As A Star Wars Fan, I'm So Disappointed By This Spider-Man: Brand New Day Decision

Published Aug 2, 2026, 12:55 PM EDT Liz Declan is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant, primarily covering movies. She is a massive fan of Star Wars, the MCU, and Supernatural. In addition to writing, Liz loves attending and covering conventions and interviewing actors. Find her on TikTok and Instagram @va.va.vera Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. There's no question that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a great MCU movie. In fact, after so many MCU movies and shows that failed to impress audiences over the last several years, Brand New Day is a true standout, and its success in exceeding audience expectations is clear, not only with its solid Rotten Tomatoes scores (to say the least), which currently sit at 90% with critics and 98% with audiences, but also with positive reviews from critics and the staggering box office success it's already proven to have, even before its opening weekend has concluded. There are myriad reasons for this success, from Tom Holland's performance as Peter Parker getting even better—and it was already very good—to the movie's introduction of myriad new characters who proved to be absolutely brilliant on screen, both in and of themselves and also in terms of their interactions with other characters on screen, especially Peter/Spider-Man. In fact, high on that list is Sadie Sink's character, whose mysterious identity was finally revealed after months of anticipation, but there were others even beyond her, such as the new police chief, who also proved to be a great addition. However, not every character who was teased in the trailers got quite the screen time and character arc that many were expecting. In fact, one character in particular, MJ's new boyfriend, was heavily featured in the trailers, and while many weren't looking forward to seeing MJ with somebody else, there was excitement from Star Wars fans that the character was being played by Eman Esfandi, the actor playing live-action Ezra Bridger in Ahsoka. Unfortunately, that character wasn't quite what fans were hoping for, and that actually did prove pretty disappointing. Eman Esfandi's Brand New Day Character Had Limited Screen Time The trailers had suggested that MJ having a new boyfriend would be a relatively significant storyline, with Peter having to grapple with the fact that, after forgetting Peter's existence in Spider-Man: No Way Home, she had, sadly, found someone else. There were even rumors and theories that Esfandi could be playing MJ's controversial comic book boyfriend named Paul, but in the end, that wasn't the case. In actuality, Esfandi's character was little more than a throwaway, with his screen time being very limited and MJ making just a few comments suggesting that the relationship wasn't very good. On the one hand, it makes sense that Brand New Day played it this way. It was never going to be popular for MJ to have a serious relationship with someone else, and even just the few clips of them together in the movie trailers got a rise out of many fans. Yet, it is disappointing just in the sense that Esfandi is a brilliant actor who absolutely deserves more screen time (and now, he's very unlikely to ever appear in the MCU again). While the ship has seemingly sailed on his days with MJ, though, there are opportunities that could offer Esfandi the attention he deserves. Esfandi Deserves More Prominent Roles Moving Forward Assuming that Esfandi's MCU days are over, which seems likely considering MJ was already not happy with the relationship in Brand New Day, there are opportunities for him to shine elsewhere. Specifically, Esfandi is confirmed to be returning as Ezra Bridger in Ahsoka season 2, and he will very likely be a major focus of the new season. After all, the Ahsoka season 1 ending revealed that he hitched a ride back to the main Star Wars galaxy on Thrawn's ship, and he is now the best fighter to take down Thrawn as he threatens to bring back the Empire. Unfortunately, Star Wars fans do have a bit longer to wait, as Ahsoka season 2 has been delayed from this year into next year, but it will hopefully be worth the wait to finally see Esfandi as a main focus on screen, following his fairly small role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.