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Is it even considered a break-up if one party literally doesn’t remember the other’s existence? No, we’re not talking Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind – this is the fate of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Zendaya’s MJ as we enter Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Due to the reality-altering events of previous film No Way Home, the MCU at large no longer remembers Parker, nor that he’s the civilian counterpart to New York’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. And that includes Peter’s best mate Ned (Jacob Batalon), and his girlfriend MJ too – who each ventured off to college while the newly-anonymous Peter committed to full-time hero-dom.

It was a bittersweet ending to the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man trilogy, and true to the sacrificial essence of the character’s ‘great responsibility’. And now, as Brand New Day picks up, MJ has another romantic interest – played by Ahsoka’s Eman Esfandi – while Peter has to simply watch on. Even for its cast, it’s emotionally wrenching. “As someone who cares about the characters and cares about these films, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so heartbreaking,’” Zendaya tells Empire. “You just feel so bad because you want them to be happy, and you know ultimately they would be happier together.”