What Just Happened?: Explaining the "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" Post-Credits Scene

It's finally here. The long-awaited follow up to Spider-Man: No Way Home has finally swung into theaters. And, as everyone expected, fans are buzzing. We can finally get the answers we've been waiting for since the conclusion of the last Spidey film, and especially since the casting of Sadie Sink. More importantly though, fans are buzzing because Spider-Man: Brand New Day is great, as you can see from Ben's review.

And of course, it's not all done once the credits start rolling. Spider-Man: Brand New Day surprisingly does not include a mid-credits scene, but it does feature a post-credits scene (of sorts). So let's break that down.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day spoilers ahead!

First, some context. In the film we see that Ned, Peter Parker's old friend who no longer remembers him, has created a Spidey Tracker app that lets users keep tabs on the web-slinger. We see it used several times throughout the film, including by Ned himself.

And that's about all the context you need because this post-credits scene is a very simple one. We do not see Spidey or any of the other characters from the film. Instead, all we see is the Spidey Tracker app letting us know that Spider-Man has been sighted. However, it also lets us know repeatedly that his location is unknown. The app zooms out from New York and eventually we see the entire planet. As the app continues to search, it eventually lets us know his location has been found and it is in outer space. Then we get the familiar words: "Spider-Man will return."

So what does this mean exactly? With Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon, Spider-Man is certainly headed for some much bigger adventures. And, while Ned's app likely doesn't have the capacity to depict something as complex as a crumbling multiverse, a simple pin drop in outer space is probably the next best thing.

It seems to me that the best explanation for this Spidey sighting would be that he is on Doom's new Battleworld planet. In the 2015 "Secret Wars" comic series, a series that will provide much of the source material for Doomsday as well as the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars, Doom actually saves the multiverse by making himself the god of his own new universe. To do this, he takes fragments of other shattered universes and pieces them together. Spider-Man, and probably several other heroes, will eventually end up in that world.

Another thing to note is that, while the final scene confirmed for us that Spider-Man will return, it did not say when. And while many fans are likely hoping and maybe even expecting him to show up in Avengers: Doomsday, it seems more likely we next see him in Avengers: Secret Wars, outside of maybe a small cameo or something like that. If that is the case, it would explain the Spidey Tracker giving us a ping in outer space, as Battleworld is probably where we would next see Spider-Man.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in theaters now.