‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Does the Inconceivable Four Times Over and as Such Will Get Four Different Reviews

When we talk about genre fatigue, it is typically not the genre part that causes the pain. It is the sloppy execution, the corporate thought process of “if we go through the checklist and make sure everything is accounted for, we don’t need to do anything else,” the otherwise meandering in a world without any clear direction. Going into Spider-Man: Brand New Day, I was mostly fine with the state of the MCU. The Multiverse Saga compromising of Phases 4, 5, and 6 had been a mixed bag of tricks, kicked off with the underwhelming Ant-Man & Wasp: Quantumania, and include things like a Captain America movie that secretly a sequel to a movie that most people forget was canon in the MCU, a surprisingly grounded emotional story with the Thunderbolts* (which happened to be the quickest I have seen a company spoil the events of their own movie), a finally good Fantastic Four movie, amongst other films that also happened and left different level of impressions.

And all of this was happening with the knowledge that this was somehow leading to Doomsday where Robert Downey Jr. was inexplicably returning to the universe as an entirely different character, that the MCU refused to let Mahershala Ali be Blade, or keep their word and give us a Wonder-Man season 2.

But the trailers got me excited and despite my trepidation, I went in hopeful even though No Way Home was my least favorite of 10 different different Spider-Man movies that have come out since 2002. And as the credits rolled, my first thought was, “wow. I kinda loved everything that happened.”

So, in order to properly review Spider-Man: Brand New Day, let us go on a journey where I will introduce more and more specific spoilers as we delve down into everything.

1) As a Stand-Alone Film (No Spoilers)

On the merits of the movie by itself, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is excellent. It does not feel like a nearly two and a half hour film, as its entire narrative arc is well paced and executed. It knows when to montage. It knows when to amp up the stakes. It knows when to slow things down. Destin Daniel Cretton’s second live action film in the MCU shows that he knows how to approach and adapt the source material.

Exposition never feels too heavy handed. The stakes are clearly defined. The progression and back and forth is clean. The cinematography lets us really appreciate Spider-Man’s acrobatic flow. New York feels alive. Everything is done in service of telling a compelling narrative driven story, something that feels like the MCU has forgotten how to do consistently.

Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Spider-Man continues to be such a wonderful fit for both the dweeby nerd and wise-cracking tech hero. And the supporting cast textures the world beautifully, whether it’s the inclusion of MCU staples, the old supporting cast of Zendaya and Jacob Batalon who continue to play a crucial role despite the events of the previous film, and new additions. In this section of the review, I will call out Liza Colón-Zayas’ Captain DeWolff who is Spider-Man’s seemingly lone connection to the greater world. I will discuss others in more detail later.

This is a movie that is designed to entertain, entrance, and enthrall. The emotional beats are resonant. The action is glorious. Everything feels earned and warranted and feels good. It is the most fun I’ve had in theaters since Project Hail Mary and sparks the same childlike glee that Superman (2024) did. It is a reminder that, yes, for however many of these movies have been made, they can still be made well and with care.

2) As An Entry in the Larger Spider-Man Cinematic Legacy (Minor Spoilers)

Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man back in 2002 was one of my first introductions to comic book movies, and it was glorious. Maguire perfectly captured the meekishness of Peter Parker suddenly gifted with great power, great responsibility, etc. and Spider-Man 2 was an even better follow-up that took all of the emotional stakes of the first and amped them with an iconic performance from Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. The third movie Sam Rami was… certainly something I was entertained by. Although, it did not live up to expectations and ultimately would cause a reboot.

Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man introduced to a much more quippy webslinger, and while Garfield played Peter Parker a little too cool, his Spider-Man was rock solid. His duology was enjoyable but didn’t quite enchant me.

