How a Filipino Kid Ended Up on Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Most Memorable Scene

If you’ve watched Spider-Man: Brand New Day, chances are, you probably became emotional at one of the very last scenes, when Peter Parker (Tom Holland), with the help of Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) manages to sneak out of the hospital and blend in with the crowd gathered outside waiting for news about Spider-Man.

After looking up at the hospital window to see Frank pretending to be Spider-Man, he locks eyes with a small boy wearing a Spider-Man costume who does the iconic web-slinging hand gesture at him. Peter smiles at him and returns the gesture. Many consider this scene the most heartwarming part of the whole film.

This kid, dubbed ‘Web Kid’ in the movie credits, is Elvis Carlos, a seven-year-old boy who’s half-Filipino, quarter-Burmese, and quarter-Irish. In the movie, he’s actually sitting on the shoulders of his father IRL, Ken Carlos, a Filipino-British tattoo artist based in London.

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But if that scene isn’t adorable enough for you, you might be moved with the videos that his parents posted of him doing the Spider-Man gesture and bouncing off the walls of their house wearing a Spider-Man costume years before he was even auditioning for the role, making it seem like he was really destined to play Web Kid. That video, as of this writing, has over two million likes. 

According to the recording of a video call posted by his agency, Stage Space Agency, not only did he enjoy his auditions, but Elvis believes he manifested it “because I’m such a really big fan of Spider-man!” The agency also said in its caption, “He loved being on set, meeting and working with his hero. He also enjoyed the chauffeur-driven cars and having his own trailer.” In a separate post, the agency also shared his self-tape audition video alongside the actual scene in the movie.

While some fans have viewed this scene for what it is – a moving conclusion where we see Peter Parker appreciating New York City’s love for Spider-Man – others have raised theories that there might be more to Web Kid than meets the eye. But as he’s essentially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe now, we won’t find out until Marvel wants us to. 

As for me, I’ll always know Elvis as my rambunctious nephew and the ring bearer at my wedding in 2022, which was the last time I saw him. But now after watching him on the big screen in a global blockbuster, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next.