Almost five years ago, Spider-Man: No Way Home swung into cinemas in the teeth of a Covid-19 surge, drove cooped-up film-goers to cinemas and opened to one of the biggest US debuts on record, pulling in US$260 million in December 2021.This weekend, Peter Parker is back – a little older, more world-weary and facing a far less forgiving market.Annual box office revenue for superhero films in 2026 is expected to be down around US$3.5 billion from the heady pre-pandemic years of 2017 to 2019, on average – roughly a 50 per cent fall – according to data from the FranchiseRe industry newsletter. Sony Pictures is betting that more real-world stunts, a relatable narrative and Spidey’s lasting popularity are enough to put Spider-Man: Brand New Day on the other side of that trend.Whatever the approach, the commercial appetite is there. Pre-sales for the film, which stars Tom Holland and Zendaya, have been robust, and industry tracking estimates an opening weekend haul of at least US$195 million in the US and Canada. The film cost about US$225 million to make.“This movie takes a grounded, emotional approach to the story, and I actually believe that’s what audiences are hungry for,” says Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony’s motion picture group. “It’s got all the whizz-bang-wow visuals. But at its heart, it’s more a superperson movie, if you will, than a superhero movie.”SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY – Final Trailer (Peter’s Journey) 4KBrand New Day picks up where the last film left off. A spell has erased Peter Parker from the world’s memory – the price of undoing the public exposure of his identity – leaving him a stranger to his best friend Ned (played by Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya). He pours himself into his crime-fighting work to stave off his loneliness.