Here’s the complete review with all corrections and the Option 3 reveal in place, ready to paste:
Before you continue reading this, I do want to stress that yes, I will be talking through some heavy spoiler territory, but I will not be spoiling all the story moments, as there are just things you don’t get to talk about that are super important in this film for the future of Spidey and the rest of the MCU without spoiling some of the “secrets” that have been hyped to death while we have been waiting for this film.
With that being said, if you don’t want ANY spoilers at all, I assure you, this review will still be here after you go see the film. Now, with that out of the way, do know that after this, there is no holding back from what I want to talk about, okay? You have been warned!
The last time we saw Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, his world was flipped upside down, as he found out that there are different realities, met the other Sony Spider-men, and had Dr. Strange make everyone forget Peter Parker existed to protect the people he loves after Aunt May was murdered by the Green Goblin. Since then, Peter has been completely consumed with his “work” as Spider-Man, who now has all the love and respect of not only the citizens of NY, but also even the NYPD on his side.
We are introduced to the legendary character Jean DeWolff, a detective in the NYPD who has become Spider-Man’s only real friend during this whole timeframe away from MJ and Ned, and even then, she doesn’t know he is Peter Parker and has never seen his face; they just talk in person while he is helping the police, or over the phone. At this point, we start to find out that he’s not doing too well with the solitude, while we see him doing workaholic things, going through his rogues’ gallery with quick fights against Boomerang, Tombstone, and Scorpion.
Spidey is obsessed with being Spidey to just keep moving forward and not dwell on the past and his woes. We get it; we’ve all been there. Clearly, he has major grief issues, potentially PTSD, and he is letting his work/life balance get really unhealthy. This stress he is putting on himself starts to manifest in some strange, strange ways. Yes, all these new secondary mutations he starts exhibiting are not because of some unexplained phenomena… he’s just really stressed out, and it is causing some changes to his DNA.
At first I was a bit disappointed in this revelation, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. Just because he’s a superhero doesn’t mean he isn’t human. The fact that he can have drastic issues from unchecked grief and stress is kind of a great idea, especially in a situation where he has forced himself to be away from those he loves simply because they don’t even know who he is anymore.
In these moments, we are also introduced to the hilarious “frienemy” situation he has with The Punisher, which is a great highlight of the film. The fact that Spider-Man has powers and The Punisher does not lends itself to some great moments and funny dialogue that made me feel so much like I was reading a Spider-Man comic. Honestly, that’s probably my favorite thing about this film: it’s the most Marvel Universe Spider-Man a Spider-Man film has felt so far.
While they are both chasing a stolen tank through the streets of NYC, this is where Spidey realizes something isn’t right. After the tank is stopped, there is an old woman in it, and she goes from being a complete menace to a seemingly innocent bystander who doesn’t remember what happened.
Spidey thinks it might be some form of mind control, and it sets him on a quest to figure out what is causing this. This is how he winds up talking to Black Widow (Yelena) and has a funny scene with her that sets him on the right path towards solving this mystery.
That’s a lot of setup, right? Yeah, I thought so too. Now, as I said, I am not going to give you all the story beats of this film, but I wanted to get all of that established, as it shows you how much is going on in this one film and how much heavy lifting it does. That is all pretty much the first hour of the film, and there is about an hour and 45 minutes left to go. Granted, the movie did not feel slow or long to me, but holy hell is it a stuffed one!
While Peter Parker is trying to figure out what is happening to his body, who is taking over the bodies of innocent people and controlling them, he is also trying to keep MJ safe from whoever is doing this. And it’s her. Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, the reveal we’ve all been waiting for, and she is worth the wait.
Her motives for everything happening here are tied up within the film, so don’t think you are going to get some crazy X-travaganza in this film. Her story is hers, and hers alone, and not once is the word “mutant” mentioned. This isn’t a bad thing at all, though. Her depiction and extreme levels of power in this movie are going to really excite folks for the future, as Sadie Sink is no slouch and does a fantastic job.
Her interactions with Peter help to move both her and his characters along quite well, as well as help to solidify that there is definitely a real bad guy in this film… and in the comics, his name is not tied to Spidey at all, but the X-Men. I will leave it at that, but if you are a comic reader, you already know once you hear the character’s name early in the film.
So why talk about this without hiding spoilers? Well, the emotional resonance of the film is heavily tied to the scenes that Spider-Man and Jean Grey spend together, and I can’t really talk about that without saying who she is… nor can I expound about what I think is coming next for both Spidey and the MCU without it.
Her telepathic and telekinetic abilities are extremely important to the story, as it is what eventually allows her to see Peter for who he really is and understand that he does have her best interests at heart, and that is a big revelation for Peter himself. That is one thing I love about this movie: Spider-Man gets his roses. People love him. Peter is so lonely, but when he puts on the suit, everyone is a fan of his immediately, and he is beloved.
There is something wonderful about how this deals with the real-world masking that many of us do when we are having super stressful moments in our lives, or tons of self-doubt, even when we are doing our best. We never quite know who is paying attention, admiring us from afar, or just overall appreciating our existence when we are so focused on our work or pleasing other people.
I very much appreciated the human way this story was unwrapped, because while this film did feel a lot like a “setup” move for me (for Secret Wars, especially: more on that in a bit), I think this had some of the most human, introspective, and emotional moments with Spider-Man so far. Sure, they always make us sad when someone dies, but this was more than that. It wasn’t just a hard emotional moment of a beloved character dying or something; it was seeing these characters feel more like they were fully realized. Spider-Man feels the most like actual Spider-Man now, not Spider-kid. They are vastly more mature, emotionally, and the way this story is handled feels that way as well.
By the end of the film, we have spent time with The Hand, Scorpion, Spider-Man, Jean Grey, The Hulk, Black Widow, and more, and it just really felt all natural. It felt like reading a comic book in the best possible way, and there were some big things put into play, but most importantly, we got Spider-Man really knowing who he is as a person, managing a work-life balance like an adult, and leaving some breadcrumbs for a few different MCU stories to look forward to, and while it is a long film, it never really felt like anything was wasted to me.
You’ll notice I left a lot out about what happens with Ned and MJ in this movie, and that’s because, to me, that’s the “real” heart and story of this film for Peter, so I think it’s best left to be experienced, and really, it’s the backbone of every MCU Spider-Man movie so far.
So, all in all, I do believe Brand New Day to be one of the best Spider-Man films so far, and it hits all the notes that you want for a great time at the movies with our favorite wall-crawler. That being said, it does have some choices that I either felt were too convenient or were very Phase 1 MCU setup feeling, where we knew this was setting something up that may or may not pay off.
I just hope it doesn’t feel overstuffed to the populace at large, because it very much could, but I think the emotional resonance of this story really does a good job of making you still feel at home with your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
