It’s been five years since the crowd-pleasing Spider-Man: No Way Home united all three live-action Spider-Men for a multiversal melee against a collection of their greatest foes, and now Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes things back to basics: street-level villains, a homemade suit, and plenty of creative swinging around New York City. There’s a lot that happens in this movie, with big implications for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a half-dozen other heroes popping in and out, but this is a classic Spidey story in ways his previous MCU outings haven’t been. In fact, it might be bold to say so, but I think this is the best MCU Spider-Man movie yet.
Still reeling from the conclusion of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which effectively wiped him from existence, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is essentially Spider-Man 24/7. He fights crime, he trains alone in his apartment, and he’s pushing himself to his absolute limit. This single-minded superheroing begins to take a toll on Peter, whose powers begin to go haywire. Is his devotion to the “Spider” side of the hyphen in his namesake taking over the “Man”? Well, True Believers, we find out.
Meanwhile, his former girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are MIT grads with no memory of Peter, and things get more complicated when Peter is drawn back into their world. Director Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) ably weaves a story that’s as much about Peter battling loneliness as it is about punching the Incredible Hulk in the face, and it’s really refreshing. This isn’t just spectacle and fan service.
That said, the spectacle really works. Cretton clearly takes some inspiration from the kinetic movement and fighting maneuvers in Insomniac’s excellent Spider-Man video games, giving us a Webslinger who moves quicker and more amazingly/spectacularly/sensationally than ever before in a live-action film.
And, yes, Sadie Sink, whose role should remain a mystery until you see it, does a phenomenal job and really shines in the film’s third act. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
One of the most surprisingly entertaining aspects of this film is the banter and surprisingly deep relationship between Peter and Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). Each of these characters brings out the other’s best qualities here and seeing Peter — and then MJ — give Frank the business throughout this film is a real joy. Plus, I couldn’t help but notice that Peter/Spidey lays on his exaggerated New York accent just a little bit more whenever he’s arguing with Frank, and that was a nice touch.
There are a ton of nice touches like that in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which could have easily felt like a cheap cash-in after the monumental success of Spider-Man: No Way Home but turns out to be so much more. This isn’t a victory lap. Appropriately enough, it’s a big swing.
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