One of my biggest complaints about the three previous Spider-Man movies, entertaining though they were, is that they felt much more interested in furthering the MCU and establishing Spidey within it than telling pure Spider-Man-focused stories. Tony Stark and his tech hung like a wall sconce over every scene. Nick Fury in Far From Home and Dr. Strange in No Way Home made sure we never forgot. And even the collision of different movie Spider-Mans in the latter film was meant to remind us of earlier things rather than celebrate the current.
And yet, despite all this, Tom Holland’s performance as Peter Parker, and his friendships with Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) stood out. Perhaps as a function of this, and of this version of Spider-Man turning 10 this year, Spider-Man: Brand New Day chooses to focus on relationships and the smaller moments rather than big spectacle. Because of this, even despite having several other Marvel characters, Brand New Day is finally the most “Spider-Man” Spider-Man movie.
In an effort to remain spoiler-free, I’ll just tell you the basic gist. After the world has forgotten Spider-Man’s true identity, Peter Parker has remained a handsome, jacked recluse for four years. He watches his former friends’ social media to a creepy-sad degree. He otherwise has no contact that isn’t a function of his “work” as Spider-Man. (Sidebar: does this version of Peter have an actual job? I have no idea. How’s he paying bills?)
The people of New York love Spidey and he has a good working relationship with local law enforcement, personified by Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas). After dealing with several comic book villains, Spidey helps take down Scorpion (Michael Mando) for Damage Control. However, a new and mysterious player (Sadie Sink), with the ability to inhabit minds, seeks to destroy Damage Control. This puts Spidey on the side of Damage Control chief, Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman).
Naturally, Spider-Man’s personal life comes into play. His abilities seem suddenly unstable. So, he seeks advice from Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) who knows about this sort of thing. And the mysterious psychic has decided to get Spider-Man out of the way through targeting MJ, which leads Spider-Man to seek assistance from his violent frenemy, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal).
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has a lot of moving parts, but they all, somehow, complement each other rather than get in the way. Sure, could any one of the more fantastical elements use a bit of fleshing out? Yeah, especially the parts about what’s genetically happening to Spider-Man. But we quickly realize this movie, from Shang-Chi and Wonder Man director Destin Daniel Cretton, has a much more intimate focus. The action sequences bolster the human dramas at play rather than the drama acting as the web fluid to get from one big set piece to another.
The acting here is all really top notch. Holland, who’s always been charismatic to the max, turns in maybe his best performance yet in the role. He’s a fully established Spider-Man and a wholly adrift Peter Parker. His internal struggle of should he remain alone or does he, in fact, need his human relationships remains compelling throughout. There’s a reason why comic fans have connected to Spider-Man so much over the years, and this movie is the first of the MCU lot that truly captures the loneliness inherent to doing what he does.
Peter’s scenes with Ned and especially MJ are paramount here, but I was particularly pleased with the dynamic between Spider-Man and the Punisher. Even more than Frank is with Matt Murdock, Spider-Man and Punisher should not get along even a little bit. But Frank seems to see Spidey as a weird kindred spirit, both choosing to remain alone in their fight against evil. Granted, Punisher is a mass murderer, but still. Holland and Bernthal are magnetic on screen together, and weirdly the heart of the movie.
My friend and colleague Eric Diaz, following the screening, said Spider-Man: Brand New Day felt like a classic Spider-Man annual. A largely one-off, extra large issue which has cameos and team-ups you wouldn’t expect. In a lot of ways, this movie packs in the MCU stuff more than any of the first three. But here it feels so much more natural, a way to flesh out the world in which Spider-Man inhabits, not just an excuse for bombast. Although, we do get plenty of that.
Cretton gives the movie a distinct, more handheld style, much more akin to Thunderbolts* and Wonder Man. In truth, I think this is the way forward for Marvel. We get tired of weightless action on an obvious green screen or Volume set. It looks fake because it is. The action here feels more tactile even when it clearly isn’t.
Not everything is perfect here. The plot gets a little convoluted, and yes you could still argue this is too many Marvel Studios-owned characters rather than Spider-Man ones. However, because I felt Cretton handled it all so smartly, most of those issues melted away. We want to see Peter Parker hanging out with MJ and Ned. We want to see Spider-Man argue with Punisher. It’s really nice.
I have Marvel fatigue, I admit. The last several years have wore me down a bit. And while I won’t say Spider-Man: Brand New Day saves the Marvel Cinematic Universe or anything, I appreciate that before the sure mess of Avengers: Doomsday, we’ve got a spectacularly solid Spidey adventure.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.