A Web of Expectations
Updated: Aug 31
A Review of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
SPOILERS AHEAD!!
On July 31, 2026, one of the most anticipated movies of the year swung into theatres: “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” With Spider-Man being one of Marvel Studio’s most famous characters, and the previous installment in the franchise being so successful, hopes were very high for this movie. Both the film and its results did not disappoint.
The story follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) four years after the events of the prior movie, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” In the film, Parker lives in New York City with no memory of him left in anyone’s mind. After living by himself for so long, Parker begins to suffer emotional pain due to his solitary life, and pours his entire existence into the Spider-Man persona, constantly fighting crime with the local police. The core plot of the film centers around Parker working with a government industry known as Damage Control to hunt down Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), a mutant with dangerous telepathic abilities. During the hunt, Parker works with the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and slowly begins to realize that the true villain is Damage Control itself, which is attempting to capture Grey and use her abilities for its own malicious agenda. Overall, the plot of this movie is very entertaining and does an excellent job at introducing main characters for future MCU movies.
Although the plot itself was excellent, many other things led to the movie's success. An obvious factor was the incredible performances by Sink, Bernthal and Holland. Sink played a character that was largely kept hidden from the public until the movie's release, intriguing fans about her role in the story. Sink ended up playing the antagonist of the movie, and was by far a fan favorite. Every scene she was a part of gave viewers both a sense of fear and empathy due to how well she played her part. Along with Sink was Bernthal, who reprises his role as the Punisher from Netflix’s “Daredevil.” Bernthal stole nearly every scene he was in, being a character that was tragic yet hilarious to watch. Finally, there was Holland, who per usual, was the star of the show. Holland played his role to perfection, making the audience feel exactly what he was going through in every scene. In addition to this star-studded trio was Zendaya Stoermer Coleman as Michelle Jones, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Micheal Mando as Scorpion, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova.
Outside of the cast, other things that enhanced the movie to a new level were the music choices and the cinematography. The music included songs like “Oh Yeah?” by Steve Lacy, “Loser” by Tame Impala, “I’m Every Woman” by Chaka Khan and “EoO” by Bad Bunny. These music choices were excellent for the scenes they were placed in and made simple scenes of Parker swinging through New York City so much better. In addition, the cinematography for these scenes was on point. The shots of New York City are very fluid and filled with beautiful color grading, making this film arguably the best-looking Spider-Man film ever.
Overall, this film was amazing, with the results showcasing how good it was. The film was given a 90% approval rating by critics and a 98% approval rating by fans on Rotten Tomatoes. Globally, the film has grossed $2.2 billion, ranking third in terms of worldwide grosses. The movie was a major success for Marvel Studios, and many fans are calling it one of the best Spider-Man movies ever made.
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