That may be more than a million-dollar question, because right now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is raking in millions for both Marvel and Sony Pictures. Released worldwide on the last day of July, the film set a historic domestic record with a $360 million opening weekend, resulting in an estimated $932 million globally.
That’s more than the domestic opening weekend figures for Avengers: Endgame, which brought the entire world to a standstill when it was released in 2019. Seven years later, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swings into action to save both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the film industry with its well-timed entry, which might prove to be a brand-new day, literally.
How can a film featuring multiple Marvel Comics superheroes fail, you might ask? Multiple films, including The Eternals and The Marvels, failed this decade, so Spidey’s latest entry is a good omen for superhero flicks. But here is the more interesting question: Is it actually the best Spider-Man film?
That is a much tougher web to untangle, considering Spider-Man: No Way Home did something fans had spent years dreaming of — it brought together Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as three generations of Spider-Man. Whatever comes after that has a difficult act to follow.
Fortunately, Brand New Day does not try to outdo No Way Home at its own game. Instead, it goes in the opposite direction. It follows the Sam Raimi format that made the Tobey Maguire films memorable and refocuses on Peter Parker.
Making Peter Parker central to the plot is a very good idea
Remember Peter Parker at the end of No Way Home? He had lost Aunt May, his friends no longer remembered him, and the world had effectively erased him. Not exactly the happiest ending for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Brand New Day picks up from there, with Peter (Tom Holland) diving into superhero duty. He works with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas), deals with Damage Control, led by Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman), and occasionally crosses paths with Frank Castle, better known as The Punisher (Jon Bernthal).
But none of these people can replace what Peter has lost. He is lonely and broken, with no friends, unlike in the previous Spider-Man flicks, where he had Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) on his side.
Things get more complicated when random New Yorkers start causing havoc under the influence of a mysterious being who tells Spider-Man to back off, or MJ will be harmed. Unable to turn to Damage Control for help, Peter entrusts Frank with MJ’s safety and decides to get to the bottom of the issue so he can save the world, save MJ, and himself in the process.
Emotional moments are well placed
This is where Brand New Day gets surprisingly good. On the one hand, Peter seems lost; on the other, when he finally finds the courage to meet his old friends, things get interesting as director Destin Daniel Cretton uses the simplest means to make the reunion memorable.
Remember, Ned and MJ don’t know who Peter is because of a spell, but he remembers them and cherishes every moment he spent with them. Most of the film follows Peter as he gets motivated after watching the videos on his phone and learning that his friends are safe while they are away from him. Being in New York means they are more likely to bump into each other than to stay apart.
The connection is there, and throughout the film, the director plays with it, giving the film the emotional conflict that becomes its heart. Both Tom Holland and Zendaya handle these scenes beautifully. There is sadness, awkwardness, and genuine affection without the film turning every encounter into a melodramatic reunion.
Spider-Man and The Punisher, together
There is also a reunion of sorts between The Punisher and Spider-Man, who may not have met onscreen before. When they do, it’s as if they’re old friends, friends who want the best for each other but have no idea how to express it. They fight each other all the time, but deep down, the bond they share is what keeps Brand New Day interesting.
After all, who doesn’t like a little conflict between two lead characters – they are good guys with very different ideas about justice. Peter likes to save people; Frank Castle loves to eliminate them. Peter sees good even in the worst criminals; Frank sees the same person and reaches for a weapon.
Putting these two together gives Brand New Day a completely different energy, and Jon Bernthal is terrific as Castle. He was born to play the iconic role, and watching him interact with Spider-Man is one of the film’s greatest pleasures.
Were the Hulk and Black Widow appearances really necessary?
This is where the film starts to feel a little too much like the MCU. Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner and the Hulk are still around, and Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow, also enters Peter’s world. Are they fun to watch? Of course. Are they necessary? Not really.
Okay. The Hulk’s presence can be justified because he provides Peter Parker with valuable information when needed; Black Widow is only there to connect Spider-Man to The New Avengers, and that’s exactly what should not have happened.
Ever wondered why more MCU flicks have failed in recent years than succeeded? Going overboard might be one reason, and using The Hulk and Black Widow when they weren’t needed is part of the same problem. The antagonist in the film – whose identity is kept under wraps – is the only non-Spider-Man character that needs to be in the film, but the makers’ ‘the more the merrier’ fantasy keeps them from going big.
Brand New Day is strongest when it is Peter Parker’s story; the more it reminds us that this is just one small piece of a giant Marvel puzzle, the less special that story becomes.
Action sequences are top-notch
Let’s not forget why audiences are buying tickets. They want to see Spider-Man swing, fight, and win. Brand New Day delivers on that promise. The action sequences are energetic and imaginative, and, thankfully, relatively easy to follow. They become more chaotic as the story progresses, but they remain connected to the emotional beats.
That last part matters. Recently, in the DCEU flicks Superman and Supergirl, James Gunn has tried to mix action with endless dialogue, jokes, and exposition, which not only irritates the audience but also makes the superhero look less heroic. Thankfully, Brand New Day avoids that. Here, when the characters are fighting, they fight; when they are talking, they talk.
Simple, right? The only misstep here is the makers’ decision to prepare the audience for the next MCU project – Avengers: Doomsday – instead of making this film unforgettable. That’s the only issue with this flick, which you forget as soon as Spider-Man starts swinging through New York.
Verdict: Spider-Man weaves a web that saves Marvel!
So, is Spider-Man: Brand New Day the best Spider-Man film? No Way Home still has the advantage, simply because bringing Holland, Maguire and Garfield together was something audiences had never seen before.
But Brand New Day may be something Marvel needs even more right now. It is smaller, direct and personal. Most importantly, it remembers that Peter Parker is not just a superhero.
He is a person, just as Stan Lee envisioned when he created him to show rival DC Comics that a superhero can have flaws, be a student, and be broke with responsibilities.
Tom Holland remains one of the best things about the MCU, Zendaya gives MJ a more mature emotional dimension, Jacob Batalon brings back the humor audiences have missed, and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher is every bit as good as fans hoped he would be.
Brand New Day may not be the best Spider-Man film ever made, but it could be the one that helps Marvel find its way again.
