For all the complaints that hardcore Marvel fans have thrown at Tom Holland's Spider-Man over the years - that he relied too heavily on Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, or that the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe swallowed too much of his identity - Spider-Man: Brand New Day almost feels like Marvel Studios responding point by point.
Following the devastating ending of 2021’s multiverse-hopping No Way Home, Peter Parker is truly alone. No Avengers, no Stark Tech, no best friends or family. No one even remembers who he is. It's the cleanest reset for a character that a megafranchise like the MCU could have asked for, and rather than pretending the previous trilogy never happened, director Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wonder Man) uses those events as emotional baggage that weighs on Peter every waking moment.
Replacing director Jon Watts (who helmed the previous three Spider-Man movies for Marvel Studios) behind the camera proves to be exactly the shot of adrenaline this series needed. From intimate dramatic gems like Short Term 12 and Just Mercy to his celebrated arrival in the MCU with Shang-Chi, Cretton has always been an exceptional director of actors, and just as importantly, he understands movement. Check out that bus fight sequence from Shang-Chi (where is the sequel?!). The settings and the action here have a grounded, tactile quality that the previous MCU Spider-Man films often lacked.
Whether it's the spectacular tank chase sequence or a late-stage showdown against the fluid, deadly ninjas of the Hand (Cretton is currently set to direct a Hollywood adaptation of Masashi Kishimoto’s iconic Naruto series soon), there's a renewed emphasis on practical photography (courtesy of frequent Cretton collaborator Brett Pawlak), dynamic staging, and innovative camera placement instead of simply drowning everything in expensive digital effects. Nathan Kim's inventive choreography deserves particular recognition, especially an inspired recurring bit built around whip-pan camera transitions as the film’s mysterious villain (Sadie Sink) telepathically leaps from victim to victim.
The film simply looks fantastic. Better yet, Spider-Man actually spends a lot of time actually being Spider-Man. Holland gets more opportunities than ever before to really emote beneath the mask, reminding us just how natural and expressive he's become in the role after four solo outings. Is it just me, or does he sound a lot more “New Yorker” than he ever did before?
I've always been a sucker for Holland's Peter Parker, and even after a whopping seven(!) appearances in the role, Brand New Day gives him some of his richest material yet. Peter isn't simply lonely. He's grieving an entire life that effectively never happened. Watching Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) move through college together while he remains a lonesome outsider is genuinely heartbreaking, not only because they no longer remember him, but because Peter has missed experiences he'll never get back. That loss hangs over nearly every scene.
The screenplay (written once again by MCU Spider-Man scribes Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers) smartly externalizes Peter's emotional deterioration by having his powers begin changing in frightening ways. Organic webbing and increasingly uncontrollable violent instincts force him to essentially relearn what it means to be Spider-Man. His connection with none other than Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) arrives naturally from that premise, as Peter searches for a way to suppress the darker impulses threatening to consume him. While Hulk's role occasionally feels like Marvel shoehorning in one too many additional supers, his inclusion ultimately reinforces the film's central themes rather than distracting from them too much.
Sadie Sink (Stranger Things, The Whale) is excellent as the film’s tragic antagonist whose powers are visualized with deceptively simple creativity. Like the strongest Spider-Man villains, she's driven less by world domination than by emotional pain, making her a compelling mirror for Peter's own wounded mental state. Meanwhile, Jon Bernthal slides into the big screen side of the MCU almost effortlessly as his version of Frank Castle AKA The Punisher. Rather than existing as simple fan service, Frank functions as a frightening (but exceptionally fun) glimpse of what Peter could become if he abandoned the relationships that make him human altogether. I honestly could've used even more of Bernthal and his back-and-forth with Holland.
Zendaya also benefits tremendously from the film's more measured pacing. Instead of existing primarily as the sarcastic love interest for only a couple of minutes at a time, she's finally allowed lengthy dramatic scenes that remind audiences why she's one of the most prolific young performers working today. The chemistry between her and real-life partner Holland remains effortlessly compelling, and some of the movie's strongest moments are simply the two of them talking.
That measured pacing isn't always flawless. The MCU's tendency toward overstuffing hasn't disappeared entirely. Between Hulk, Punisher, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Sink’s not-so-secret psychic character, and several larger franchise obligations, there are moments where Brand New Day truly threatens to buckle beneath its own ambitions. Likewise, much of the comedy lands with a shrug rather than a laugh, an unfortunate weakness considering Spider-Man traditionally thrives on humor (and a notable point for Watts in that department).
Even so, what impressed me most is how confident the movie feels in allowing its cast and crew to carry scenes built entirely around human emotion instead of superhero spectacle. This is perhaps the quietest Spider-Man movie to date, at least since Sam Raimi's 2002 original. Ever reliable composer Michael Giacchino, returning to the MCU and specifically Spider-Man once again, complements that restraint beautifully with one of his most understated Marvel scores, emphasizing melancholy and intimacy over the usual thrilling bombast.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is undeniably uneven, but it's also undeniably the most interesting MCU Spider-Man movie yet. It trusts Peter Parker enough to let him struggle, to fail, to spend long stretches simply existing as an exhausted young man trying (and failing more often than not) to balance the impossible demands of being a superhero and living a regular life. Nobody can carry the weight of the world alone. That’s an important, poignant, and remarkably personal message within a movie that’s not only the fourth MCU Spider-Man outing, but the dozenth overall Spider-Man movie, and the 38th overall movie in the larger MCU. The fact that Cretton’s film manages to feel refreshingly self-contained despite all of that is a testament to the human hands that all helped make it.
For a franchise usually built around giving audiences exactly what they expect and hope for, Brand New Day frequently finds surprising new ways to remind us why Spider-Man continues to endure; superhero fatigue be damned. It's full of inspired ideas, striking kinetic filmmaking, and genuine emotional conviction. Audiences continue to prove that they'll show up for Spidey no matter what - and what's not to love? As Aunt May once said, "There's a hero in all of us", and no cinematic hero has ever seemed to embody that better than our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ is now playing in theaters.
