Nine Years Later, Spider-Man: Brand New Day Finally Fixes One of Marvel Netflix’s Worst Mistakes
Years before Disney+ rewrote the playbook, Marvel Television’s Netflix era carved out the MCU’s grittiest chapter—an interconnected, street-level run where bruised heroes, moral gray zones, and brutal stakes delivered some of the franchise’s finest storytelling.
Marvel once built a killer little corner of the MCU on Netflix: street-level heroes, heavy on bruises and moral gray areas, light on quips and sky beams. Charlie Cox crushed it as Matt Murdock, and now that run has basically been folded back into the current continuity with Daredevil: Born Again. Iron Fist, uh, did not hit. But the single biggest misfire from that era? The Hand. A classic Marvel villain turned into background noise. Now, Spider- Man: Brand New Day looks like it might be the do-over.
How Netflix fumbled The Hand
On paper, The Hand should have been a HYDRA-level problem for the MCU: undead ninjas moving in the shadows, an ancient order with nasty mystical tricks. Instead, each new Netflix appearance made them less scary.
They started in Daredevil as a creepy cult of death with a centuries-old mystique. By The Defenders, that identity got sanded down. The writers reframed them as heretics exiled from K'un-Lun, split them into five rival factions (one led by Sigourney Weaver 's Alexandra), and swapped disciplined, masked assassins for faceless goons. Then the story basically hit a kill switch: the Midland Circle building collapsed in The Defenders finale, all the Hand leaders died, and their power source — yep, literal dragon bones — got yanked out of the MCU. Hard to stage a comeback after that.
Who The Hand actually are in the comics
If you only know the Netflix version, the comic-book Hand is a different beast. Frank Miller introduced them in 1981's Daredevil #174: a secretive order of mystical ninja assassins rooted in Japan, obsessed with power, and terrifyingly patient. Their origin runs back to 1588, when a cabal of nationalist samurai founded a secret society that was soon taken over by the Snakeroot — an older ninja clan devoted to a demon called the Beast of the Hand. That devotion buys them resurrection magic. They can kill you and bring you back as their puppet, which makes cleanup... complicated.
- They captured and brainwashed Wolverine, then turned him loose in a coordinated strike on a SHIELD Helicarrier that left more than 200 agents dead.
- They swiped Bruce Banner's corpse, resurrected him as a feral Hulk, and let him rip through Tokyo until Doctor Voodoo burned out the corruption — which cost Banner his life again.
- After Bullseye killed Elektra, the Hand immediately moved to resurrect her; Daredevil and the Chaste had to step in fast.
- Daredevil himself once took command of the Hand in Hell's Kitchen, not because he agreed with them, but because he figured a devil he knew was better than whoever would take the throne next.
Why Brand New Day feels like a reset button
Jump to now: Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the first Marvel production in nine years that actually looks ready to course-correct. The trailer shows red-clad ninjas going after Peter Parker (Tom Holland ) in multiple sequences, including what looks like a prison brawl. The color, the look — it all lines up with the comic version. No half-measures, no mystery goo. Just The Hand, as fans recognize them.
There are also persistent whispers that The Hand will surface in Season 3 of Daredevil: Born Again. If Brand New Day reintroduces them the right way, that could tee up a larger, long-term threat across the street-level side of the MCU — the thing Netflix almost did, then dropped.
But wait, how are they even back?
Yes, The Defenders tried to slam the door shut with the Midland Circle collapse, the dead leadership, and the removal of those dragon bones. So Marvel will need a clean explanation for why the Hand is back and why this version is different. Splinter cells. New leadership. The Beast's influence resurfacing. Pick a lane and sell it. Honestly, it is the best path forward: bring in a comic-accurate Hand, lean into the supernatural angle, and finally give the street-level shows a villain who can connect dots across series without turning into bland cannon fodder.