Spider-Man Brand New Day Is the Best Tom Holland Spider-Man Movie Yet, and Maybe the Best of the Multiverse Saga

Spider-Man Brand New Day is, to me, by far the best Tom Holland Spider-Man movie, arguably the best live-action Spider-Man movie since Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, and it may even be the best MCU movie of the entire multiverse saga, that is until Doomsday comes out. I'd only put Thunderbolts above it, and honestly, having seen Brand New Day now, I think it's better than Thunderbolts too.

If I had to rank it among all the Spider-Man movies, it doesn't beat Spider-Man 2, it doesn't beat Spider-Man 1, and it probably doesn't beat Into the Spider-Verse, but it lands safely at number four for me. I've only seen it once, so it's still new and fresh, but that's where I have it right now.

A Fully Dedicated Spider-Man Opening Logo Is a First for Marvel Studios

The film opens with a stylized version of the Marvel Studios intro built entirely around Spider-Man instead of the usual collage of MCU characters. Marvel has done stylized intros before, like the Stan Lee tribute in Captain Marvel and the Chadwick Boseman tribute in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but those were both tributes to real-life passings. This felt like the first time they built a full dedicated intro for just the main character of a film, beyond small tweaks like adding Deadpool to the logo for Deadpool and Wolverine.

Because of the deal with Sony, the standard Marvel Studios intro usually leaves Spider-Man out entirely unless it's his own movie, in which case they typically use the shot of him landing and saying "Hey, everyone" from Civil War. What made this version work is how it catches us up on Peter's journey and then, after showing the end of No Way Home and the spell to make people forget him, shows Peter literally disappearing from previous films in the logo sequence itself. He has been forgotten, and the intro shows it.

Peter's Decision Not to Restore MJ and Ned's Memories Leads to a Bold Four-Year Time Skip

The film opens with Peter reading the letter he was writing at the end of No Way Home, where he planned to try to make MJ and Ned remember him as he'd promised. As we know, he opts instead to keep the secret and let them live safe, happy lives off at college without the burden of being tied to Spider-Man. He distracts himself from his grief over losing his best friend, the love of his life, and his Aunt May by throwing himself deeper into being Spider-Man.

I was a little stunned that they actually did a four-year time skip, with Peter alone that whole time while Ned and MJ went on with their lives with no memory of him. Those are formative years, and choosing a four-year skip instead of one or two was a bold choice that I think will have serious ramifications for Peter and Ned's friendship, and even more so for Peter and MJ's relationship going forward.

The Time-Skip Montage Shows Peter Fighting the Hand, Tombstone, and Scorpion, but I Wanted More Mac Gargan

During the montage we see Peter facing actual supervillains rather than just muggers, including the Hand, Tombstone, and Mac Gargan's Scorpion. I wish they'd given Scorpion a bigger role. The movie is already really long, and I'm not complaining about the runtime, I loved it, and I can't think of anything I'd cut, so I'm not sure where you'd add more Gargan. But these are four crucial years of Peter's life, and it felt a little brushed past, when it could have included a small reminder of why Gargan hates Spider-Man, or even shown J. Jonah Jameson giving him the Scorpion suit like in the comics.

The montage also has fun glimpses of Peter being flirted with and being awkward, and shows him moving into an apartment he's spruced up nicely, one that's probably still at least a couple thousand dollars a month in New York City. The movie never establishes him having an actual paying job. Someone replied to a post of mine on social media pointing out that Peter probably does something like food delivery as Spider-Man to get by, which tracks given we've seen Spider-Man deliver pizza before. Others suggested he could tutor, given he's a genius, or do tech and screen repair work as a side gig. I also would have liked even a snippet of Peter's reaction to Kingpin's reign as mayor or the Sentry attack on New York, but the movie doesn't touch on either.

I Wish Brand New Day Had Given Peter a Standalone Arc Before Ned and MJ Came Back

Even loving this movie as much as I do, I still kind of wish they'd made a film without Ned and MJ first, showing Peter being Spider-Man, meeting Black Cat, and exploring adulthood for the first time on his own. Then this film, with Ned and MJ back in town and Peter realizing he too has forgotten a lot about Peter Parker, could be what brings him back, the same way people sometimes reconnect with who they were after years away.

Since Marvel has clearly decided not to tell that story on the big screen, I think it would be cool to see it done as a Disney Plus animated series in under-30-minute episodes, maybe four seasons of eight episodes covering each of the four years. It's rare that I'd call for a TV show to carry crucial story instead of a movie, but Marvel retains the rights to do animated Spider-Man shows under 30 minutes, which is how Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man exists, so it's a real option here.

