{"id":41942,"date":"2026-08-13T00:17:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41942"},"modified":"2026-08-13T00:17:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:17:34","slug":"jean-grey-did-not-kill-anyone-say-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41942","title":{"rendered":"Jean Grey Did Not Kill Anyone, Say Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>[This story contains spoilers for <em>Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/em>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tFor more than a decade, writing duo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/erik-sommers\/\" id=\"auto-tag_erik-sommers_1\" data-tag=\"erik-sommers\">Erik Sommers<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/chris-mckenna\/\" id=\"auto-tag_chris-mckenna_1\" data-tag=\"chris-mckenna\">Chris McKenna<\/a> have been one of the constants in Spider-Man\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe scribes, who got their start on TV shows like <em>Community<\/em>, are credited on all four of Tom Holland\u2019s solo movies: <em>Homecoming<\/em> (2017), <em>Far From Home<\/em> (2019) and the nearly $2 billion grosser <em>No Way Home<\/em> (2021). They return in a big way with <em>Brand New Day<\/em>, which has toppled multiple records, including passing <em>Avengers: Endgame <\/em>for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/spider-man-brand-new-day-box-office-biggest-first-week-1236668259\/\">biggest first week domestically of all time<\/a>. It\u2019s already amassed $1.68 billion globally since launching July 31.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tSommers and McKenna had a number of tasks to juggle, but one of the more impactful for the future of Marvel was the addition of Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), the first castmember of the MCU\u2019s new X-Men team. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tJean is ultimately revealed to be a sympathetic character in search of her sister, Sara Grey (Olivia Booth-Ford), who has been captured by the government organization Damage Control in order to exploit her psychic powers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tBut on her path, Jean causes bodily and emotional harm to both Peter and numerous innocent bystanders by inhabiting their bodies and forcing them to do her bidding. Sommers and McKenna say it was important to make her feel like a real threat, though they say they don\u2019t believe she went as far as causing any deaths. (One man does appear to be hit by a bus at one point, and the Internet is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/marvelstudios\/comments\/1ve77vj\/spoilers_my_one_problem_with_brand_new_day\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">debating<\/a> whether he died.) <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cI think technically, she\u2019s not responsible for any deaths. But you come away with the impression, certainly, that she\u2019s caused a lot of destruction in mayhem,\u201d says Sommers. \u201cEven if you\u2019re going to have a villain who really is redeemed at the end or goes through a transformation, you have to start them off in a place where they feel formidable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhile internet sleuths have been predicting Sink was Jean for awhile now, McKenna notes that a key to the movie was holding back the reveal: \u201cWe were in Peter\u2019s shoes. We were not putting the audience ahead of him, so he was reacting to everything, and we were with him reacting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tIn a conversation with <em>THR<\/em>, the duo also claim that nobody knows what happened on Staten Island between Spider-Man and the Punisher, who apparently was saved by the wallcrawler at some point in their shared past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/spider-man-no-way-home-andrew-garfield-tobey-maguire-1235068153\/\">When we spoke for <em>No Way Home<\/em><\/a>, you said that movie could be a fitting end, or a story engine to propel a new plot. It was obviously the latter. How soon after <em>No Way Home<\/em> did you get the ball rolling?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>CHRIS MCKENNA<\/strong> We were having conversations pretty soon afterwards. And then at a certain point, it was like, \u201cOh, wait, we should probably have a deal first.\u201d We were so excited to talk about it. (<em>Laughs.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>So what happens next? Are you in a writers room with Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s all of us in a room. Producers, folks like Kevin and Lou [D\u2019Esposito] from Marvel. It\u2019s a lot like the early days in any season of a TV show. You\u2019re just sitting there, \u201cSo, what are we gonna do? What is this thing?\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1296px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((730\/1296)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SBND-17598_r-H-2026.jpg?w=1296\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"730\" width=\"1296\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Spider-Man and The Punisher in \u2018Spider-Man: Brand New Day.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Jay Maidment\/Sony Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>There were all sorts of rumors, even that Wolverine might being in this. So how early does Frank Castle come into play?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> The Punisher was someone who came out very early. Their relationship is so great in the comics. You already had Jon Bernthal doing such a fantastic job with Punisher. We knew that Jon and Tom had such a close relationship that Jon had actually helped Tom record his [Marvel] audition tape and vice versa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> We were mindful that up until now, Peter has had an older person who\u2019s sort of a mentor. We didn\u2019t want to replicate that. We didn\u2019t want Peter and Frank to be like his relationship with Tony (Robert Downey Jr. in <em>Homecoming<\/em>). Or the way he\u2019s looking up to Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal in <em>Far From Home<\/em>) when he first meets him. Even if Frank calls him a kid or whatever, they are sort of more approaching each other as equals, as friends eventually. Because that\u2019s part of Peter being more of a grown-up Spider-Man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>Spidey keeps referencing that he saved Frank\u2019s life on Staten Island. Do you know what happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> I don\u2019t think anyone knows what happened in Staten Island. (<em>Laughs<\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> We always had an opening action sequence. I think originally it was a bank robbery, and then that turned into this really fun car chase we did with the tank, but it was always Frank blustering into this action sequence in a way that drove Spider-Man crazy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield gave input as to what their Peter Parkers were up to when we saw them in <em>No Way Home<\/em>. Did Bernthal have ideas about Frank before he came aboard?