Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026 | USA | 144 minutes | Destin Daniel Cretton)

Has it really been five years since we’ve seen a new, proper live-action Spider-Man movie? After what I call the “Home Trilogy” (Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home) from director Jon Watts, Spidey is back with the same central cast: Tom Holland (Peter Parker), Zendaya (MJ), and Jacob Batalon (Ned), but with a new director, Destin Daniel Cretton (who previously helmed Marvel’s mostly awesome Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), along with a seemingly random assortment of MCU characters you’ve seen in other movies. Didn’t I just see Tom Holland and his real-life wife, Zendaya, in another blockbuster two weeks ago?

Brand New Day is good. Marvel has a formula that gives people what they want: cool action scenes, emotional resonance (though I only have two or three more “you don’t understand how hard being a superhero is” tropes left in me), references to past movies through the return of beloved characters, and a setup for future movies. It works most of the time.

The issue is that Marvel keeps overloading that formula with franchise obligations, spending too much of Brand New Day laying the groundwork for the next wave of MCU movies. Discussing how will require spoilers, so I will say no more.

The things Brand New Day does well, though, it does very well. Tom Holland remains my favorite of the modern Spider-Men. He does a nice job trying to keep both the Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the Spider/Man symmetries near equilibrium. I could certainly empathize with the problem of taking on too much when your body is demanding time to recover. I also admired the eclectic assortment of returning Marvel characters: Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Florence Pugh), and the Punisher (Jon Bernthal).

A big part of the plot is Spider-Man coming to terms with the Men in Black/Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind trick of removing himself from MJ’s and Ned’s memories. How no past associate has ever asked either of them, “Whatever happened to that Peter Parker you guys were BFFs with?” remains one of the mysteries that keeps me up at night.

One more thing I appreciated is how grounded the movie feels. Even when Spider-Man is tasked with the immense job of keeping the Department of Damage Control safe from rogue invaders, his direct line to the NYPD is Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas). Batman dealt directly with Commissioner Gordon, or he dealt with no one.

Despite my reservations about Marvel’s never-ending need to set up tomorrow’s movie, Brand New Day succeeds because it never loses sight of Peter Parker. Tom Holland remains an excellent Spider-Man, and that’s enough to carry a movie even when the weight of the MCU occasionally gets in his way.

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters basically everywhere.