Tom Holland Brought Lessons From The Odyssey to Brand New Day's Production

Tom Holland really carried this movie, not just with his on-screen performance but with his behind-the-scenes work on the creative direction. He brought lessons learned from Christopher Nolan's set of The Odyssey over to Spider-Man Brand New Day, pushing to not cut corners and to make sure this felt like a real movie, and you can feel that commitment when you watch it.

Jon Bernthal's Punisher Becomes My Favorite Spider-Man Supporting Duo Yet

Speaking of Kingpin and Daredevil, the Punisher has a great relationship with Spider-Man in this movie. It's brilliant, and it's my favorite supporting MCU character role in a Tom Holland Spider-Man film. I loved the early foreshadowing when Peter tells Frank, "Frank, you just hit me with a van. You can't shoot yourself out of every situation," warning him that innocent people get hurt. That line pays off directly at the end when Frank tries to shoot Jean to save the city and Peter steps in the way, getting lethally wounded.

I loved Jon Bernthal in this role. I watched the Punisher show day one, and it's cool seeing him in the MCU proper, sharing scenes with Spider-Man and the Hulk. The moment where Spider-Man drags Frank across the floor with webbing while Frank shoots at the Hulk is fantastic. Frank works as the mirror of what Peter doesn't want to become, and I loved his line putting it in perspective that Peter is lucky some of the people he still loves are alive and that he needs to be with them.

Yelena Belova's Spa Scene as the New Black Widow Undersold the Avengers' Stakes

We also get Yelena Belova, now leading the New Avengers and revealed in this film to be going by Black Widow, taking her sister's mantle. I love Florence Pugh as Yelena, and she's quickly becoming one of my favorite MCU characters. I wasn't crazy about the spa scene itself, not for prudish reasons, I'd have loved that exact kind of interaction with Felicia Hardy's Black Cat instead. My issue is that Yelena is about to lead in Avengers Doomsday, and I think it would have landed better to see Spider-Man swing over to Avengers Tower and catch her stressed over a bigger global mission, unable to focus on this smaller case, with the Tower itself delivering that big potatoes versus small potatoes contrast.

That's just nitpicking though. I loved her character and how the movie establishes that gap between Spider-Man's scale and the Avengers' scale. I liked hearing Yelena say she sees sadness in Spider-Man, which tracks with how in tune her character was with grief in Thunderbolts. I hope to see more of these two together, and I expect whichever future movie reunites them will have to reference, in passing, that they once bathed together.

The Hand Ninjas Confirm They Are Working for DODC

The Hand ninjas from Daredevil and the Defenders show up here in combat with Spider-Man, and they're handled really well. The movie doesn't dive deep into Hand lore, but the fight choreography is strong. I'll take a moment to note I called weeks ago that the Hand would be working for DODC, and that's exactly what this film confirms.

Ned and MJ's Return Leaves MJ's New Boyfriend as a Missed Setup

MJ and Ned have graduated and are back in the city. Peter is still clearly obsessed with them, which is sad given he hasn't interacted with either beyond watching Ned's social media for four years. He sees Ned and follows him to a party at his apartment, where we learn Ned is obsessed with figuring out who Spider-Man is because Spider-Man has saved him multiple times. It's funny that Ned's leading suspects are Flash Thompson and Mr. Harrington.

We briefly meet MJ's boyfriend, played by the actor from Ahsoka who plays Ezra, but that's about it. I expected to see more of him, maybe freaking out over MJ going missing or showing up while Spider-Man is at the apartment, forcing Peter to be friendly with the guy thanking Spider-Man for saving her. It felt like a missed chance to give Peter an awkward interaction, and it also felt like the movie was setting this character up as a potential future Harry Osborn or Eddie Brock type, someone with personal beef against both Spider-Man and Peter Parker once MJ eventually remembers who he is.

Aunt May's Memory Places the Flashback Between Homecoming and Infinity War

I loved how the film uses Aunt May as a memory, giving us a look at Peter's old room and how he looked back in Spider-Man Homecoming. Since May already knows he's Spider-Man in that memory, it has to take place after Homecoming but before Infinity War. There are also plenty of tributes to Raimi's Spider-Man 2 throughout the film, including a scene of Peter testing his organic webbing on a rooftop that echoes Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man doing the same thing in the original film.

