Spider-Man: Brand New Day questions what it truly means to be a superhero—exploring sacrifice, responsibility, and what a hero represents in the eyes of the public. But more than anything, it felt like it was trying to accomplish what James Gunn attempted with Superman last year but never quite managed.
Gunn wanted to create a Superman who wasn’t someone people feared or viewed with suspicion, but someone warm and approachable—the kind of hero who rescues cats from trees (although I think it was a squirrel this time). However, the burden of launching a brand-new cinematic universe prevented him from fully committing to that idea. The result was an overcrowded film packed with comic book characters many people had never even heard of, leaving its core message and overall direction feeling surprisingly unclear.
Unfortunately, Spider-Man: Brand New Day falls into a very similar trap.
We still haven’t seen an MCU Spider-Man film where Peter Parker is truly allowed to stand on his own. He’s always had Iron Man, Nick Fury, or Doctor Strange by his side. Ever since this movie was announced, the biggest hope was that it would move away from the overly goofy humor, weak visual effects, and the lack of emotional weight that defined the Jon Watts era—finally delivering the dramatic depth a true Spider-Man movie deserves.
That said, let’s not pretend this was entirely Jon Watts’ fault. These creative choices came directly from the producers. Just as Thor is sometimes written as an absurdly goofy character and other times as a solemn god, Spider-Man has now been reshaped into a darker, more dramatic hero to match what audiences currently seem to want.
Just as people once wanted a brighter, more optimistic Superman, today’s audiences seem to want a tired, lonely, and depressed Spider-Man. Naturally, that means returning to the themes of sacrifice, loneliness, and responsibility that defined Sam Raimi’s interpretation of the character. Compared to the larger-than-life spectacle of the MCU, this film tries to tell a more grounded, street-level story.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes place four years after No Way Home. Peter Parker is completely alone in a world where everyone has forgotten him. Aunt May is gone, while MJ and Ned have moved on with their lives. Having devoted himself entirely to being Spider-Man, Peter protects a New York that no longer knows his identity, watches his former friends live their lives through Instagram, and faces several comic book villains we’ve never seen on screen before.
Some fans remain convinced that Peter should never have organic webbing, but I actually think the MCU makes a smart decision here by finally giving him the ability to produce organic webs from his body, just as he did in Sam Raimi’s films.
Let’s be honest: I’ve never found it believable that a high school student could engineer synthetic web fluid strong enough to support several tons of weight. On the other hand, a person bitten by a radioactive spider mutating to the point of producing webs naturally feels far more believable within the internal logic of this universe.
Speaking of mutations, the film also introduces Jean Grey from the X-Men universe, played by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink. Marvel spent a long time denying it, but I think we all knew she was going to be Jean Grey anyway. In fact, one reporter cleverly managed to get her to practically admit it during an interview.
I’m not particularly familiar with Jean’s comic book origin story, but I really liked the idea of portraying her as someone abducted by Damage Control and subjected to experiments. It also serves as a solid foundation for Marvel’s upcoming X-Men film.
The movie also features the Punisher from the Netflix series. I assumed a character with such a brutal past and incredibly violent stories would feel completely out of place in a film like this. Surprisingly, the opposite is true. Unlike many similar attempts, making such a dark character genuinely entertaining actually works here, and he ends up sharing unexpectedly strong chemistry with Peter.
As I said before, the MCU simply refuses to let Spider-Man have a Spider-Man movie entirely to himself. So yes, Hulk is here too. And no, I’m not talking about Red Hulk, She-Hulk, or Professor Hulk. I’m talking about our old friend—the Green Hulk—we’ve barely seen in nearly a decade.
At a time when I’d almost convinced myself we’d never see Mark Ruffalo’s classic Hulk in a Disney production again, it genuinely made me happy to watch him return. I’ve always liked his version of the character. I also couldn’t help but notice how carefully Marvel kept him out of the film’s marketing campaign.
I honestly don’t know why Disney has deprived us of the Green Hulk for so many years. Even here, he only appears briefly, tears through New York, and then disappears again. My only real criticism is this: Marvel has been repeating the exact same Hulk storyline for nearly ten years. He destroys everything around him, then regrets it afterward. At some point, you have to make a choice. Either stop having Hulk smash everything, or let him embrace who he is instead of apologizing for it every single time.
Ultimately, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a film shaped largely by fan demand. It never quite captures the grounded realism of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, and it’s still overcrowded with supporting characters. Even so, it never forgets its primary job: entertaining its audience. At times, it even manages to be genuinely moving.
Verdict: Spider-Man: Brand New Day never fully escapes the MCU’s habit of overcrowding its heroes, but its renewed focus on sacrifice, responsibility, and heartfelt emotion delivers Tom Holland’s strongest Spider-Man film yet.
Score: 8/10
