Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review
Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day finds Peter Parker losing control of his powers as a mind-hijacking villain surfaces.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Credit: Marvel Studios / Sony Pictures
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is Tom Holland's fourth outing as Spider-Man and the first since 2021's No Way Home. Destin Daniel Cretton (*Short Term 12*, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) takes over as director from Jon Watts, who made the previous trilogy. Brand New Day teases a more personal Spider-Man story, then drops the ball by shifting the primary plotline to setting up another corner of the Marvel Universe.
At the end of No Way Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) gets Doctor Strange to help cast a spell to make the world forget he’s Spider-Man. This comes at a devastating cost: people don't just forget the secret, they forget Peter Parker entirely, including his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and the love of his life, MJ (Zendaya). That’s where Brand New Day opens. Peter spends every moment protecting New York, and the isolation is starting to break him. The spider side of his genetic makeup is flaring up, making him act unpredictably. Stronger and faster, but also losing control and becoming dangerous to the people around him.
The movie doesn’t go very far with that, relegating it to a B-plot. Its attention is focused on a mysterious new villain (Sadie Sink) with the power to hijack people’s minds and bodies. She’s dead-set on gaining access to a secret hidden in the Department of Damage Control, the government agency charged with cleaning up the fallout from superpowered disasters.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Credit: Marvel Studios / Sony Pictures
None of this is as interesting as Peter coming apart at the seams: physically, emotionally, and socially. At one point, Peter wakes up in a cocoon after blacking out for what might have been days, only to discover he’s suddenly able to shoot organic webbing. That should have been the movie. Peter losing his humanity while trying to reconnect with friends who don't even know who he is. More emphasis on New Yorkers beginning to fear him just as he’s gaining their trust, rather than a single moment in the movie. A Man-Spider story was right there and Brand New Day didn’t go with it. It’s superficially addressed and resolved near the end of the film, with no real changes or consequences.
That aside, it’s still a fun movie. The action is great. A fight against the Hulk stands out, and another one against the red-clad ninjas of the Hand, who are apparently in this movie because fighting ninjas is cool. Cretton’s direction makes the action exciting and visually stylish. It’s also just always a good time seeing Tom Holland as Spider-Man.
Despite my disappointment in her plotline, Sadie Sink is great. The movie gives her a genuinely tragic backstory, and she shares some fantastic scenes with Tramell Tillman as the head of Damage Control, making his Marvel debut. You might know Tillman for his incredible role as Severed Floor Manager Mr. Milchick in Severance. I’m overjoyed that he’s landing roles on this scale.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Credit: Marvel Studios / Sony Pictures
One of the movie’s highlights is the big-screen debut of the Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and his uneasy relationship with Spider-Man, almost in an Odd Couple way. Admittedly, the movie softens Frank Castle a bit, but he’s a great addition. Bernthal and Holland have fantastic chemistry and share some great scenes.
My gripes with Brand New Day probably have more to do with what the movie isn’t. It’s an excellent Spider-Man story by comic book standards. It just doesn’t feel as consequential as it should be. We get multiple Spider-Man comics released every month, but only one movie every few years. I wanted more.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Spider-Man: Brand New Day delivers terrific action and strong performances, but relegates Peter Parker’s most compelling struggle to the background.