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> Everything I\u2019ve heard about Jon is that he takes the role extremely seriously. He wanted to be really authentic with certain elements of the weaponry.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1296px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((730\/1296)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/MCDSPMA_CO015.jpg?w=1296\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"730\" width=\"1296\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Tom Holland and Zendaya in \u2018Spider-Man: Brand New Day.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Courtesy of Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>You allow Jean Grey to do really bad stuff in this movie. The rooftop scene with Peter and MJ is cruel, and she seems to be responsible for deaths. That\u2019s a lot to put on someone who will be redeemed and is a hero down the road.<\/strong> <strong>Did you have any worries?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> I think technically, she\u2019s not responsible for any deaths. But you come away with the impression, certainly, that she\u2019s caused a lot of destruction in mayhem. Even if you\u2019re going to have a villain who really is redeemed at the end or goes through a transformation, you have to start them off in a place where they feel formidable. If it doesn\u2019t feel like this is going to be someone who is a challenge to our hero, physically, emotionally, mentally, then you don\u2019t really buy it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong>\u00a0What we were really excited about was this villain got to be a mystery for so long in the movie. We were in Peter\u2019s shoes. We were not putting the audience ahead of him, so he was reacting to everything, and we were with him reacting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>V-Max: were you guys in the dentist chair, looking at the ceiling when you inspiration struck you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong>: Once we had Sara Grey in the story, we were allowed to play with the idea that her sister was trying to communicate, sending out a telepathic message, which was an offscreen inciting incident for the villain story. We had different versions of what they were doing to her at Damage Control, attempts of trying to boost Sara\u2019s powers. At one point, I think it was pink snowflakes \u2014 an innocuous idea that [Jean would] be chasing without quite knowing until she found out the final reveal of what actually had happened to her sister.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:3000px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((1999\/3000)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SBND-11001_r-1.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"1999\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Zendaya and Jacob Batalon in Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Jay Maidment\/Sony Pictures<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>What were your goals with Ned and MJ?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> In addition to being a story about Peter being so lonely and learning that he can\u2019t go it alone, it\u2019s also just a story of what it\u2019s like when you move on in that next phase of life. We wanted to show them young and struggling in New York City. I remember the first time we were working on something and talking about, \u201cWell, could Ned be buying beer? That seems so weird.\u201d (<em>Laughs.<\/em>) And it\u2019s like, \u201cWell, they\u2019re grown up now.\u201d We almost feel paternal. \u201cBut he\u2019s our little boy!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MJ learns the truth about Peter via the letter he wrote in<em> No Way Home<\/em>. How much did you play with where to put that in the movie?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> The midpoint is this mislead where he thinks he\u2019s got everything [when Jean inhabits MJ on the rooftop]. It\u2019s his dream come true that she remembers him and that she\u2019s in love with him still. And of course, then the twist is a stab in the heart. But then the real true low point comes when he does have that moment, and he\u2019s able to let her know the truth, and it does not go how he hoped and dreamed it was.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> Yeah, that was really fun. We got to have Peter experience MJ learning the truth twice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/spider-man-brand-new-day-jacob-batalon-ending-handshake-1236664173\/\">Ned\u2019s handshake at the end<\/a>: is it muscle memory or is it more?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> We\u2019ll let people discuss that on their own.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>You guys are working with the Russo Bros. on the next  <em>Avengers<\/em> movies<em>?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> We\u2019ve been excited to be able to work on <em>The Avengers<\/em>. It\u2019s really all we can say at this point. We love working with Marvel. We obviously have a relationship going back a long time with the Russos from <em>Community<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>What\u2019s your life like in the days following the release?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>SOMMERS<\/strong> It\u2019s exciting see something about it on the internet, but it\u2019s even more exciting when someone who I haven\u2019t talked to in years just reaches out and is like, \u201cHey, I took my kids to see your movie, and we liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>MCKENNA<\/strong> You work on these things for so long in an attic by yourself. Then suddenly, people you haven\u2019t talked to in years reach out. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.] For more than a decade, writing duo Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna have been one of the constants in Spider-Man\u2019s life. The scribes, who got their start on TV shows like Community, are credited on all four of Tom Holland\u2019s solo movies: Homecoming (2017), Far From&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Erik-Sommers-Chris-McKenna-Main-2026.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}