Sadie Sink Says ‘It’s Torture’ Not Being Allowed to Talk About Which Character She’s Playing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Not only can Sadie Sink not talk about Spider-Man: Brand New Day, she can’t even say who she’s playing, something she has described as “torture.”

The Stranger Things star has been seen filming opposite Tom Holland, still with her natural red hair — something that has fuelled fan speculation that she’s playing a familiar redheaded character from the Marvel comics.

Last month, an alleged look at Spider-Man: Brand New Day appeared online, offering a clue to Sadie Sink’s mystery character. The leaked Spider-Man trailer was of extremely low quality, but appeared to show Sadie Sink’s character threatening Peter Parker — and claiming to know his secret identity as Spider-Man.

Sink’s role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been kept firmly under wraps by Sony since her casting was announced, while a recent on-set sighting showed the Stranger Things star bundled up in an apparent bid to hide her costume.

Fan speculation on who Sink might be playing has been rife, with everyone from the X-Men’s Jean Grey to Mayday Parker up for grabs. But a persistent rumor has pointed to Sink playing shapeshifting multiversal villain Shathra. “You’re a mess, Spider-Man,” Sink’s character says in the leaked trailer. “Don’t get in my way. Otherwise, it won’t just be your friends who don’t remember who Peter Parker is.”

Could this be a double bluff? Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man movies have a habit of surprising audiences with characters’ true identities (MJ and Mysterio, to name two). And with Sink reportedly returning for 2027’s climactic Avengers: Secret Wars, has she really just been cast as this film’s villain?

Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Sink was asked what it’s like not being able to talk about her role on the hotly-anticipated sequel.

“It’s torture!” she replied. “And there’s so much speculation, too. I feel like there’s a new character every week.”

Sink did confirm that she has talked about what she’s up to family members, before revealing that she read about her casting in Spider-Man online before she was even asked to appear in the movie.

“I found out through online theories,” she said. “Like, before I got cast in Spider-Man, like, there was speculation online that said, ‘Sadie Sink is going to be in the new Spider-Man. I was like, ‘Hmm? I am?’ And then sure enough, like two days later, they asked me to do it.

“So yeah, those theories are sometimes… there’s sometimes some truth to it.”

Sink is fresh from starring in the much-discussed Stranger Things finale, and the actress has offered her interpretation of the ending and Eleven’s fate. Spider-Man: Brand New Day launches this summer.

Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.