fingertips.

She's been a supporting character in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man and event comics like Spider-Geddon. Silk has also headlined her own comics series. A TV series called Silk: Spider Society had been in the works for some time, but Amazon passed on moving forward with it in 2024. She will reportedly appear in the long-gestating animated Spider-Women film, if it ever actually comes to fruition. And in the video game world, Cindy Moon was teased at the end of Insomniac's Spider-Man 2, so she may appear in the series' next game.

Tom Holland is ready to say goodbye to Spider-Man

Marvel and Sony haven't confirmed a Spider-Man 5, meaning the webhead's MCU future is a bit uncertain. It's likely that Spider-Man's next outing is in Avengers: Secret Wars (if he doesn't make a surprise appearance sooner in December's Avengers: Doomsday). After that, who knows what's next for Holland and Peter Parker?

Holland has previously spoken about passing the torch to a new actor and character. "For whoever’s next, whether that is a Miles Morales or a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman or something like that, I would love to be a part of setting up the next chapter," he told Empire in June. "Whatever that looks like, I don’t know. But if I could do what [Robert] Downey [Jr.] did for me, then I would be so content swinging off into the sunset."

Plenty of fans expect (or hope) Miles Morales has got next, but Marvel has done little to set up his character in the MCU outside of including his uncle Aaron Davis (played by Donald Glover) in Homecoming. Who has been in the MCU since Homecoming? Cindy Moon.

Now, admittedly, I may be veering into Charlie Day-with-a-bulletin-board territory here. However, including Cindy Moon in multiple MCU films certainly makes it seem like Marvel has some sort of plan for her beyond just being a student. For what it's worth, Holland has recently reiterated that he has "a really clear vision to the passing on of the baton, and I think it’s really exciting" on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. Might that torch end up in Silk's hands?

If so, there's no guarantee that the previous actors who played Cindy in Spider-Man movies will play Cindy Moon, or that they're even the same character. Marvel has recast roles before, swapping in Don Cheadle for Terrence Howard in the role of James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine, and recasting the role of Scott Lang's daughter Cassie twice, with Kathryn Newton ultimately landing the role as the superhero Stature.

Meanwhile, Marvel maestro Kevin Feige told Variety the only plan for Holland is "to rest after that global tour. He and Zendaya are going to take a good and restful victory lap, which they very much deserve." Who knows, maybe Holland will be playing Peter Parker until he's 90 and all these comments are just posturing for him to secure that bag ahead for Spider-Man 5 through Spider-Man 27.