'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Brings Spidey Back to Basics
Despite the inevitable MCU tropes, this is an excellent live-action take on the web-head.
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Note: This review is spoiler-free.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is roughly at where American superhero comic books were at in the 1990s. Namely, it suffers from needlessly complex plots, multiple series you need to keep up with like homework in order to understand what’s going on, pointless retcons, and the film equivalent to their uneven artwork with CGI ranging from fine to atrociously amateur. But as with all eras of comics, sometimes you can pick up a random issue off the shelf and be pleasantly surprised at what you’re reading even if not everything is perfect.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day best fits that description, and it’s probably the closest any live-action film has gotten to capturing the earnest humanism of the character since Sam Raimi achieved the perfect balance with Spider-Man 2 in 2004. It’s notable for being the last big screen MCU entry before Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas at the end of the year, but director Destin Daniel Cretton thankfully doesn’t hit audiences over the head with nonstop easter eggs. Less concerned with reminding you that a crossover of galactic proportions is just around the corner, Brand New Day is instead a smaller-scale story that fully embraces what makes Spider-Man such a relatable superhero and beloved pop culture icon.
After the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the world has not only forgotten that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, no one has any memory that Peter himself ever existed. In a rather heartbreaking early montage, we see that life has gone on for Peter’s former love interest Mary Jane and best friend Ned Leeds. Through social media, he observes them going through four years of university milestones without him. Meanwhile, things ironically couldn’t be better for Spider-Man as a superhero. New York City absolutely loves him, which contributes to Peter’s only real meaning in life being his dedication toward fighting crime on a near 24/7 basis.
This is Spider-Man back to his essential elements, which is what I appreciated the most out of Brand New Day. It bears little in common with the 2008 Dan Slott comic book storyline of the same name, but that’s a good thing. In the aftermath of the widely lambasted One More Day storyline, the Brand New Day issues tried to make things fresh by restarting the status quo, but the rotation of writers and artists led to very mixed results. In contrast, Brand New Day the film is earned melancholy and Peter’s loneliness doesn’t come across as misery for the sake of it.
Without Tony Stark’s technology or the support of the Avengers, Peter is once again Spider-Man on his own terms. Granted, he isn’t completely without help. Peter’s superb intelligence and resourcefulness allows him to create his own gadgets, while he’s in regular contact with NYPD detective Jean DeWolff. It becomes apparent, however, that none of this can substitute a truly meaningful life. Unlike other superheroes, Peter Parker and Spider-Man are both essential aspects to the character. Batman uses Bruce Wayne as his mask and Superman adapts the persona of Clark Kent to integrate with humanity, but Spider-Man can’t totally divorce himself from his civilian identity no matter hard he tries.
As such, this is why Brand New Day feels like a true spiritual successor to the Raimi trilogy. Peter’s loneliness, visits to Aunt May’s grave, and slipping control over his superpowers the more his life spirals out of balance are likely homages to the best moments of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. Post-Avengers: Endgame, much of the MCU has frequently struggled to recapture what made us care about these heroes in the first place. Brand New Day finally gets it by going back to the storytelling approach of being a nuanced character study.
At the same time, the appearances of other Marvel characters actually enhance the world of Spider-Man instead of being distracting cameos. The first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man centered around our broke protagonist trying to join the Fantastic Four as a paid gig, so it was clear from the get-go that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko intended for him to be well-integrated with their larger universe. While I’m not the biggest fan of Mark Ruffalo, this is one of his strongest appearances as the Hulk. The underlying conflict of Peter’s superpowers becoming even more spider-like over time are a clear parallel to Bruce Banner’s own struggles with his monstrous half. Florence Pugh’s Yelena, who was surprisingly moving in the underrated Thunderbolts from last year, also reminds Peter that his mental health can’t be ignored.
