Spider-Man has been on quite a trip since 2017, flipping between his solo Sony movies and Disney’s MCU movies. In all that time, it seems, his popularity has never faltered. Or rather, this particular incarnation of Spider-Man/Peter Parker has never faltered. Each of the Sony movies – Homecoming, Far From Home and No Way Home – have all been critical and commercial successes, smashing the box office and pleasing Spidey fans all over the world. So, it comes as no surprise that Brand New Day has been long-awaited (it’s been five years since No Way Home!) to see what happens to Peter Parker after his encounter with Dr. Strange. Does Brand New Day continue the trend of top-tier Spider-Man films, or has Tom Holland’s Peter Parker had his final day?

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Writers: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink, Mark Ruffalo, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman, Marisa Tomei

WARNING: There will be spoilers for previous Spider-Man films.

Four years after asking Dr. Strange to wipe everyone’s memory of who Spider-Man really is, including girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Batalon), Peter Parker (Holland) continues to help protect New York City alongside the police while strictly keeping his identity a secret from everyone. When a new menace that uses telepathic powers to seemingly ‘possess’ people comes to town and causes havoc, Peter starts to wonder if doing things alone is really the right path, especially when he finds himself relying on the help of Frank Castle (Bernthal), aka the Punisher, or if he should keep his promise to MJ and Ned and bring them back into his crime-fighting life.

One of the greatest strengths about this particular Spider-Man series is how dedicated the writers have been to Peter’s inner journey. Though previous Spider-Man iterations have dealt with Peter’s personal life, none have had to go to the same lengths as Holland’s Peter. It felt like after the appearances of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in No Way Home, Holland’s Spidey/Peter was given unspoken permission to use their strongest aspects – their grief and resilience – to inform his own quest for belonging and reconciling the two sides of himself. Peter is the focus of Brand New Day rather than Spider-Man, and that makes for a more emotional and, in many ways, relatable story. It’s a great lesson in character development, and as Peter grows in maturity and Spider-Man grows in power, it assures audiences that Holland’s Peter still has longevity (looks like Holland will still be portraying Spider-Man post-turning 30 after all!). There was also a good choice of antagonists for this film, with the main villain (no spoilers!) being a particularly good selection in showcasing how Peter can help those who don’t have anyone in their corner, with Peter himself becoming the mentor of sorts, now that he finds himself essentially mentor-less for the first time since becoming Spider-Man.

Spider-Man films are often credited with fantastic VFX and stunts, and Brand New Day is no different. Between street chases, web-slinging between buildings and well-choreographed fight scenes, there’s not a dull moment when it comes to the action. In fact, if you’re a little prone to motion sickness, you may want to cover your eyes for a couple of scenes! You might also notice some scenes inspired by past Spider-Man films and video games (as well as a few other Easter eggs pertaining to other Marvel characters), so much of it might feel familiar, but with the stunt team and set designers going the extra mile when it comes to fights and locations, there’s much that feels fresh, too. Spider-Man’s costume has gone pretty much back to basics, with the addition of A.I program EVIE (voiced by Holland’s The Impossible co-star Naomi Watts, no less) who acts as something of an unofficial maternal figure for Peter, and it makes sense to par it back so that Peter can be front and centre for this film.

It probably goes without saying that Tom Holland smashes it out of the park(er) as Spider-Man/Peter Parker once again. Thanks in part to Holland’s skills as an actor, we see Peter take a real physical and emotional thrashing but not allow it to tear him down (the guy pretty much died during the Blip, so he’s arguably had it worse). Of course, he has help from Jon Bernthal’s renegade Punisher, and their chemistry and comedy together is a breath of fresh air amongst the pathos we experience through Peter. Zendaya is a more matured MJ, which makes sense after four years at MIT, but she is no less tough and confident yet sympathetic when necessary. Jacob Batalon’s Ned continues to bring more humour to proceedings yet also provides a grounding to Peter that he doesn’t get with any other character. Florence Pugh cameos as Yelena/Black Widow to give Spider-Man a hand, and Mark Ruffalo appears as Bruce Banner to steer Peter in the right direction when he needs to get control of his growing abilities. Sadie Sink is also well-cast in her role, and there will be more on this in a spoiler-filled paragraph at the end of this review.

With this being the fourth film in Sony’s Spider-Man series in conjunction with Marvel Studios (and not counting his MCU appearances), Tom Holland officially becomes the longest-serving Spider-Man actor on film, and rightly so, as he embodies everything we love about the character and continues to help him grow into his legendary heroic status. We may have had to wait five years for this film, but it was certainly worth it, and given Holland’s commitment to the character, it will be worth waiting again for the next instalment. It seems that his tenure will come to an end at some point, with rumours abounding as to who will take over (it’s looking close to being a live-action portrayal of Miles Morales taking over from Peter Parker), but for the time being, if Sony/Marvel Studios can keep up this level of action, drama and characterisation, we can keep getting swept up in these web-swinging adventures with great pleasure.

WARNING – Spoilers below!

So… Sadie Sink as Jean Grey… there had been speculation online as to who Sink would portray, and I personally favoured the Jean Grey assumption. Then, as soon as it was revealed that the antagonist had telepathic powers, it was pretty much a given that Jean was the ‘villain’ in this story. I for one am happy to see Jean return, and with the X-Men getting involved in Avengers: Doomsday, it’ll be interesting to see how they connect all of this together and start bringing in the existence of mutants, something that hasn’t really been touched on in the MCU yet. There is also a short post-credits scene that puts Spider-Man somewhere in space, kind of in a similar vein to the post-credits scene at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s gotta have something to do with Doctor Doom, right??