Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Written by: Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
Run Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) wasn’t just a major success because of its box office — it racked up over $1.9 billion in ticket sales — but because it took such big swings with its plot. Of course, bringing together the three live-action Spider-Men was its main attraction, but arguably the third-act decision to have Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange cast a spell to make the whole world forget Peter Parker was the boldest choice the film made. It ultimately reset Tom Holland’s Spidey, with the film’s final moments alluding to a fresh start for the hero. Spider-Man: Brand New Day, then, is the first chapter of this new era.
Four years after regaining his anonymity, Peter continues to fight crime as Spider-Man while living alone in his New York City apartment. He follows his former partner MJ (Zendaya) and previous best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) through social media as they finish their time at MIT, while he remains busy protecting the city from various villains including Tarantula, Tombstone and Boomerang. During one mission, he attempts to stop a tank as it rampages towards a compound where Scorpion (Michael Mando) is being held, only to discover that a far more dangerous villain is behind the breakout.
A clean slate is just what Spider-Man needed. His time in the MCU so far has been filled with Avenger team-ups, multi-dimensional stories and locations well beyond the limits of NYC. After whipping up his more vibrant, comic-book-accurate Spidey suit at the end of No Way Home, it looked certain that audiences were finally getting a standalone, street-level Spider-Man film. But perhaps it was silly to have so much hope. After all, this is still an MCU movie, and standalone isn’t a concept Marvel are familiar with. So, rather than portray the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man that they so perfectly set up, they reduce this promise to a throwaway montage before putting Peter right back in the midst of the story that was already meant to be concluded.
While it’s natural that part of Peter’s story would involve mourning the loss of MJ and Ned, they didn’t need to feature in order for this to be explored. Immediately making them a central part of this story lessens the impact of what happened before. Yes, there’s been four years of separation for Peter, but there hasn’t been any for the audience. This isn’t a Brand New Day-specific problem either, but a larger MCU one, proving once again that, no matter what has been done before, it can always be undone in the future whenever it suits the story they want to tell. Removing the stakes not only undermines their previous achievements in crossover cinema, but also insults the audience who have supported them at every — increasingly tedious — step of the way.
What’s worse is that Spider-Man doesn’t even feel like the star of his own film. The story’s mystery villain is revealed fairly early on to be a young Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), and from this point on, it acts as more of an origin story for her character — subsequently setting up the introduction of the X-Men — than a solo Spidey movie. Riding the high of her Stranger Things fame, Sadie Sink will no doubt be popular casting; however, here she lacks the presence to portray such a formidable character. Could we not have just had Spider-Man versus Scorpion? Poor Michael Mando, who portrays the character, is paid dust after being teased in a mid-credits scene of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) almost a decade ago! By substituting him for Jean, Brand New Day is left without any real villain or even the faintest hint of intrigue.
Elsewhere, the film is populated with a spate of other minor characters, some more welcome than others. A mischievous Florence Pugh returns as Yelena Belova, while Jon Bernthal makes his movie debut as the Punisher. Both bring humour to the proceedings, even if their involvement does make it feel like Marvel don’t trust Spidey alone to make his film a success. Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is back too, but only really so they can repeat the mind-control trick on the Hulk that they already did in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Between them, Jean, MJ and Ned, Brand New Day feels like anything but that, creating an overstuffed, deeply unsatisfying outing for Marvel’s much-loved poster boy.
Even Peter’s own struggles — his body has started to mutate alongside his emotional turmoil over losing his closest friends — feel perfunctory. It’s teased throughout the film, but Peter manages to get it under control before it really manifests into anything overly imposing. A pair of black contacts isn’t really going to cut it when it comes to the spectacle fans expect from a finale. The accompanying action offers little in the way of thrills either, and even in the moments where more creative choreography is evident, the weightless storytelling means that it all feels hollow and aimless. It’s in moments like this that the film is in desperate need of the soul-stirring scores of Spidey’s past, from the likes of James Horner or Hans Zimmer, because Michael Giacchino’s compositions here never quite capture the wonder of this character.
It’s such a shame, as Tom Holland continues to give arguably the best live-action portrayal of the character seen to date. The combination of actor and character is one of the strongest in MCU history, but Marvel keep failing him and fans alike by restricting him to these messy and unfocused ensemble films. Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular character and he’s being portrayed by an actor perfect for the role; it’s high time they let him and Holland spin their own webs.
Star Rating: ★ ★
Not Too Loud 
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