The MCU has been in shambles for almost seven years, while producing an abundance of middling streaming series and forgettable chapters in the cinematic universe. Yet, one hero has always managed to stand out and create excitement in a world where superhero fatigue has made audiences open their eyes.
Tom Holland’s iteration of the character lead the high-school focused “Home” trilogy while dabbling in the more cosmic Marvel universe. He’s been so tied into the grander elements of the crossover franchise that he’s never been able to be his own hero.
In Brand New Day, we get the start of a new “Day” trilogy. He is still affected daily by the events of the spell (from No Way Home) where the world forgot his secret identity. That included not only his allies, but also his best friend, Ned, and his girlfriend, MJ.
Some time has passed and Peter is still pining over MJ, but he’s accepted his role as NYC’s protector. He takes on common low-level Spider-villains until one day when some destruction downtown becomes a much bigger threat.
Several things have changed with this new trilogy. Most notably, Jon Watts has been replaced by director Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi). A new director brings a different tone, look, and vibe that complements where Peter Parker is at in his mid 20s now. Instead of the wizz-bang John Hughes wannabe whimsy of the Home trilogy, Cretton allows the movie to confidently sit in emotional moments.
This movie has the same writers as the previous movies in the series, but they too seemed to have grown up and allow themselves to deviate away from the tired Marvel comedic formula. Honestly, in tone, this feels incredibly close to the Andrew Garfield movies.
For the first time in the series, I finally believe that Tom Holland and Zendaya have chemistry. Their scenes together felt electric, rather than apathetic. There’s complexity to their characters’ situations, but they pulled it off wonderfully. Somewhere in the past year, Tom Holland has found his talent for acting. Brand New Day gives us Holland’s best acted role in his career so far.
The action is also the best this series has shown. Whether it’s the swinging through NYC or Spider-Man fighting large groups, the action stands out and is even memorable. Granted, they’re almost a “live-action” version of the PS4 Spider-Man game scenes, but I mean that as a compliment.
I found myself really enjoying this movie, even with its more somber tone. It introduces villainous elements that feel like a truly scary threat for Spidey. It also finally felt like a street level Spider-Man movie.
Yet, there are two big problems with this movie. It is entirely too long and bloated. And worst of all, it can’t shake the MCU baggage.
These are almost the same problems wrapped into one. Because of the inclusion of several MCU characters, they either feel pointless tie-ins (and homework to be honest) or they take over the narrative from our titular hero entirely. I liked the inclusion of Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. He brought a comedic element to a pretty serious Spidey. But adding in the others (Yes, I’m being vague) completely overcomplicates things and make this feel like two completely different movies.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is my favorite of the Holland movies. It takes the emotional highs of the end of No Way Home and adds more character depth, along with thrilling action. It stumbles a bit with some loose plot threads and a loss of focus. Truly, I wish they’d leave the character out of the upcoming Avengers movies and just let him be. It was so nice to see a mostly Spider-Man movie again. B
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