“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the third film in the series starring Tom Holland, marked both the high point and the conclusion of a highly successful trilogy.
Its use of the multiverse allowed Marvel and Sony to indulge fans on an epic scale. The story brought Holland’s Spider-Man together with Tobey Maguire, who played the character in Sam Raimi’s trilogy from 2002 to 2007, and Andrew Garfield, who starred in Marc Webb’s two films from 2012 to 2014.
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ trailer
(Video: Courtesy of Forum Film)
The three Spider-Men then joined forces against a collection of supervillains drawn from the previous franchises.
Every flattering reference and nostalgic callback in “No Way Home” made clear that the film was designed as a generator of dopamine hits for its audience. Financially, the strategy worked. It grossed $1.9 billion worldwide, becoming Marvel Studios’ third-highest-grossing film behind the Avengers installments “Infinity War” and “Endgame.”
After such an enormous success, the central question was obvious: Where could the franchise possibly go next? Holland occasionally suggested that the film might be his final chapter as Spider-Man, but it was difficult to imagine anyone at Marvel or Sony seriously considering a reboot of such a lucrative property.
An equally important question was whether Marvel could use its most popular superhero to restore some of the trust that has steadily eroded in the studio’s brand. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” provides a satisfying answer to both questions.
It is the best of Holland’s Spider-Man films. Rather than attempting to please fans with more multiverse insanity, it focuses on the relationships among the series’ core characters and gives them an emotional depth rarely found in Marvel productions.
Its story also introduces an element that will be crucial to Marvel Studios’ plans for the coming years, though discussing it here would spoil one of the film’s central surprises. Even if “Brand New Day” does not reproduce the phenomenal success of “No Way Home,” it will probably become Marvel’s most profitable film since the previous Spider-Man installment.
At the end of “No Way Home,” Doctor Strange erased Peter Parker from the memories of every person on Earth. Peter requested the spell to protect those closest to him after the threat to their lives became horrifyingly real with the death of his aunt, May Parker.
The erasure cost Peter his girlfriend, MJ, played by Zendaya, and his best friend Ned, played by Jacob Batalon. The film ended with a painful encounter between Peter and MJ at the doughnut shop where she worked. He looked longingly at the love of his life, who no longer had any memory of him.
Completely forgotten by the love of his life. From ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’
(Photo: Courtesy of Forum Film)
“Brand New Day” opens by summarizing the nearly three years that have passed since those events. MJ and Ned are studying and enjoying life at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Peter Parker has devoted himself entirely to his calling as the superhero protecting New York City.
A rapid sequence shows Spider-Man fighting and defeating villains including red-clad ninjas from the Hand and Scorpion, played by Michael Mando, who first appeared in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” in 2017. As Peter Parker, however, he lives in an emotional and social vacuum.
He is withdrawn, lost in thought and isolated in his apartment until the next heroic mission calls him outside. For years, he has kept the coffee cup from his final meeting with MJ at the doughnut shop. He is also working on a letter explaining who they once were, why her memory was erased and why he allowed it to happen. It is a letter he may never give her.
The screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who also wrote the previous films in the series, is built around three intertwined storylines. They do not always fit together perfectly, but each contributes something important.
The first introduces a new threat: a telepathic entity capable of remotely taking control of human minds and bodies, forcing people to act according to its will. The entity attempts to break into the offices of the Department of Damage Control, a mysterious government agency led by Bill Metzger, played by Tramell Tillman, best known as Seth Milchick in “Severance.” The agency’s role is to help combat supervillains.
From ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’
(Photo: Courtesy of Forum Film)
Helping Peter confront the threat is Frank Castle, the Punisher, played by Jon Bernthal. For viewers unfamiliar with the comics or the television series “Marvel’s The Punisher” and “Daredevil: Born Again,” Castle is a former soldier who slaughtered the mobsters responsible for murdering his wife and children before devoting his formidable killing skills to a life of vigilantism.
The television series built around him were brutal in ways that would not fit comfortably within a family-friendly Spider-Man film. The Punisher in “Brand New Day” remains a solitary figure, suspicious to the point of paranoia, but his violence is relatively restrained.
He serves as the opposite of the fundamentally decent Peter Parker, who refuses to kill. At the same time, he reflects the darker danger of surrendering completely to an obsessive war on crime. The contrast between them produces some of the film’s funniest moments.
The second storyline concerns a transformation beginning inside Peter’s body. Its cause is not entirely clear, but it leads to episodes in which he loses control as he becomes increasingly spider-like. The fear of the “monster within” sends Peter to Bruce Banner, the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo. Peter hopes to learn from him and develop technology capable of restraining the beast inside. This storyline also introduces changes to several characters’ superpowers, developments that Marvel will likely use in future films.
The third storyline centers on Peter’s inability to stay away from Ned and MJ. From the beginning, it is clear that his eventual reunion with them will become the film’s emotional center. “Brand New Day” draws heavily on the relationship built across the three previous films, one already deeply familiar to audiences.
For fans of the series, and certainly for admirers of the newly married Holland and Zendaya, the film delivers several genuinely moving scenes. Holland may not appear destined for a great career outside the Spider-Man franchise, but when he plays Peter Parker opposite his real-life and on-screen partner, the role brings out his best qualities as an actor.
From ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’
(Photo: Courtesy of Forum Film)
There is also the mysterious telepathic entity. As the film moves into its second half, the character takes on a far more significant presence, eventually emerging as the film’s secondary protagonist.
Her similarities to Peter, as well as the differences between them, help illuminate his psychological struggle. Anyone closely following Marvel’s long-term plans, or anyone who has seen advance material about “Brand New Day,” may already know who the character is and why she has been given such a central role.
Marvel deliberately kept her presence in the trailers understated. The film is better experienced without knowing her identity in advance. Director Destin Daniel Cretton returns for his second Marvel feature after “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” a competent film built around a less compelling character.
He later created the modestly enjoyable Marvel television series “Wonder Man” and directed two of its episodes. Cretton was originally expected to direct “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” Marvel’s massive ensemble project that collapsed following the allegations against actor Jonathan Majors.
The Russo brothers eventually replaced him when they were recruited to help rescue the studio with two enormous Avengers films bringing together most of Marvel’s superheroes. The first, “Avengers: The Rise of Doctor Doom,” is scheduled for release at the end of the year. Spider-Man appears to have been Cretton’s compensation.
The action sequences in “Brand New Day” are directed with confidence. Cretton brings several strong ideas to the film, and the technical execution is more accomplished than in the previous installments. The red-clad ninjas also give him an opportunity to work with martial arts choreography, an area in which he already demonstrated considerable skill in “Shang-Chi.”
The combination of emotion, humor and well-executed action makes “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” a satisfying summer blockbuster likely to please a very large audience.