Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is a Strong Spider-Man Story Undercut by Shoehorned MCU Connections
The last time the world saw Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was way back in December of 2021. That entry in the Spider-Man filmography felt particularly vital, not only because it turned into a celebration of every Spider-Man movie before it, but because it was launched as the public still hadn’t returned in full to the movie theaters. It was a humongous movie despite the Omicron surge and reduced audiences. Expectations were that Spider-Man: Brand New Day could be even bigger– and it broke box office records. Does that make Spider-Man the most valuable IP on the planet right now? It’s hard to consider anything else including the other IP in Disney’s portfolio.
So the new Spider-Man movie is a rousing success commercially, but what about its merits in the larger Spider-Man filmography? That’s more of a mixed bag, as Sony and Marvel have leaned on Spider-Man to do some heavy lifting for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the world has forgotten Peter Parker ever existed. At first, he seems at peace with that idea since his identity is secret, and those he loves like his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), are able to live a quiet life without any connection to Spider-Man. But something is happening to Peter– the arachnoid DNA that has given him his superpowers is taking over, making him more spider than ever before (something akin to David Cronenberg’s The Fly, just not as graphic.)
If getting his mutation under control wasn’t enough, Peter is facing a new villain he has no idea how to stop. Apparently this new enemy can possess different people, making them do whatever this enemy deems necessary. One early set piece has Spider-Man chasing down a tank and having no idea what to expect inside.
Being able to write a review from Brand New Day a few days removed from the opening is freeing. Early in the production of the newest film, Marvel announced that actress Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) was going to be joining the franchise. There was wild speculation about who the actress was going to play, but eventually it was revealed that she would be playing X-Men character Jean Grey. Comic fans familiar with X-Men would instantly be able to figure out the early portion of the movie– what other Marvel character could possibly control the minds of all those people? The knowledge of her role within the movie doesn’t ruin anything, but makes this Spider-Man entry do double duty as an X-Men origin film.
Spider-Man’s dilemma in Brand New Day is the overpowering of a mutant DNA strand that exists within him. The one person he knows that’s also trying to suppress a transformation is fellow Marvel superhero Bruce Banner / The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Banner has developed his own tech over the years that helps him suppress the big green guy inside, but that’s for his own personal use. Parker is devising something that will universally limit the mutation inside individuals like himself. A device like that has been X-Men storyline fodder for decades. It’s just a shame that’s the biggest idea that the writers have for X-Men going forward and that it eats into so much of Brand New Day’s story.
The Hulk and Jean Grey aren’t the only Marvel characters to make appearances as other MCU mainstays like Black Widow (Florence Pugh) and The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) also appear. The Punisher takes over the father-figure role that each entry in the Tom Holland Spider-Man series has leaned on (previous father-figures Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange). For audiences who have only been following the movies, they’ll have little idea of who The Punisher is. But if you’ve watched the three television productions and one television special, you’ll probably get more out of his addition here. Even if you aren’t familiar with The Punisher, there’s enough tea leaves given in Brand New Day to get the outline of a fairly complicated character.
The parts of Brand New Day that still work is the chemistry between Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon. It has always been the best part of these movies and that hasn’t changed here. The movie fully explores what life without Peter Parker was like and it's in the interpersonal relationships that this movie soars.
After repeatedly having to save the world in his last outings, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is given significantly smaller stakes. In fact, as a change to these superhero movies, it's hard to really pinpoint one character as the villain. That’s a welcome change, but the shoehorning of the X-Men into the Marvel Universe through Spider-Man doesn’t fully work. While I’m sure Sadie Sink will do fine as the face of the X-Men in the new generation, her appearance here leaves way more questions than answers. I’ve always felt that the Marvel movies do better when they don’t have to exist to further a larger narrative. That has also struck here to make this entry a little less exciting than it could’ve been. If Tom Holland and crew return for one more Spider-Man entry I’m interested in seeing it, but I hope that it’s a Spider-Man story first and foremost. [C+]
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