Spider-Man: Brand New Day

by Mike McGranaghan

Marvel fatigue doesn’t come into play in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Of all the Marvel movies, those featuring the webslinger have always been the most satisfying because they’re about human relationships as much as they are about action scenes. That’s truer than ever this time. The story begins where Spider-Man: No Way Home left off, with girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon), and the rest of NYC under a spell that has caused them to forget Peter Parker (Tom Holland) ever existed. This sets up not only a grand adventure but also a touching character drama.

To say Peter isn’t taking his newfound isolation well would be an understatement. He secretly checks in on his friends, even going so far as to carry around a letter he contemplates giving to MJ without ever following through on. Business calls when the city’s Department of Damage Control comes under attack from a mysterious entity (Sadie Sink) with the ability to “hop” into other people’s minds. (There has been much online speculation about who Sink specifically plays; I won’t divulge that, other than to say that it’s an inspired choice.) She doesn’t want Spider-Man trying to prevent her from getting what’s inside the DODC’s vault. She does, however, know that Peter loves MJ and is willing to use her as a puppet if it keeps him at bay. Spidey has an unlikely sidekick through this ordeal: Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), a.k.a. The Punisher.

Brand New Day features several magnificent action sequences. In one, Spidey tries to catch his new nemesis as she rapidly leaps into multiple people on a crowded street. You can tell which bystander she’s inside by the sudden jerky movement they make when inhabited. That’s a really clever idea, giving us sights we haven’t seen before. Another finds the webslinger taking on the collective fighting team known as the Hand in a rather cramped quarter. Given that this is the fourth installment with Holland in the lead, it’s nice that the filmmakers are trying not to repeat themselves.

The best parts of the movie are the quiet ones. By now, we’ve become invested in the Peter/MJ romance. That pays off here. Holland sells Peter’s anguish at knowing the woman he loves doesn’t remember him, while Zendaya sweetly shows how MJ comes to realize there’s something about this guy who keeps poking around that she can’t quite put her finger on. The stars share several deeply emotional moments together that give the story a resonance far beyond what we normally receive in superhero tales. In its own way, the romantic subplot is even more exciting than the action, given that the stakes are so high.

Impressively, the screenplay manages to tie Peter and MJ’s situation into what the Sadie Sink character is trying to do. Rather than feeling like two separate things, they’re woven together naturally. Also natural are the requisite cameos from other Marvel characters. An ongoing criticism of the MCU is that such cameos are often shameless fan service, with no purpose aside from making audiences lose their minds. Along with the Punisher, Mark Ruffalo shows up as Bruce Banner, as does another character from a recent Marvel release. They have genuine functions in the plot.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Spider-Man: Brand New Day aims higher than most releases in the superhero genre. It’s a film about people, several of whom just happen to have special powers. Enough thrills are on the screen to provide excitement, but it’s the intimate material that has the biggest impact.