‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Is the Best MCU Spider-Man Film

Coming off two “Avengers” films and his own trilogy, Tom Holland has solidified himself as this generation’s Peter Parker.

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Film

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the Spider-Man film that fans have been waiting for.

Starring Tom Holland as the titular character, Brand New Day is the fourth solo Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the sequel to 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.  Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film focuses on Spider-Man as he fully dedicates himself to being New York City’s hero while going through a mysterious evolution and battles a new threat. 

Ever since making his MCU debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has had a hugely successful run as the current cinematic iteration of the wall-crawler. Coming off two “Avengers” films and his own trilogy, Holland has solidified himself as this generation’s Peter Parker.  However, the run has not been perfect. 

A lot of criticism pointed toward this version has revolved around his attachment to Iron Man as his successor instead of his own character, multiverse shenanigans and lack of inclusion of classic Spider-Man elements. Spider-Man: Brand New Day fixes those issues and presents Holland’s best performance as the web head.

Iron Man Out

Since Iron Man is no longer in the MCU and the film focuses on a grounded narrative instead of a multiversal adventure, Spider-Man: Brand New Day allows Peter Parker to fully shine in a way that the previous trilogy did not. Like classic Spider-Man stories, he has a relationship with New York citizens at large as their friendly neighborhood hero, fights members of his rogue’s gallery daily, interacts with other street-level Marvel heroes and has personal struggles that fans relate to, amongst other trademark character aspects. Holland’s previous films had these elements in some way but nowhere as much as this one.  It also features the best action sequences in a live-action Spider-Man film since 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. 

Following right behind Holland are Zendaya, Jon Bernthal and Sadie Sink as MJ, The Punisher and a mysterious character, respectively. All of them turn in great performances and have great chemistry with Holland as Spider-Man. Bernthal’s Punisher has an entertaining dynamic with Spider-Man that echoes more natural chemistry than the other team-ups in the previous trilogy. Seeing as this is the first time that Punisher has been in an MCU film since his franchise debut in season two of “Daredevil” in 2016, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” does a good job introducing him to the wider moviegoing audience. 

Scene Stealers

Without spoiling the big reveal, Sink also turns in a great performance as her character. Coming off “Stranger Things,” it is easy to see why she was cast. While the character’s inclusion feels out of place for a Spider-Man film, her arc meshed well enough with Spider-Man’s and made for some of the film’s best scenes. 

As great as Sink and Bernthal are, Zendaya is the primary scene-stealer. Like in the last two films, MJ’s relationship with Spider-Man serves as the heart and emotional core of the narrative.  Zendaya turns in her best performance yet as MJ and continues to have great chemistry with Holland. 

Even though the film often soars, it has its issues. Elements of the plot feel stretched out and not fully paid off, leading to the film feeling a bit unpolished and taking too long to fully get going. Like Sink’s character, certain characters feel like they should be in another film, but others feel like they should be in it more.  These lows pale in comparison to the numerous highs but cannot be ignored. 

While not the greatest Spider-Man film of all time, Spider-Man: Brand New Day brings MCU Spider-Man closer to his full potential and gives fans what they have been requesting for the past 10 years. If the next two films are on the same level as this one, fans may be in for a better trilogy than the last. Spider-Man: Brand New Day releases on July 31.