Spider-Man being a Sony property means he has never felt completely woven into the Marvel Cinematic universe the way everyone else is. Strangely, that awkward position works in Spider-Man: Brand New Day's favor, allowing Spidey to carve that little niche away from the larger Marvel machine and build a world that finally feels distinctly, unmistakably Spider-Man.
Years after Doctor Strange cast the spell that made everyone forget who he is, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) protects New York City as the wisecracking Spider-Man. In between beating up bank robbers and other ne'er-do-wells, Peter struggles with loneliness, with one of his only confidantes being the vigilante Punisher (Jon Bernthal). Meanwhile, Peter keeps tabs on MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), hoping someday he could find a way to make them remember that he's the love of her life and his beloved best friend.
It's a refreshing and new status quo, a jumping on point for those new to Spidey, while treating those who've been tuning in since 2016 with a more assured cast of characters. Director Destin Daniel Cretton builds upon his predecessor Jon Watts' coming-of-age stylings, giving us a Spider-Man movie that's more like its comic counterpart, more confident and comfortable with itself, than ever before.
But the comfort is short-lived, as Peter is dealing with exciting—and frightening—changes to his DNA, tweaking his powers and attitude way above baseline. To add to that stress, a mystery girl (Sadie Sink) is using their ability to control people's minds to wreak havoc in New York. When anyone can become a threat, who can Spider-Man trust?
Personally, I trust Tom Holland. He navigates the Peter Parker/Spider-Man role with impressive surety; he has been playing Spidey for a good part of the decade, after all. And in Brand New Day, Tom grows even more comfortably into the role. His Spidey in turn has become an amalgamation of past movie Spider-Mans—a little bit of Tobey Maguire's loveable underdog, a dash of Andrew Garfield's tragic mess with a heart of gold—while adding a dramatic spin (heh) all his own.
The world around him has also grown. Cretton taps into Spider-Man's relationship with New York to give the movie an interesting texture. From Spidey's interactions with its citizens to the colorful characters that inhabit the city (including a fun albeit short fracas with Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk and Bernthal's Punisher), no other MCU movie has captured that sense of community and activity quite as effectively as Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It harkens back to the classic Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Spidey adventures, and I'm here for it.
I'm also here for Tom and Zendaya's chemistry. Peter and MJ's relationship is an irrevocable part of the Spider-Man tapestry, and it's the moments where Tom's Peter Parker and Zendaya's MJ bare their hearts and souls to each other, for better or worse, where Brand New Day shines.
The movie also takes some big swings, especially with the introduction of Sadie Sink’s mystery villain, who can "jump" into people's minds to control them against their will. Well, not exactly a villain—the tragedy at the heart of her story makes her easy to root for even when she's at her scariest. It could have easily felt like putting a square peg in a round hole, but Sink's dramatic performance gives the character a real weight. By the end, she goes from a risky new addition to one of the MCU’s most exciting people to watch moving forward.
And watch I shall. It's been a while since a Marvel Studios movie made me excited for the future. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a welcome return to the Marvel Studios of yore, a self-contained adventure that honors the past, enhances the present, and builds towards something unmissable. Highly recommended!
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