Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man returns to the cinema for the first time in five years with Spider-Man: Brand New Day acting as a soft reboot of the MCU version of the character.

It has been four years since Peter Parker (Tom Holland) made a big sacrifice to save his universe. He has acted as a solo crime fighter ever since, but he missed out on going to MIT and lives a lonely personal life. A new threat emerges when someone who has the power to possess people and is determined to find out what Damage Control is hiding. This being threatens Peter by saying it will target his loved ones, just as Peter’s powers start to change.

There has been a lot of talk about audiences suffering from superhero fatigue and the MCU being in a death spiral. A number of the MCU’s films have performed poorly after Avengers: Endgame. Prime examples were Eternals, The Marvels, and Thunderbolts*, and there have already been questions about the DCU because Supergirl performed poorly. However, the Spider-Man IP’s popularity prevails. Spider-Man: No Way Home made over $1.9 billion, and that was when the box office was depressed by the COVID pandemic. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has broken opening weekend box office records and has been well received by critics and audiences.

The MCU’s Spider-Man has been a more high-tech take on the character. He was given advanced robot suits by Tony Stark, and he often worked with major characters. His introduction was in Captain America: Civil War, where he sided with Iron Man. Tony Stark was a presence in Spider-Man: Homecoming; he worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. in Spider-Man: Far From Home; and Doctor Strange had a major role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This version of Spider-Man has done a lot more travelling than Tobey Maguire’s or Andrew Garfield’s versions.

Spider-Man: Far From Home acted as a reset because Peter made everyone forget about him, forcing him to be a solo act. Spider-Man: Brand New Day showed Spider-Man to be more of a ground-level hero working in New York, fighting criminals and some superpowered villains, or as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) described it: “small potato stuff.” Peter had to develop his own technology, and like Maguire’s Peter in Spider-Man 2, he had no social life. Spider-Man: Brand New Day borrowed a lot from Spider-Man 2 because of Peter’s personal circumstances, his desire to protect MJ (Zendaya), and his powers becoming faulty. As an individual, Spider-Man is my favourite superhero because he’s more relatable through his personal struggles, whilst also being a hero who tries to do the right thing.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was juggling multiple storylines, resulting in a lengthy 145-minute runtime. Spider-Man had to stop the mysterious villain with mind control powers, getting close with MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon) even though they have no memory of Peter, the being threatening Peter through his old flame, and Peter dealing with his physical metamorphosis. Spider-Man: Brand New Day was inspired by the comic book storyline of the same name, and the more divisive story The Other. The MCU proves once again they can adapt some of Marvel Comics’ more controversial storylines and make them better, i.e. Civil War and One More Day.

Destin Daniel Cretton has taken over the directing duties from Jon Watts. Cretton has experience with the MCU; he directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and two episodes of Wonder Man. However, he’s probably best known for his debut film Short Term 12, an award-winning drama. Cretton brought those dramatic sensibilities to Spider-Man: Brand New Day because of Peter’s personal baggage. A scene on a rooftop was effective because of all the personal pressure that has built up over the series, and the power of Holland and Zendaya’s performances. Spider-Man: Brand New Day does ask Peter the same question that Spider-Man 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man did: ‘Who am I?’ It is a question many superheroes are asked.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day followed the model set by Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps by being more serious, toning down the humour, and showing that not all problems can be solved by punching. There was some attempt at nuance regarding the villain’s motivations, even if they were a bit predictable. Sadie Sink was an excellent addition to the MCU.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day still had plenty of traditional superhero antics. Spider-Man did all the things that audiences would expect: he fought bad guys and saved people. The big action set-pieces were the fight with the Hulk and battling a group of ninjas. Spider-Man: Brand New Day had more physicality than many CGI-dependent MCU films. There was location shooting and physical sets, which made the film feel like it had weight, even when CGI was used. Holland had a body to envy. However, there were moments when it was obvious the film was shot in the UK, not the USA.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was a standalone film and can be watched in isolation. Yet, it was made richer by Peter’s past actions and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) wanting to contain the monster within. There was also an eye on the MCU’s future with one character being used as a backdoor entry for another Marvel property.

On a final note, Holland, Zendaya and Jon Bernthal are having a great couple of weeks because they were in the other hit of the summer, The Odyssey. If Dune Part Three is a hit, then Zendaya will have a hat-trick of blockbuster films in 2026.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows that there is still plenty of interest in the superhero genre. All they needed to do was be more grounded and relatable.