The Hulk Returns in Full for the First Time Since Infinity War, Thanks to Jean Grey's Mind Control of Bruce Banner

We finally get the actual Hulk in this movie, not just Professor Hulk, for the first time since Infinity War. Many assumed going in that the inhibitor bracelet was what kept the Hulk contained, but that's wrong. The inhibitor keeps Professor Hulk, which merges Bruce's mind with the Hulk's body, in his puny Banner form. When Bruce tells Peter that combining the good and bad of nature is dangerous, he's describing exactly what he did with Professor Hulk, fusing brain and brawn and banishing the true Hulk's mind to the same mental trunk Bruce was locked in between Age of Ultron and Ragnarok.

I was glad this stuck with what's already established in canon, in the games and in She-Hulk, rather than changing the rule so removing the inhibitor unleashes a rage monster. Instead, Jean mind-controls Bruce into removing the inhibitor so she can use his Professor Hulk strength to break into the DODC building. She likely didn't intend to unleash the actual Hulk, but tampering with Bruce's mind broke whatever barrier he'd built, and that's what set the Hulk loose. I do wish they'd shown Jean discreetly present, mind hopping, during Peter's earlier visit to Bruce at the university, since that's likely where she got the idea to use him in the first place. I also liked the mutant collar and inhibitor setup that came with this.

Peter Calming the Hulk Hints That Bruce Remembers Him, Echoing the One More Day Comic

In the fight between Spider-Man and Hulk, when Hulk is about to crush Peter's skull, Peter says, "Bruce, it's me, Peter. I'm your friend," and that's what stops Hulk and calms him. That line had me nearly choking up, and it made me wonder whether Hulk wasn't affected by the forget Peter Parker spell at all, similar to how in the comics, after the One More Day storyline where Peter makes a deal with Mephisto to undo his marriage to MJ and erase the world's memory of his revealed identity, the Hulk still remembered.

If that's what's happening here, then while Bruce forgot, Hulk didn't, and with Hulk now warring with Bruce for control, Bruce was able to access that memory through Hulk when Peter said those words. That would mean the Hulk essentially reminded Bruce who Peter is in that moment, which I think is a clever way to handle it.

Jean's Cruel MJ Impression Foreshadows How True Love's Kiss Could Break the Spell

When Jean pulls the rooftop stunt pretending to be MJ remembering Peter, that was genuinely cruel. I think it may also foreshadow how MJ will eventually come to remember him for real. In that scene, while inhabiting MJ's body, Jean mocks Peter for thinking true love's kiss could break the spell. But at the end of the movie, when Peter and Ned do their handshake, Ned remembers him through what plays like muscle memory, and that's the same handshake the two of them did the last time they saw each other in No Way Home.

Right before the spell was cast at the end of No Way Home, Peter and MJ kissed. So if these two were to kiss with MJ actually in control of her own mind rather than Jean, I think that might be exactly what breaks the spell for her too, the same way the handshake worked for Ned.

Zendaya's MJ and the Scenes at Frank's Boathouse Rank Among the Best in the Movie

Zendaya gave a great performance as MJ, and I loved her interactions with Spider-Man as well as her back and forth with Frank. The time spent at Frank's boathouse was some of the best material in the entire film.

Sadie Sink's Jean Grey Has a Change of Heart After Peter's Sacrifice

I love Sadie Sink's portrayal of Jean Grey. She brought it, and I think she's going to be a great addition leading the mutant saga going forward. Peter's sacrifice at the end gives her a change of heart, making her realize that great loss doesn't mean you have to burn the world down, and that you can instead work to keep that same pain from happening to anyone else.

The Hospital Ending With Frank Castle by Peter's Bedside Closes the Film

After Peter's sacrifice, he ends up in critical condition, and I honestly didn't think the movie would end with him walking out of that hospital. I thought they were setting up his hospitalization as the reason he's absent from Avengers Doomsday. Instead we see Frank at his bedside, having not left, even caught napping. I loved the earlier recreation of Frank carrying Spider-Man's body into the hospital screaming for help, echoing that panel from the comics, and Frank, a Marine, telling Peter how brave he was.

I also loved the moment of Frank putting on the Spider-Man mask and gloves so Peter could sneak out. All of it landed for me, and I'm hopeful this means Frank stays a supporting presence through the rest of this trilogy. I want Bernthal in Secret Wars and in the next two Spider-Man films as a grounded, street-level partner for Peter.

What did you notice in Spider-Man Brand New Day that hasn't come up yet?