Spider-Man: Brand New Day ★★1/2
Availability: see end of review.
I’m Just a Lonely Boy
Peter Parker, in the latest iteration of the well-plumbed Spider-Man Marvel Comics franchise, has set about to remake himself and his alter-ego, Spider-Man. To become a full-time crimefighter, Spider-Man has engineered the erasure of Peter Parker from everyone’s memory, including his best friends. The “Brand New Day,” a re-start for Parker, pitches him smack into the current epidemic of (or obsession with) male loneliness. Spidey’s problem, a common one for celebrities, is that everyone knows him and applauds his work, but no one knows the “real” him—if it even exists.
In one of the many, too long—yet beautiful—action scenes, Spider-Man (Tom Holland)
single-handedly fights "the Hand," a ninja clan.
In this his fourth go-around as the Web-head, Tom Holland portrays with perfect pitch the young man attempting to figure out if he can be the isolated super-hero the role seems to require. Holland was 21 when he first starred in the franchise (“Spider-Man: Homecoming” 2017), and is now 30, at once boyish and earnestly determined to make the most of Spider-Man’s talents. Many men are married with children by 30; Parker (and Holland, too) is still finding himself, a nod to Gen Z. It’s worth seeing “Spider-Man” if only because Holland is so much better here than in this year’s blockbuster “The Odyssey,” where he plays Odysseus’s son Telemachus, who similarly is trying to break out of youth into adulthood—but that character is more inconsistent than searching.
To emphasize the super hero’s loneliness, the script has Parker interacting with amateur therapists-cum-mothers along the way, who encourage him, basically, to get a life.
To emphasize the super hero’s loneliness, the script by the team of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (writers of the prior 3) has Parker interacting with amateur therapists-cum-mothers along the way, who encourage him, basically, to get a life. Detective Jean DeWolff, who seems always to have her own children in tow (demonstrating work-life balance), advises him not to answer every crime-fighting call. Liza Colón-Zayas brings some of the sass and straight-talking to the role that she has as the line-cook Tina in TV’s “The Bear” (for which she won an Emmy). Marisa Tomei is Aunt May, who tells Peter he’s a good guy and will have friends, even though he’s odd. Yelena Belova’s counsel is delivered with irony and authority (a wonderful—as usual—Florence Pugh) from her “office” in a New York City bathhouse. In the process of providing information Spider-Man needs, Yelena orders him take off his outfit, get into the pool—and get some friends.
What Peter Parker longs for is an evening at home watching TV with his high school companions MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), but they no longer remember him.
The friendship plot revolves around Parker and his 2 companions from high school, who now—because their memories have been erased—don’t know him: nerdy tech Ned (Jacob Batalon) and ex-girlfriend MJ (Zendaya). Parker examines fondly the apartment the 2 MIT grads share in the City. When Parker sees them at a party, especially when he sees MJ kissing a new boyfriend, his isolation and loneliness grip him. That’s all part of the set-up and works reasonably well, better if one is familiar with the characters and plot lines from prior films in the series.
The film’s most powerful emotional moments involve male bonding.
Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), aka “Punisher,” who became a vigilante crimefighter after the brutal murder of his family (revealed only in prior films), is a key figure in the action scenes but also a potential buddy/father figure. Castle shows Peter the dark side of what it’s like to live alone, while revealing that for him it wasn’t a choice. The film’s most powerful emotional moments involve male bonding.
Frank Castle, aka Punisher (Jon Bernthal), is an all-guns-blazing kind of guy.
Spiderman (Holland) relies more on his athleticism and grace.
Older man, younger guy, one with no bars to his aggression, the other thoughtful and questioning. Yet in a world with few opportunities to bond, they become friends.
Turning to the action—of which there is plenty, even too much. Something strange is going on in Gotham. A tank truck is on the loose (cue an early chase scene), threatening the headquarters of the blandly named Department of Damage Control (DODC). While trying to stop it, Spider-Man and Castle encounter each other, except Castle seems at times to have a different personality, one that could kill his buddy. Once the tank has crashed into DODC, a bewildered older woman steps out and the powers that be ask: Who is controlling the action? The answer to that question is the crux of the action plot, introducing mutants, determined young sisters, and psychic powers.
The ninja clan’s fight against Spider-Man is gorgeous, reminiscent of early 2000s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
The many action scenes required to fight this unknown (and, for a time, unpersonified) force bring on appearances by more Marvel Cinematic Universe characters: the Hulk, an interesting use of Mark Ruffalo, and the Hand—a ninja clan now apparently fighting for the forces of good, the DODC. Okay, it’s an action-figure, action movie. But there are too many of these scenes and they last too long. Parts of them can be exciting, others beautiful. The ninja clan’s fight against Spider-Man is gorgeous, reminiscent of early 2000s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” duo. The “action” of Spidey swinging from building to building through New York City, in one sequence with MJ in his arms, is riveting in its balletic grace as well as a reference to the vine-swinging primates from which humanity is descended, and to Tarzan.
One thinks of Marvel comics as telling stories of good fighting against evil, black vs. white. The evolution of the characters here reflects an abundance of shifts between the 2 sides, and sometimes no side at all. Followers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises will be aware that characters have flipped sides, among them Castle and the Hand. Other characters evoke Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and have had this duality since their creation. In this version, the Hulk emerges from the mild-mannered Professor Banner when he gets stressed or angry. Similarly, Spider-Man has a brutal side that is triggered by anger. Both use “inhibitors” to contain their “bad” sides. The super-ego/ego duality is something to be controlled.
All this psychologizing causes one to ponder if the blockbuster action films, whether “Spider-Man” or “The Odyssey,” are straining for social relevance, for meta-analysis, while keeping the action fast and furious. Or are they just seeking a wider audience? In “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the confluence of action plot, technology, sci-fi, and psychodynamics can seem overwhelming, even if, in the end, you (mostly) figure it out.
She says: Maybe a girlie reaction. I found the last 40 minutes engaging—the psychological wrap-up. The action scenes mostly bored me, except for the balletic Spidey swinging in the City and the ninjas’ gravity-defying (if CGI-produced) leaps and turns.
He says: The character MJ is a bit cold and removed throughout—that is, she’s Zendaya. Even so, the treatment of the MJ/Peter Parker couple was for me curious at best. In the next edition, will Spider-Man be gay?
Date: 2026
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Florence Pugh, Liza Colón-Zayas, Marisa Tomei, Mark Ruffalo
Country: United States (filmed mostly in the United Kingdom)
Language: English
Runtime: 145 minutes
Other Awards: 1 nomination to date (for “Most Anticipated”)
Availability: Showing widely in theaters internationally (where it is a huge hit). Expected on digital platforms as soon as early November, on Netflix late this year or early next year, and on Disney+ around April of next year.
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