Spider-Man: Brand New Day has passed $2 billion at the global box office in under three weeks, becoming the standout hit among Marvel Studios' 2026 releases. The fourth MCU Spider-Man film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon alongside Jon Bernthal and Mark Ruffalo, marks a new, more mature chapter for Peter Parker, but its success has drawn attention to the absence of a returning character: Betty Brant.

Actress Angourie Rice, who played Betty in the previous three MCU Spider-Man films, has addressed her character's exclusion for the first time in an interview with Collider Ladies Night, promoting her new project Finding Emily. Rice admitted she does not know where Betty is during the film's events, joking that she likes to imagine Betty is "practising ethical journalism" and has found meaningful work elsewhere while Spider-Man contends with Jean Grey, played by Sadie Sink.