And thus when the MCU finally negotiated the rights to the character with Sony, and we got Tom Holland, I was immediately impressed by how he seemed to strike the perfect balance. I loved his introduction in Civil War. I loved Homecoming, I loved Far from Home. And I was ultimately disappointed by No Way From Home, because the entire premise of the movie was utterly inane and while I love getting to see all of the versions of Peter Parker interact and the villains get to reprise their iconic roles, the entire movie was clearly engineered to cause a mass reset in the most contrived way possible and also canonized one of my most hated movies ever. (Venom was awful and the dark legacy is left in its wake is my greatest failure as a pop culture journalist for not convincing the masses not to entertain anything that followed).

That was five years ago. I’ve had some time to stew on it. And incredibly, Brand New Day takes that mess of a reset and uses it as the foundation for some of the clearest character work I’ve seen.

Peter Parker/Spider-Man is one of the most iconic superheroes in the world next to mild-mannered Clark Kent/Superman, and he is one of the few characters that can and should manage to have solo entries in a franchise. This is a movie that understands that Peter Parker is a self-sacrificing martyr willing to go to incredible lengths to protect the city and people that he loves and that he also needs to learn not to take on the entirety of the burden alone. The entire transformation is induced by a traumatic incident indicates that quite literally.

It understands that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are inextricably linked, and in the film’s climax two entirely predictable words to an antagonist’s question hold so much emotional gravity and are then followed by one of the best displays of Spider-Man’s power ever. The final moments of the movie also re-emphasis something that the MCU surprisingly hadn’t done yet: show how much the city loves Spider-Man, and it’s that type of care and understanding that really bring this up to the top tier of Spider-Man media (although, my top slots are still reserved for Into the Spider-verse and Across the Spider-verse).

3) As the 38th Film in an Inexplicably Still Extended Universe (Major Spoilers)

I’m actually a little disgusted by the fact that the MCU continues to act as cinematic kudzu. Brand New Day features the Hulk, the Punisher, Black Widow II, the Hand, Damage Control, and … more.

And somehow, all of this connective tissue feels natural and coherent. All of the different elements of the MCU serve to remind us that we are within the largest cinematic sandbox in history but never feel out of place. Their inclusions range from “a little eye-brow raising but ultimately sensible” to “thank god you included them in this picture.”

Mark Ruffalo continues to make a convincing argument that he deserves a proper Jekyll/Hyde movie with the Hulk. Florence Pugh adds just the right level of snark and brevity in a movie that is a little heavy. Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland clearly bonded over The Odyssey.

Would I much prefer to have a movie that is truly self-contained? Absolutely. Is the deft handling of the greater universe at large the best they have handled the absolutely staggering number of pieces in a minute? Also yes.

4) As the Herald of [MAJOR SPOILERS]

So not only is Spider-Man: Brand New Day an entry into MCU, it is the entry into the MCU that introduces mutants, specifically Jean Grey, telepath extraordinaire. Sadie Sink’s casting was highly theorized throughout the press tour, and her inclusion as the central antagonist is fitting. She is a character with sympathetic motivations, a terrifying skill set, and lots of stage presence.

I, as many others, have wondered how the MCU was going to introduce mutants to an already crowded world of superheroes, gods, Inhumans, and more and, in hindsight, backdooring them with one of the most beloved characters of all time is pretty sensible.

I still have many questions about how all of this is going to play out, but Jean Grey’s inclusion of the story led to one of the best third act fight sequences in any action movie I’ve seen and also resulted in an emotional resolution as opposed to a mess of a CGI fight that I have become accustomed to.

In Conclusion

How inconceivable that this movie is able to 1) be a great stand-alone movie, 2) be a great Spider-Man movie, 3) exist within the MCU, and 4) handle the introduction of yet another addition to the sandbox and do all four of these well.

I loved this movie, and any gripes I have are with the larger sandbox that it exist in, but director Crerreton, writers Mckenna and Sommers, Holland, Zendaya, Sink, Batalon, Bernthal, Pugh, Tillman, and Ruffalo should also all be proud to have brought the summer superhero blockbuster back to its place as a cultural event.

Cover image via IMDb

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