If you have seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day, you have seen Sadie Sink. She plays the film’s mysterious new character, and her casting was one of the worst kept secrets in Marvel history, even if the studio tried hard to hide it.
Here is everything you need to know about the 24 year old actress: her Broadway beginnings, her Stranger Things breakthrough, her awards run, and her role in the latest Spider-Man movie. No spoilers, we promise.
Who is Sadie Sink?
Sadie Elizabeth Sink was born on April 16, 2002 in Brenham, Texas. She is one of five children, with three older brothers and a younger sister, and she grew up in a family that was more into sports than theater.
That did not stop her. She made her stage debut at age seven in a community theater production, and by 2012, at age ten, she was on Broadway as the title character in the revival of Annie.
Her family moved to New York City to support her career, and she never really stopped working since.
From Broadway to Stranger Things
Before Hollywood came calling, Sink built a serious theater resume. She played young Queen Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan’s The Audience on Broadway in 2015, sharing the stage with Helen Mirren.
Her screen career started small: a guest spot on The Americans in 2013, a role on Blue Bloods, and a series regular gig on the short lived NBC thriller American Odyssey.
Then came Stranger Things. She joined the Netflix hit in season two as Max Mayfield, the skateboarding newcomer who stole hearts and, eventually, changed the show’s emotional center. The role made her a household name.
The movie roles that proved her range
Sink’s film career shows she is not just the Stranger Things girl. In 2021 she starred across the Fear Street trilogy on Netflix, playing a camp counselor in the 1978 installment.
In 2022, she took on her biggest dramatic challenge yet: Ellie, the estranged daughter of Brendan Fraser’s character in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. The film won Fraser the Oscar for Best Actor, and Sink held her own in every scene they shared.
Variety’s critic compared her intensity to a young Lindsay Lohan. It was a performance that announced her as a serious dramatic actress, not just a streaming star.
Back to Broadway and the awards
In 2025, Sink returned to the stage in the Broadway play John Proctor Is the Villain, a role that earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play.
Her awards history also includes multiple Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Stranger Things, an MTV Movie and TV Awards nomination for Fear Street Part Two: 1978, a Hollywood Critics Association TV Award nomination, and a Saturn Award nomination.
In 2026 she made her West End debut in Robert Icke’s production of Romeo and Juliet, continuing the theater streak that started when she was seven.
Her role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Sink plays the film’s big new character, and Marvel went to unusual lengths to keep it under wraps. Director Destin Daniel Cretton said the secrecy was about protecting the moviegoing experience.
“The movie is a better movie if you don’t know certain things,” Cretton told The Hollywood Reporter. “Whoever goes on opening weekend, you are going to have a much cooler experience if you go in not knowing certain things.”
She is the antagonist of the film, a powerful figure whose abilities catch even Spider-Man off guard. Her character wears green, and if you know your Marvel comics, that color plus the red hair tells you plenty.
The role connects to a much bigger story. She is expected to reprise the character in Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, meaning her Spider-Man appearance is just the opening chapter of a longer Marvel arc.
A full circle casting story
The Spider-Man job is deeply personal for Sink. She grew up a Spider-Man fan and called Tom Holland’s version her favorite.
“To be a fan of something and then join it is a familiar feeling for me,” she said, “because I was a fan of Stranger Things before I joined the show.”
She also worked with Cretton in one of her first movies at age 14, making this reunion a full circle moment.
What is next for Sink?
Beyond Secret Wars, Sink will executive produce the film adaptation of John Proctor Is the Villain and star in Hiro Murai’s television adaptation of The Marriage Plot.
She is also set to continue her theater work, having proven she can move between Broadway, prestige dramas, horror, and superhero blockbusters without missing a beat.
At 24, with a Tony nomination, a horror trilogy, an Oscar winning drama, and now the Marvel Cinematic Universe on her resume, Sadie Sink is one of the most versatile young actresses working today.
