It’s a little harder to root for a hero when things go their way. Some have said that the MCU’s version of Peter Parker, played impeccably for a decade by Tom Holland, has had it pretty good. He was almost immediately gifted a technologically-advanced supersuit by billionaire Tony Stark, becomes a key part of the Avengers, gets the girl after just a little bit of strife, and gets to meet two more experienced and caring multiversal versions of himself. Now, he also was doxed by Mysterio, lost five years of his life as infinity dust and had to watch his aunt die in front of him, but that’s nothing compared to some of the other dramas that the character has faced since he was created in 1962.
No one can say that there is no suffering for Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Not since the days of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, when Tobey Maguire had to choose between stopping a robbery or missing the love of his life’s (maybe terrible) play, has Spider-Man been challenged by the circumstances of his double life. This is partially because the MCU version of this character has not really been forced to find a balance between Peter and Spidey. It is true that No Way Home reinforced how crucial his secret identity is to the safety of his loved ones. But Peter even admits to MJ that a part of him is relieved that the people closest to him know his secret and can help support his burden. What happens when that access is taken away?
As the planned start of a new trilogy, director Destin Daniel Cretton (a Marvel vet now from Shang-Chi and Wonder Man) has delivered a lot of movie here. Even more than No Way Home, which included six villains and three Spider-Men, Brand New Day is packed to the point of near overflow. There are about three to four ideas that could be centralized in a slimmer Spider-Man movie, but they are all combined into one melting pot, tangentially webbed together around Peter’s sense of responsibility, his inherent heroism and his loneliness. Luckily, those are exactly the themes that you should be building around, particularly at this stage of Holland’s tenure. I think it’s a good movie, but it may be a great Spider-Man movie.
Four years have passed since Doctor Strange cast his amnesia spell and wiped the identity of Spider-Man from the universe’s collective mind. Peter has a tiny apartment, a little bit of tech, and a classic Spidey suit that he dons to take down a rogues gallery of C and D list villains (Michael Mando returns from Spider-Man: Homecoming as Mac Gargan/Scorpion). Life is good as Spider-Man–the city loves him. Peter’s life, on the other hand, is basically nonexistent. He doesn’t even like to share the elevator with his neighbors, and what he does for money is unclear. The most social interaction he has is with NYPD Detective DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas of The Bear fame) and the much-more-violent vigilante Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal, ALSO of The Bear).
We’ve watched Holland mature from boy to man in front of our very eyes, and that’s also true of Zendaya and Jacob Batallon. There’s a bittersweetness to the select scenes that they share together, as MJ and Ned have moved on with their lives without Peter. The three have such great chemistry that they’re able to evoke a long friendship and affection, even if two of them don’t remember everything they’ve been through. They know Spider-Man is a guardian angel for them, but don’t know why.
Peter’s status quo is interrupted by a number of developments, many of which too closely resemble a spoiler to divulge in this review. How he reacts to that stress, particularly within the genome of his DNA, shakes things up enough that this doesn’t feel like a retread of previous adventures. All of it is very exciting, even if the story beats can feel quite messy as all of the threads collapse into each other in the final act.
Brand New Day strikes a good balance between the MCU’s signature quippy tone and a darker, more moody tone. The best Peter Parker stories are the ones where the audience angsts over him getting what he truly wants, and recoils in agony when he has to make choices that sacrifice his best chance at that happiness. It’s what makes him such a special character, and Holland really understands how to tap into every facet of what makes Peter iconic. He’s always been a perfect choice for the role, and that only gets reinforced movie after movie.
Daniel Cretton’s involvement in the project also gives the action sequences a new jolt of energy. Jon Watts did a fine job with the previous trilogy’s action, but Shang-Chi proved that Daniel Cretton has the chops to be a master of the superhero set-piece. There are so many fun variations of how he showcases Spidey’s web-slinging. From the way Spidey drops from the skies to the way the camera follows him as glides through the city, you feel every gust of wind on the ripples of his suit. Michael Giacchino delivers another ripper of a score, with a lot of old themes and a dash of a new era.
The marketing has mostly removed any specific references to Sadie Sink’s involvement in the film. I will not get into those details here, but will say that Sink once again showcases that immense emotional power that few of her peers can bring to the table. She makes for a great foil to Holland, no matter her role in the story. What the marketing has leaned into is Bernthal’s role in the film. It’s a little awkward to see this modified, less violent version of The Punisher fully in the sunnier side of the MCU’s NYC, but Bernthal and Holland have such great chemistry as bickering heroes with very different philosophies.
The Punisher/Spidey scenes are a good example of how this movie feels more serious, yet still light and perky, with the boyish spirit that is mandatory for any non-symbiote Spider-Man story. Brand New Day gets the kind of challenges that bring out the best in the character, even if it reinforces those challenges with a little too much story. There is great power and great responsibility in making a movie about this massively popular character, and Brand New Day honors that phrase well enough.
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