Spider-Man: Brand New Day
The latest Spider-Man film is a more mature, more emotionally complex, and noticeably darker instalment – but Tom Holland’s exuberant performance still keeps the tone light and entertaining, and the supporting cast of new and returning characters all bring something fresh to this next chapter in the webslinger’s life.
Premise: When the world forgot him at the end of the last film, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) retreated into self-imposed isolation in the hope of protecting MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) from the same fate that befell his aunt May (Marisa Tomei). But after encountering an invisible new foe who appears able to jump between host bodies, Peter also finds that his spider-powers are becoming dangerously unstable…
Review:
The trilogy of 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home brought the story of Spider-Man’s high school years to a perfect conclusion, while also ending on one hell of a cliffhanger, as Doctor Strange’s spell erased everyone’s memories of Peter Parker (Tom Holland). Although Spider-Man: Brand New Day sees a new director take over the series (Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed the hugely enjoyable Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), the writing team of Chris McKennab and Erik Sommers have stayed on, and so perhaps unsurprisingly, the film not only deals with the aftermath of Doctor Strange’s spell, but it also makes sure that the decisions made at the end of the last film have real consequences are aren’t quickly undone in the first 10 minutes with a simple handwave.
In fact Peter Parker’s entire emotional arc during the course of this movie is tied into the aftermath of his decisions at the climax of No Way Home. Having decided not to re-reveal his secret identity to his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) – mainly out of a fear that they’ll be harmed as the collateral damage of his life as Spider-Man, just as Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) was – Peter Parker has retreated into a self-imposed isolation. Shunning all human contact to the point where he even moves to avoid having to deal with neighbours, when we join him he has completely shunned his Peter Parker identity, and is 100% Spider-Man 100% of the time.
“…more emotionally complex, more mature & darker in tone…”
As a result, his only relationship is with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), and even then, they only really talk over the phone, and only talk about business. The only ember of Peter Parker’s former life that still burns is when he spends his loneliest moments watching MJ and Ned on social media living their best lives without him at college in Boston. Although No Way Home had its dark moments as Peter struggled with his anger and guilt following the death of Aunt May, Brand New Day is more emotionally complex and, to a certain extent, more mature and darker in tone as it shows Peter struggling with his isolation and lack of human connection.
When it was announced that Brand New Day would feature the first big screen appearance of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle (aka The Punisher), it would have been easy to be cynical and think it was just a marketing ploy – but in the context of the film, it makes perfect thematic sense. Of all Marvel’s heroes/antiheroes, none is more physically and emotionally isolated than Frank Castle, and so having him appear in this movie allows the audience and Peter to see where Peter’s current path could potentially take him – while also giving Frank the opportunity to remind Peter that no one should be trying to emulate him.
“…results in a quasi-big-brother/little-brother dynamic between Spider-Man & Punisher…”
To say that Jon Bernthal steals the movie is overselling how much screentime he has, and underselling how great everyone else is – but it is fair to say that he’s always hugely entertaining whenever he is in a scene, and he and the filmmakers have done a great job of modulating the character so that he still feels true to his R-rated/18-rated TV show roots, while also being appropriate for a 12A/PG-13 movie. The fact that Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland are friends in real life kind of shines through in their easy chemistry onscreen, and results in a quasi-big-brother/little-brother dynamic between the two characters.
The film also sees the return of Michael Mando as s Mac Gargan (aka Scorpion) from Homecoming, and features appearances from a couple of wider-MCU characters, including Mark Ruffalo as OG Avenger Bruce Banner (I won’t spoil the other one, though). New faces joining the cast include Tramell Tillman as the Head of the Department of Damage Control, Naomi Watts as the voice of Peter’s new AI assistant, and Sadie Sink in arguably her biggest role since breaking out in the later seasons of Stranger Things.
“…MJ & Ned are the emotional core of the movie…”
The downside (from the audience’s perspective) of MJ and Ned no longer remembering Peter is that they are (understandably) in the film less … although I would argue that although their screentime may be reduced, the emotional impact they make in that screentime is arguably enhanced. It’s not overselling it to say that they are both the emotional core of the movie, because they are the emotional core to Peter.
I’ve been coy about saying too much about the plot or the villain(s) in Brand New Day, mainly because the marketing has done a frankly fantastic job of keeping most of the plot under wraps. It’s such a breath of fresh air to go into a big blockbuster movie and not already know who the villain is and what they’re up to – if you want spoilers, you’ll find them easily enough online, but I went in blind and I found the ride great fun as the story unfolded.
“…arguably feels like the most “comic-book-y” of the four recent solo films…”
If you’re looking for nits to pick, there are a lot of ideas squeezed into one film (I’ve not even really discussed Peter’s struggles when his spider-powers start to become unstable), and a couple of unexplained plot holes (if Peter’s effectively living as Spider-Man 24/7, how is he making money to pay rent?) – but these are really just minor quibbles. The film’s engaging and propulsive throughout its 2 hour 25 minute runtime, and it sets up a number of plot threads that I expect will be picked up in later MCU films, but never at the expense of making sure that this film is as much fun as it can be.
It’s been 5 years since No Way Home came out, and when you consider that the entire “high school” trilogy was released over a 4-year period, it’s perhaps not that surprising that the characters feel a lot more mature in Brand New Day – but what’s also pleasantly surprising is that the storytelling feels like its matured alongside the characters and the actors. Not only that, but it does all that without losing any of the comic-book charm of the previous movies – in fact, with its montages of various lesser-known villains and street-level crime-fighting, Brand New Day arguably feels like the most “comic-book-y” of the four recent solo Spider-Man films. And while I won’t give away any spoilers, I will just say that I thought the final scene of the movie was one of the most perfectly judged final shots I’ve seen in a long time…
And I will also say, although there is a short post-credit scene, you really won’t be missing much if you decide not to stay through the whole end credits…
