There have been some pretty common assumptions about who Stranger Thing actress Sadie Sink is going to play in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, even as her role has not been announced. It’s usually between a “real” version of Mary Jane that isn’t Zendaya’s Michelle Jones, or the arrival of Gwen Stacy as a new love interest for Tom Holland’s Pete.
But now, new set shots suggest Sadie Sink might be a character fans would never have guessed, and that most would not have heard of at all.
The new set shots (find them here), show Sink wrapped up in coats meant to hide whatever she’s wearing, but you can catch some glimpses. And even from that limited look, fans have a new theory that she is playing Rachel Cole.
Who?
Rachel Cole, a former Marine sergeant, serves as a sidekick to The Punisher in the comics, but most MCU fans probably don’t know that (no judgement, I didn’t know it). There are a few factors to this rumor here:
- As recently as this week, before these pictures came out, insider John Rocha said on The Hot Mic podcast that The Punisher will have a black female sidekick in Brand New Day. Obviously Sink is not black, but the concept of a sidekick is there.
- Additionally, insider Jeff Sneider did not know what character the sidekick was yet, or if they had been cast.
- That news sparked speculation that the sidekick could be Rachel Cole or even Misty Knight (who already exists in the Daredevil side of the MCU), but now Sink’s appearance possibly suggests Cole.
- Namely, Sink is a redhead like Cole, she appears to be wearing a black shirt, and may have camo pants and definitely has something akin to combat boots on in the photos. Not exactly a Gwen Stacy look.
PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 27 Sadie Sink attends the Ashi Studio Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 27, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis via Getty Images
This would be…pretty random if Punisher just shows up with a female sidekick in tow, but what could happen here is that in the already-filmed Punisher special that’s airing on Disney Plus, Cole could be introduced (though I never heard of Sink being spotted on set there). Punisher is confirmed to be in Brand New Day, so A) sidekick rumors, B) Sink being dressed like this and having Cole-adjacent hair, and here we are.
I’m not sure I buy it completely, but I do think there’s enough here to raise a few eyebrows and suggest at least some potential validity to this. That said, we’ve had plenty of wrong insider reports and fan guesses before in the comic book space. Too many to count. Perhaps we’ll know more soon.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/10/20/spider-man-brand-new-day-spy-shots-hint-at-unusual-sadie-sink-role/