Special praise must be given to Jon Bernthal as The Punisher. I’ve long been a huge fan of the character and have even used the cover of his debut appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 as my phone wallpaper for months at a time. As of this writing, I’m currently going through the Defenders saga television shows, which are notably much darker than typical MCU fare. Frank Castle being a cold-blooded killer who massacres criminals without mercy was appropriate there, but Brand New Day naturally had to tone him down for a PG-13 rating. The Punisher’s often exasperated interactions with Spider-Man are especially hilarious if you’ve seen his brutal actions in Daredevil and his own series. At the same time, Peter partially fills the empty void Castle has after losing his family. I certainly hope this isn’t the only time they appear on screen together because they work off one another well.
Relying more on practical effects than the preceding trilogy, Brand New Day’s action and stunts are among the most thrilling ever seen in a live-action Spider-Man film. Cretton clearly applied the same lessons he learned from Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings in crafting a combat-heavy picture that flows with kinetic energy, while Tom Holland himself is in top athletic shape. The rich color grading is a welcome step away from the MCU’s recent tendency to go drab, and Michael Giacchino once again proves himself as among the best composers working in Hollywood with the evocative score. There is also obvious inspiration from Insomniac’s PlayStation video games with how Spider-Man moves and web-swings through New York. Don’t be surprised if you end up picking up a controller after the credits are over.
Yet for all the praise I’ve lavished on Brand New Day, there are some notable flaws that prevent it from taking the throne away from Spider-Man 2. First, the main villain will be a controversial choice. This was apparently one of the film’s worst-kept secrets in the lead up to its release, but I was able to avoid spoilers and be surprised during the reveal. Without giving too much away, I found this aspect to be the story’s weakest element. It unfortunately falls into the MCU (and greater Disney) trope of a someone who does heinous things up to murder being given a forced redemption arc that doesn’t quite land. At worst, the resolution is almost like a retread of Thunderbolts and likely could have been handled better with a few more script revisions.
Other aspects are less developed due to either time constraints or the consequences of slightly overstuffing a film that’s less than two-and-a-half hours long. The Hand is undoubtedly cool, but mostly irrelevant to the plot. I’d wager that the majority of audiences likely haven’t watched the Defenders saga, so their importance to the greater MCU mythos won’t be properly understood. This problem also extends to The Punisher and how he’s seemingly able to walk into public buildings without running into trouble with the authorities. A deleted scene featuring Rosario Dawson’s nurse character Claire Temple could have actually helped explain a couple of plot holes in the last act.
Despite being featured heavily in the marketing, the subplot around Peter’s enhanced spider abilities doesn’t have a satisfying conclusion and isn’t clear if this aspect of himself will ever be fully explored again. Don’t expect Man-Spider to appear despite the initial online speculation, either. More disappointing is the lack of screen time given to Mary Jane and Ned. Holland and Zendaya’s few scenes together are genuinely heartfelt, but there evidently needs to be another film or two to properly resolve their estranged relationship. Also, how the hell does Peter pay the bills? Living in an asbestos-ridden apartment may drive down costs and Spider-Man is a genius dumpster-diving inventor, sure, but with nary a J. Jonah Jameson in sight we get no indication if he’s working part-time. One or two additional lines could’ve easily explained it.
While I’m sure there will eventually be a live-action Miles Morales, Holland is in no hurry to pass the torch just yet. It’s pretty much all but confirmed that he’ll be back in one or both of the two upcoming Avengers movies. The Alien Costume Saga introduced the symbiote during the Secret Wars storyline, and Holland has yet to meet Tom Hardy’s Venom. Perhaps a future solo film will address Gwen Stacy and her eventual death, a major turning point in Spider-Man’s career that the short-lived Andrew Garfield franchise only hinted at. At the same time, I’d probably be more interested in the wealth of unexplored material from the comics that has yet to be adapted on the silver screen.
Like its title suggests, Brand New Day marks a reborn era for Spider-Man. Despite some plot weaknesses, this is the sort of film adaptation of the character I’ve always wanted. Spider-Noir from a few months ago is another take I lavished praise on, that television series being a successful example of how to integrate Spider-Man into a different category of genre fiction. Brand New Day, on the other hand, returns to the best of Spider-Man’s classic comic book roots and cinematic history to deliver a sweet crowd-pleaser. There must be something in the air this year because it and Project Hail Mary are the most uplifting experiences I’ve had watching a major Hollywood studio production in a long time.
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