The 2021 blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home ushered in a pile-up of villains from the superhero’s past, multiplying the title character by three to even out the odds and extend its embrace across the Marvel property’s modern screen era, dating back to 2002’s “Raimiverse” kick-off. Five years on, Spider-Man: Brand New Day reins all that in to find a more introspective Peter Parker in emotionally bruised isolation following his self-sacrificial decision to save the world by erasing its memory of him.
Directed with adrenaline and feeling if not always an ideal grasp of pacing by Destin Daniel Cretton and penned by returning screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, the entertaining new entry has the good sense to stop banging on about the damn multiverse. Instead, it foregrounds the humanity that has always been Spidey’s greatest strength — with an extra dash of angst. But fear not, that doesn’t mean the man in the red and blue webbed suit (don’t call it a leotard!) is stuck whining away on a psychoanalyst’s couch or poring over self-help manuals.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
The Bottom Line
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man grows up.
