Warning!! 🚧 Potential Spoilers Below ❗
Her Take
From the initial hum of TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me,” accompanying the opening montage that catches the audience up on Spider-Man’s greatest crime fighting hits in the five boroughs (yes, even Staten Island, apparently!) since we last saw him in the heartbreaking conclusion to the “Home” trilogy, Jon Watts’ No Way Home in 2021, to the final moments onscreen with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, every single second of the two hours and twenty-five minute run time of Destin Daniel Cretton’sSpider-Man: Brand New Day was boatloads of web-slinging fun.
Cretton artfully crafts a firsthand look into what it means to be a Good Man through the kind eyes behind the mask of our friendly neighborhood hero Spider-Man. In what turns out to be the most heartfelt, hard-hitting, and emotionally mature film yet in Tom Holland’s tenure as Spider-Man, Peter Parker molts onscreen from spider-boy into a full-fledged Spider-MAN as he tackles some “small potatoes” local crime in the MCU/Earth-616’s version of New York City. Spidey’s back fighting bad guys, mostly solo but with occasional help from other friendly / friendly-ish neighborhood heroes like Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle (alias Punisher), Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova (of New Avengers fame), and Mark Ruffalo’s now emotionally-regulated ESU professor, Dr. Bruce Banner, with the cooperation and additional input/intel from NYPD Detective Jean DeWolff (played by Liza Colón-Zayas).
The onscreen world of Spider-Man’s version of present-day New York City that Destin Daniel Cretton and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers build in Brand New Day feels simultaneously gritty, gorgeous, lived-in, and fresh, folding in the very best elements from prior entries to the Spider-Man franchise and, of course, Stan Lee’s original characters and world from the comic books, while adding their own new and distinct flavor. Easter eggs – or, in this case, “spider eggs,” teehee – littered throughout pay homage to colorful comic book action and prior films, absorbing a lot of the influence and energy that the onscreen Peter Parker gleaned from the other Peter Parkers that he met in No Way Home.
Brand New Day dawns in an ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe – emphasis on Universe, because it’s truly shaping up to be just that as it continues to endure, despite the bleating of social media haters in comment sections – that feels more beloved, more lived-in, detailed, and sprawling than ever, with appearances from both known and new, previously unknown (to the MCU) characters that fit seamlessly into the organic web of Peter Parker’s story. The new introductions are brilliant, as are the re-introductions of familiar characters like Ned (Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya), who have gone on to live out their young adult lives through MIT to post-grad life in a (suspiciously spacious!) Manhattan apartment without any memory of their friend Peter Parker, thanks to the ramifications of the events of No Way Home, which rendered many of their would-be fondest adolescent memories collateral damage.
The memory of Peter has been tragically wiped away by Dr. Strange’s reality-bending magic, and the heartbreaking result is that they are essentially the same people Peter knows and loves, but with different lives – ones that do not involve him at all, really. Or, not as Peter Parker, anyway – instead, the way they remember it, they’ve had strange, coincidental run-ins where the masked vigilante Spider-Man saved their lives in multiple seemingly unconnected incidents around the world.
The fallout of Doctor Strange’s magic mass amnesia handiwork is devastating, and you truly feel the ache of longing, loneliness, and loss through Tom Holland’s best-yet performance as a Peter Parker/Spider-Man who still remembers All Too Well what those he loves most cannot.
Unfortunately for Peter, but perhaps fortunately for audiences, the memory hole-ing of Peter and the old MJ’s sweet high school romance actually offers a more dynamic and narratively interesting “reset, on the classic love story of Spider-Man/Peter Parker and his Mary-Jane Watson, one that feels certain to either become extremely rewarding or exceptionally devastating for audiences as it continues to Peter out across the next two planned films in the Brand New Day trilogy.
And it really does feel like a Brand-New Day, not only for Spider-Man, but for the greater MCU at large, and perhaps even the superhero genre in general. If you jumped off the bandwagon, don’t bother getting back on now, because we’re already on a rocketship to… outer space, apparently?????? per the post-credits Spidey tracker scene? We cannot wait for Doomsday and hope to see Peter Parker again very soon!
