Spider-Man: Brand New Day reminds me a lot of last year’s Thunderbolts. Both movies make you think we’re going to get the origin story for a new villain that must be opposed and defeated, but it turns out that what must be opposed are misunderstandings and assumptions. The conflict is primarily about inner awareness and inner growth and about misplaced trust in organizations and lack of trust in people.
Acting
Do you realize that Spider-Man: Homecoming was released nine years ago? The actors have had a long time to mature and grow as professionals, but also really learn to inhabit their characters. That’s on full display here in Brand New Day, particularly between Tom Holland and Zendaya. There are a number of emotional scenes, I think particularly from Zendaya, that require real acting chops to pull off. I can only imagine that it helps that these two are married in the real-world. They’ve probably had many real-world experiences in which to rehearse some of the emotional scenes they have together.
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Sadie Sink was good as Jean Grey but I get the feeling that she needs another movie or two as the character to really be amazing. That is one of the advantages of performing in a universe like this where she will have multiple movies and years of experience to grow into a role. And FYI, Sadie Sink–the actress who plays Jean Grey–is only 24. Tom Holland is 30, and Zendaya is 29. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sadie brings to the character in another five years.
Action
Every superhero fan knows about the competition between Marvel/MCU and DC/DCEU. There is one thing that I think the MCU gets right more consistently than the DCEU: character development during an action scene. In Brave New World, Spider-Man shows inner growth/awareness during an action scene and not just afterwards during reflection. It’s subtle, but I think this is one of the cornerstones of good writing.
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And for what it’s worth, the action scenes themselves were creative and fun. They weren’t groundbreaking, but they served the purpose that the plot needed and the action didn’t drag on longer than was necessary.
Conclusion
I’ve given the movie an initial grade of a B+, but something tells me that after watching it again, my grade may go up. I think it will require more than one viewing for me to really appreciate the depth of this plot. Plus, I was slightly distracted trying to add Peetimes during the movie.
Grade: B+
About The Peetimes: Read a synopsis of first 3 minutes of this movie.
There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
| Rated: | (PG-13) |
| Genres: | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Superhero, MCU |
| USA release date: | 2026-07-29 |
| Movie length: | |
| Starring: | |
| Director: | Destin Daniel Cretton |
| Writer(s): | Erik Sommers, Chris McKenna |
| Language: | en |
| Country: | US |
Plot
Fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that doesn’t remember him—and the pressure of seeing his old friends move on without him—sparks a change in Peter Parker he may not have the power to control. But that transformation might also be the only thing that can stop a shocking new threat to the city and those he loves – a powerful villain no one can even see.
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Definitely B+ or A-. Probably the best Tom Holland Spider-Man movie to date.
My only criticism is with the ending. Peter tells Ned his name when he introduced himself to Ned. They do their special handshake and then Ned says Peter’s name. I think it would have been more of an eye opener if Perter had not said his own name. It felt less like Ned remembers Peter. If Ned has said Peter’s name without Peter telling him, it would have carried more weight.
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