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PHOTO: Tom Holland at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day UK Premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London, England. UK. (James Warren/Famous Images/Sipa USA via AP Images)
This article represents the writer’s opinions and contains spoilers for the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
After five years, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has returned to the big screen. His latest entry, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which released on July 31, has exceeded expectations, taking Avengers: Endgame’s spot as the film with the biggest opening weekend domestically. Holland’s new film as New York City’s friendly crime-fighting superhero has evolved from the sentiments of the first trilogy. Destin Daniel Cretton, replacing Watts as director, hooks audiences into this new era from the get-go.
Brand New Day offers fans who watched Peter grow from adolescence to adulthood a more mature storyline about entering a frightening new chapter in your life while keeping some of the endearing youthfulness viewers loved in previous movies.
Taking viewers through the aftermath of Dr. Strange’s spell from the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where everyone’s memories of Peter were erased, the film shows the webslinger dedicated to his hero duties while longing for his past relationships with Ned Leeds (played by Jacob Batalon) and ex-girlfriend, MJ (played by Zendaya) who he decided to not to tell of their shared history together. He lets them go out of bittersweet altruism and watches their lives progress on social media from their days at dream school, MIT, to post-grad life in NYC, where most of the film takes place.
After seeing Ned at a store and following him to his apartment, Peter ends up at a party. While there, he spots his former best friend’s board in search of Spider-Man as both Ned and MJ remember being saved by the superhero, and he introduces himself under the alias “Maynard.” Once he spots MJ with her new boyfriend, he depressingly swings home maskless. After collapsing in his apartment and awakening in a cocoon, viewers witness Peter undergo a genetic transformation and try to navigate heightened and new abilities. From there, nothing but chaos ensues as his relationship with MJ is brought to the forefront when Jean Gray (played by Sadie Sink), who initially acts as the film’s primary antagonist, goes after her.
Peter’s journey in this film is twofold. As Peter, he has to understand that he cannot decide things for others like his friends. When it comes to his superhero persona, he must learn to grow and adapt despite how strange and foreign these changes are.
Besides tackling maturity, the film addresses autonomy and consent in one of its standout scenes. When the main villain, Jean Grey, inhabits MJ’s body and pretends to be her, she tricks Peter into thinking his ex-girlfriend remembers their relationship. The two share a passionate kiss before Jean reveals that she is not, in fact, MJ. Peter later tells MJ about the kiss, apologizing and explaining that he truly thought it was her, not the telepath. Peter’s decision to tell her shows his respect for MJ, and reminds the audience of one of the core values of his character.
Throughout Brand New Day, viewers are hit with the emotional weight of the consequences of Peter’s decision. Between the scene of him swinging home in the pouring rain after the party and the one of him and Ned hanging out, building a Lego set, Holland delivers a sensational, compelling performance of a Peter and Spider-Man coming into his own, while remaining true to his established characterization.
Similarly, MJ’s character remains somewhat guarded and snarky yet endearing, a balance Zendaya crafted in Far From Home and No Way Home that is cemented in this film. After finding the letter Peter wrote to MJ about who he is and what they meant to one another, she isn’t quick to enter back into a relationship despite believing him and lets him down. Zendaya seriously blows it out of the water with her wit and dark charm as MJ.
Another highlight of the film is Sadie Sink’s rendition of Jean Grey, the villain revealed to be a misunderstood teenager. We sit as an audience, watching her threaten MJ’s life, weaponize the Hulk and the Punisher, and ponder her motivations. Why does this young girl have so much rage inside of her? The film tells us: she’s in search of her sister, Sarah, who was taken from her by the Department of Damage Control. After a fight with Spider-Man and the use of a universal inhibitor Peter made, Jean is held against her will by DDC as a test subject like Sarah was. Upon being tortured and learning of her sister’s death in captivity, the young telepath unlocks greater power out of her anger and pain, trapping and freezing New Yorkers in Manhattan.
After accepting both of his identities as Peter Parker and Spider-Man, Peter reaches Jean and lets her into his mind. Once in a memory of him and Aunt May (played by Maria Tomei, whose character died during the events of No Way Home), Jean can step into Peter’s shoes and receive her sage wisdom about the reality of being a hero: having powers doesn’t mean she has to shoulder everything alone, which Peter reiterates. In turn, he realizes that he does not need to be alone either despite his persistent isolation over the last four years.
At the end of the film, Peter survives a near-death experience and leaves the hospital. He’s surrounded by New Yorkers cheering on who they think is Spider-Man but is really Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher, donning the mask. He’s able to soak in the praise — a contrast to the No Way Home scene of angry citizens — allowing him to realize how much he’s loved. The moment hits harder when a child pretends to shoot a web, doing the signature hand Spider-Man move, which Peter mimics affectionately.
The movie concludes on a hopeful, positive note with Peter and Ned doing their handshake from the trilogy, leaving viewers with the revelation that he might remember their friendship.
As a follow-up to Holland’s first Spider-Man trilogy, Brand New Day stands out because it shows the kid from Queens that we saw lose everyone close to him overcome trials and tribulations while mending emotional wounds and trying to rebuild relationships. The film takes the superhero’s transformation and turns it into a relatable story about Peter’s growth as a person and Spider-Man. Like Holland’s other Spider-Man installments, this movie can be enjoyed by everyone, not just the average Marvel fan.