His Take
With the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Marvel fans have finally witnessed Tom Holland’s Spider-Boy metamorphosize and emerge from his molting phase as a full-fledged Spider-Man, taking on all of the great power and responsibilities that come along with that title.
While it’s an absolute powerhouse of a film in its own right, the narrative also serves as a tender olive branch to anyone who has ever navigated the crushing depths of grief, the cold sting of loneliness and isolation, or the insurmountable weight of the world on their shoulders. Essentially, it’s a high-budget summer blockbuster with a secret identity as a rogue vigilante therapist, doing double-duty to deliver therapeutic sessions to unsuspecting audiences.
The Doctor Strange magic that cut Peter Parker off from the world in No Way Home now forces him to go it alone, isolated behind the webbed red mask, without friends or family to lean on or enjoy the special moments in life with. He watched longingly from afar for years as Ned and MJ lived out their dreams at MIT, protecting them in silence and anonymity, willingly sacrificing his happiness for theirs.
Despite his many hardships, Peter Parker doesn’t curl up in a ball and over-indulge in his own self-pity, as so many are inclined to do these days, instead he continues to put one foot in front of the other, webbing along and fighting the good fight, not because he necessarily wants to, but because it is the right thing to do. Spider-Man fully encapsulates what it means to be a man, the world doesn’t offer him a hug or breathing room or a mental wellness day, life doesn’t slow down to make sure he’s comfortable and taken care of, instead life keeps throwing punches but he always jabs back, swinging his head back and forth against the ropes, dodging the big blow, and consistently landing back with counter strikes of his own. Despite being beaten, he never feels defeated, the work must get done whether he wants to or not, whether he is happy or sad, and that is the responsibility of a Spider-Man.
I have a feeling that this movie will be cathartic for a lot of young men who feel lonely and left behind in an increasingly digital age, with few male role models doing things the right way to look up to. My hope is that anyone suffering from depression, isolation, and anxiety will take a page from the friendly neighborhood web slinger and keep swinging, keep punching back, and one day you’ll land on your feet better for it. The world won’t stop for you, bad guys are real and they are out there, the obstacles can feel mountainous, but the job must get done nonetheless.
The spirit of Spider-Man, his undying positivity in the face of overwhelming odds and the loss of his friends and family, should be a lesson to us all, and inspire us to always hope for a better tomorrow. While the first ⅔ of the movie focuses on the struggles and trials and tribulations of Spider-Man that are necessary elements of his evolution, the final act of the film carries perhaps its most important message, that you don’t have to go it alone. Peter Parker’s evolution and merging with his alter-ego Spider-Man, resulting in his most powerful form ever featured on the big screen, implores viewers not to recede into isolationism and loneliness, and instead to lean on those you love when you need to; not to use them as a crutch, but instead sharing a small portion of the weight of the world so that you can keep your feet steady beneath you.
The relationship with the Punisher and Spider-Man exemplified this point. Frank Castle and Peter Parker form an unlikely alliance that morphs into a friendship rich with newfound respect, as they lean on each other to not only fight A-tier threats like the Hulk and Jean Grey, but also to help cure each other’s loneliness, if only for a little while. Frank, still reeling from the death of his family, feels a kinship and fatherly bond with Spider-Man, urging him to avoid his mistakes and impressing upon him that the way he lives is not really a life at all, cut off from the world in a dockside warehouse that looks strangely familiar to where Doc-Oc drowns in Spider-Man 2, and mostly killing people in his spare time. The Punisher was a crucial part of Peter’s Journey, and the lessons he relayed assisted his evolutionary process from a boy into a man.
We can’t wait to see Peter Parker’s next adventure as a full-fledged, hair on his chest, Spider-Man. This movie brought tears, laughter, heartache, epic action sequences, legendary comic book villains and characters, but most importantly, it dares men (and women) to evolve into the best version of themselves, keep pushing, become a leader, and most importantly, to be a man, a Spider-Man (or a Spider-Gwen).
