SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY – Tom Holland is Back as Spider-Man!

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The film stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando, and Mark Ruffalo.

In Spider-Man’s previous outing, NO WAY HOME, he had Doctor Strange cast a spell to make the world forget that he was Peter Parker, protecting his friends but also erasing their memories, leaving him to take up a lonely existence fighting crime in New York for the subsequent years as his friends attend college. But Spidey finds himself in over his head when a mysterious telepathic individual begins infiltrating people’s minds, forcing him to spring into action to keep his friends safe once more, allying himself with other heroes to take on a threat he doesn’t fully understand. On top of his latest threat, our favorite webhead finds himself dealing with the mutation that gave him his powers becoming unstable.

Spider-Man may be the most famous character in Marvel’s entire bullpen of superheroes. In the early 1960s, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko broke the mold, proving that teenagers didn’t have to be relegated to sidekick status, and that relatable heroes with real world problems were far more interesting than larger-than-life ones. It took Spidey a while to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to Marvel (in a time before superhero movies were the mainstream entertainment we know and love today) having sold the movie rights to Sony/Columbia, who had some major hits with movies starring the webslinger. Fortunately, an agreement was eventually reached that allowed Sony/Columbia to retain rights to the character/universe on the big screen, while also allowing him to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning in 2016 with CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. BRAND NEW DAY marks Tom Holland’s seventh appearance as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in the MCU, and he’s certainly done a great job making this role his own.

SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY is the first solo Spider-Man MCU movie since NO WAY HOME a few years back, and audiences are certainly eager to see Peter Parker back on the big screen after a lengthy absence. While his previous two solo adventures had Spidey globetrotting and universe hopping, this film relegates the action to New York City. Familiar faces resurface with everyone giving a great performance, and some fantastic new plot threads that further flesh out Holland’s Spidey. Is it a bit overstuffed at times? Certainly, but it’s a lived-in comic book universe that’s grown exponentially since it began nearly two decades ago. BRAND NEW DAY hits the dramatic highs, the humor, and gives us one of Holland’s best performances as the webslinger to date.

There aren’t enough good things to be said about Tom Holland playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The ending of the previous movie was heartbreaking, to say the least, and this movie shows the consequences as his actions, leaving him a loner battling crime and villains all on his own. Holland has truly brought his character to life, and has a great chemistry with everyone he shares the screen with, from no-nonsense vigilantes to gamma-mutated individuals. Mr. Holland is the heart and soul of the MCU, and has been since he entered it a decade ago. He’s gone from being the wide-eyed kid starting his superhero career to someone who’s truly come of age. Also returning are Jacob Batalon and Zendaya as his friends Ned and MJ, who still manage to get some of the movie’s best scenes, dramatic and comedic alike.

The movie has some excellent action scenes (it wouldn’t be a Marvel movie without it) but one thing I found myself truly surprised by was how this latest outing for Spidey put the dramatic content first. Yes, I love seeing Spidey fight criminals and supervillains as much as the next moviegoer, but seeing the amount of drama on display and how things unfold makes this an unexpectedly powerful adventure for the webslinger. It doesn’t quite top his previous outing, but manages to pull off a few powerful surprises throughout. In an MCU that’s been hit and miss since Thanos was disintegrated, BRAND NEW DAY is, well, a brand new day for the comic book cinematic universe that’s been going for nearly two decades now. Also appreciated is that the movie doesn’t make the all-too-common mistake of going for the “big dumb final battle” all superheroes feel the need to. What’s on display here is far more grounded and emotional.

At times the movie is a bit overstuffed with characters and plot points; some heroes and villains are essentially relegated to cameos, but I can’t help but feel like the movie may have benefited from some additional editing. A few characters and subplots could’ve been trimmed without any great loss to substance and drama, though the good still far outweighs the bad.

BRAND NEW DAY is the brand new day the Marvel Cinematic Universe needs, giving Tom Holland one of his strongest performances as Peter Parker to date, worthy friends and foes, and a slightly more grounded tale than many of the webslinger’s recent exploits. Spidey says “superhero fatigue be damned” and sticks the landing. I loved BRAND NEW DAY despite its minor shortcomings, and fans will too. Very highly recommended!