A core message of the animated Spider-Verse series is that “Anyone can wear the mask.” It’s a fitting way to note that being Spider-Man is more than just the powers this hero holds, but the duty and relatable courage they possess. Of course, the notion of wearing a mask to begin with also means needing to hold onto a certain level of anonymity. The incongruity here is that, despite being a hero reliant on secrecy from the world around him, these movies have still managed to be the most humanistic in the superhero genre. Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues this tradition, as no matter how successful one may find the web-slinger’s cinematic adventures to have been, they are always rooted in character over spectacle. It shows that while anyone can wear the mask, an effort to keep the character’s life grounded has remained important.
Thinking of the attempt to keep things grounded, it is especially nice to see the kind of consideration put into this fourth Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man film set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the last film having found Holland’s Parker dealing with the multiverse potentially caving in on his universe, while having to take on villains featured in past cinematic Spidey movies, Brand New Day effectively finds a way to scale back in scope, while still feeling like a larger-than-life comic book movie. It benefits from the sort of life Spider-Man lives, as far as seeing him in action, interacting with other superheroes, and watching themes play out in a manner that gives way to a few memorable set pieces. All of this occurs while also allowing the film to function like a feature film for all audiences, as opposed to a small piece in a larger puzzle indebted to the MCU.
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As enjoyable as the previous MCU Spidey films could be, at their best, knowing we’d be getting a fourth entry that really wanted to separate itself from its larger universe was a proper step. This time around, the choice to finally let this iteration of the character take on street-level crime largely by himself, wearing his own (very cool) costume, and not hang up on circumstances involving Tony Stark and others as a core aspect of the story was welcome. It certainly gave director Destin Daniel Cretton a stronger sandbox to work within. Fortunately, he brought plenty of his own talent to this world of Spider-Man in a way that actually allowed this to feel like a live-action feature with plenty of proper cinematic standards being met.
While the previous entries from director Jon Watts were efficient in their delivery of what was required (though Watts deserves plenty of credit for being a good actor’s director), they missed out on having more of a personality that allowed them to be defined by more than just the casting choices. Cretton’s efforts here are easily what makes this film the best of MCU Spider-Man films so far. Between the effort put in for filming on a technical level, a solid handle on the story, and more than enough moments devoted to resting in the emotions of these characters, there was clearly a filmmaker on board who knew all of the pieces that had to work with and really got down to finding proper ways to bring everything together.
The story presented is rather straightforward. Without going into too much detail, Peter Parker is currently living a lonely life, based on the conclusion of the previous film that forced everyone to forget about him. Now, it’s been four years, and while Parker lives on his own, his efforts as Spider-Man have made a positive impact on the levels of crime in New York City. However, there’s now someone out there who could potentially cause major damage, all while Peter is going through major physical transformations from the toll of fighting crime full-time. As he looks into both his personal issues and who could be behind some very specific attacks on the Department of Damage Control, Peter will also find himself having to protect MJ (Zendaya) from danger, even though the love they once shared is no longer a memory she possesses.
While certainly packed with characters and various storylines, the film never feels overstuffed. In fact, given the various characters we do see Spider-Man come into contact with, including Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, the Punisher, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, it’s the familiarity and naturalness expressed that allows it all to feel very smooth, as opposed to requiring studying up beforehand. This is not unlike comics that make you curious rather than feel like you are behind. Bernthal and Holland, in particular, have great brother-like chemistry that fits these characters perfectly, with only mere references to their history.
Smaller roles such as The Bear’s Liza Colon-Zayas’s Det. Jean DeWolff or Tramell Tillman’s Bill Metzger also factor in effectively. At the same time, the film’s strongest and most engaging character moments stem from familiar faces in this particular Spidey franchise – Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, and, of course, Zendaya. Even in a film that has to deal with the drama of one-sided love, one can really see the work being put in by Holland and Zendaya to continue to lean on how well these two work together. Most of their scenes are found in the second act, an area that could have dragged, but instead feels enlivened by what they bring to a film willing to slow down.
There’s also the mysterious role of Sadie Sink. Without getting into anything that would spoil what’s been held back, her involvement in this story does have an impact on the typical structure of these films that I was interested in seeing. As far as her performance goes, she does what’s needed, and I’ll be interested in where things go from here. That said, the placement of her character means providing a shakeup in how the action occurs, which, if anything, feels pretty rooted in the current status quo of MCU films dealing with trauma and offenses from the past. Thunderbolts, in particular, comes to mind when it comes to when the highlight action sequences arrive versus the choice of having a more introspective finale that is rooted in character.
I only wish certain reveals and concepts felt a bit more original instead of like ideas I’ve seen in other MCU movies (and even other Spider-Man movies) that end up feeling like reheated themes being prolonged quite a bit to make a point that eventually starts feeling redundant. If that sounds harsh, it’s only because of just how strong I found the film’s first half to be (seriously, the opening 20 minutes of this film is some of the best Spider-Man stuff I’ve ever seen in a theater). This doesn’t take away from the genuine praise I have for the performances arriving in the film’s climax, let alone the action that we do see; there just does seem to be a lot of effort put into an aspect that felt clear very early on.
Putting vague misgivings about some of the film aside, Brand New Day offers so much to truly value and enjoy. It feels like a proper step for Holland, who has not only grown for the better into the role of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, but really makes it clear that he wanted to continue this series in a way that properly delves into why we should keep seeing this iteration of the character. Not hurting at all is the major increase in a directorial voice, which makes me only hope that Cretton can deliver Shang-Chi 2 to us that much sooner. Sure, the action-based sequences are solid, and the web-slinging looks about as good as it gets (many sequences actually felt like a terrific adaptation of the recent games). However, it’s still the effort put into the humanity of it all that really won me over. Yes, that’s part of what makes him a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but the work done this time around really helped keep this superhero out of even stickier situations in favor of delivering something that occasionally flirts with being spectacular.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens in theaters on July 31, 2026.
