I've never found myself overly fond of the MCU's version of Spider-Man. Blasphemous that may sound, none of my complaints truly stemmed from performances or, for the most part, visual effects. No, instead my complaints were almost always centered around the story, continuity, and the way the MCU has handled the wall-crawler since introducing him in Captain America: Civil War over ten years ago.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day sees Tom Holland return as Peter Parker/Spider-Man as he navigates life in a post-No Way Home world. On his own and suffering changes, Peter must face new threats while confronting the growing demands of being Spider-Man.
This review is going to be spoiler-light. Certain themes and vague scene descriptions may be present. If you watched the last trailer, however, you already know everything that happens. Proceed with caution.
I'll come out and say it: this is the best MCU Spider-Man film yet. I've always been fond of Tom Holland's iteration of Spider-Man, but I was never sure where I landed on his Peter Parker. He's always had a certain charm about him, but he's always felt a bit awkward to me. I've changed my tune after watching Brand New Day, though. I was able to sympathise with this version of Peter much easier than Holland's previous takes on the character. Maybe that says more about me and my life than it does Holland's performance, but I'm not ready for that conversation yet.
An area of Holland's first trilogy of films that I've always loved is his relationship between MJ and Ned. Their friendship comes across as genuine in every scene, and this film is no different. In fact, I found myself enjoying these scenes the most, from both an emotional and mental perspective. My only wish was that the film let us live in these moments longer. If Endgame and The Batman have shown us anything, it's that audiences will sit through the runtime. I'm not saying this film should be an hour longer, but with a listed runtime of 2h25m (including credits), a few more scenes showing Peter's life post-memory wipe could have helped ground him even more.
I also just have to come out and say, too, the visual effects are pretty good! There are some scenes where Spider-Man feels a little "floaty", but for the most part, there wasn't really anything that stood out to me. There are one or two scenes toward the end of the film that felt a little rushed and maybe the artist didn't have enough time, and I'm hopeful that they will do the same thing they did with No Way Home and use the time between theatrical and home release to touch up the effects a bit. I think they're largely very good, but they could be even better with just a little bit more time.
Unfortunately, not all things are good. After I watched the movie, and the more I thought about it, the more I start to have some questions and reservations about how the MCU has structured its version of Spider‑Man/Peter Parker. It goes against what people, including myself, wanted from the character when he was first introduced 10 years ago, but it shows a common frustration among fans.
Starting in Civil War, and continuing in Homecoming, Far From Home, No Way Home, and now Brand New Day, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker hasn’t had his own signature villain or his own singular story that isn’t just setting up something larger. I understand that Spider‑Man is part of the vehicle known as the MCU, but all you have to do is look back to Iron Man’s trilogy, Captain America’s trilogy, and Thor’s initial trilogy. None of those were cameo after cameo after cameo; they were their own stories filled with characters from their own "world" (Pepper, Rhodes, Peggy, Jane, etc).
At this point, we're 10 years in, and we're going to be five, probably six movies deep with Tom Holland as Spider-Man. And I'm not sure if we're ever going to see a version of Holland's Spider‑Man where he is truly on his own. Remember, this was supposed to be the movie where he was "on his own". Instead, we have Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, and Mark Ruffalo filling out this movie. While I’m usually all for seeing Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, and I’m grateful they finally got rid of Professor Hulk, it was clear he was there for one reason and one reason only, and they didn’t know what to do with him afterward. I understand why he was there in the beginning, to explain things to Peter in a way similar to how Stark would explain them. I also understand the situations that would lead to the Hulk being present. But once you think about it more, the continuity starts to break, as it does with all of these Spider‑Man movies, and you realize he was just swept under the rug when the story no longer needed him. To me, it’s one of the clearest examples of Marvel writing themselves into a corner and not really knowing how to get out of it.
Another complaint I’m seeing online concerns the Punisher and his involvement, especially toward the end of the film, and I think those are valid concerns. But this just proves a lot of people’s points, including my own, that the whole shared universe between movies and TV was doomed to fail. Nobody is “doing the homework” before going into these movies.
This is without getting into any of the other valid concerns or complaints surrounding how Peter got his money, was able to afford any of the things that he was doing in this movie, and how he didn't have a job. The comparisons to Stark Jr. are pretty accurate, alongside another nickname that's pretty fun to say. It rolls off the tongue well... Alliteration is a fun thing.
Some of my other critiques come from a storytelling perspective. There was a lot to the story that I think the editors and director left for the audience to figure out, and I don't know if they did a good enough job at leaving the breadcrumbs. I've seen a lot of discussion and discourse surrounding whether Ned and MJ remember, and why Peter is starting to have these issues now of all times. While some answers are clearer than others, in my opinion the fact that these are still questions to begin with shows that something didn't work. Yes, audiences are paying less attention, they're on their phones, and media literacy is dying a slow, painful death. But even for me and my brother, as theatergoers who pay close attention to every little detail, there was a lot that we were left scratching our heads over.
Despite these complaints, and I know I'm not the only one who has them, I still walked away from this movie feeling like a kid. It's a weird sort of paradox. This is by far the best MCU version of Spider-Man we've gotten since they released Spider-Man: Homecoming back in 2017. But at the same time, it still has all of the same problems that I had with that film and the other two that came after it. Tom Holland continues to show that he is the Spider-Man for a generation, though I'm not sure if he'll ever be my Spider-Man (shout out Tobey). But as far as Spider‑Men go, he's the only one to have four movies, and I know I'll be lined up for the fifth one.
From Letterboxd: This is, without question, Tom Holland’s best outing as Spider-Man, and the best MCU version of the character we’ve ever received.
Action, drama, visuals, and a largely absent score (thank god), really swings this past all of Garfield’s films and at least one of Tobey’s. The standard MCU-isms post-Endgame are there, so do with that information what you will.
Gonna have to rewatch to solidify my opinion, but I really liked it!
4/5
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters. Go.