George R.R. Martin has been frustrating fans for years with his inability to complete work on The Winds of Winter, but what really gets the author’s goat? Retcons in comic books, apparently, and he has been taking aim at Marvel Comics in particular in a new interview with Popverse.
Martin is currently preparing for the release of another Game of Thrones spinoff, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and while recently discussing that project, the subject of comic books – one close to his heart – came up, allowing the author to vent on the way comics frequently reboot and retcon past events. He said:
“I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit. I sometimes… I don’t like retcons. I don’t like reboots. You know, I’m watching, I’m following a character or a superhero or something for years, sometimes decades, and then they come and say, ‘Oh, no. None of that stuff happened. We’re just going to start the whole thing over again.’ That always annoys the hell out of me.”
Martin’s particular example is Spider-Man, and the “Spider-Man: One More Day” and “Brand New Day” stories – timely considering next year’s MCU summer release. For Martin, his big bugbear comes down to this:
“Peter Parker marries Mary Jane. You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But, what can you do?”
Spider-Man’s MCU Journey Has Already Retconned Peter Parker’s Existence
Martin may not be a fan of retcons and changes to past stories that have had his full investment, but the MCU has already really done their big Spider-Man retcon, with Doctor Strange’s spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home effectively wiping away all of Peter Parker’s relationships and previous interactions with the Avengers in one swoop. Now, Brand New Day is a brand new slate for Tom Holland’s hero to write on.
Exactly how Spider-Man: Brand New Day is going to introduce the next chapter in Spider-Man’s MCU journey is unclear. We know that Jon Bernthal will appear as Frank Castle/The Punisher, and Mark Ruffalo will be reprising his role as Bruce Banner/Hulk. How the trio will fit into each other’s stories will be interesting to see play out, as Banner won’t know Peter Parker, and Castle has never crossed paths with either Avenger in the past.
There are several rumors that Banner/Hulk will end up having an antagonistic role in the movie, but confirmation of that is something we probably will not be getting just yet. A first trailer, which some believe will be arriving in the next couple of months, could shed a little light on the matter, as well as answering some other burning questions around who Sadie Sink will be playing, and where several other villains that have been added to the movie will fit into the story.
If George R. R. Martin is not fond of retcons, then he may not like the “soft reboot” that is reportedly coming to the MCU after Avengers: Secret Wars. For everyone else, such a thing could help reconfigure some of the sprawling character arcs that have become hard for casual viewers to keep up with. Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released on July 31, 2026.
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
- Director
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Destin Daniel Cretton
- Prequel(s)
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Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Franchise(s)
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Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man