There is a revealing scene in the new Spider-Man movie, Brand New Day, in which Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) explains to Peter Parker that the Avengers handle the “big potatoes,” while Spider-Man deals with the “small potatoes.”The distinction encapsulates what has always made Spider-Man appealing. He fights local crime and neighborhood disorder — muggings and robberies, compensating for the shortcomings of local law enforcement in the dense urban jungle of New York. He doesn’t fuss with the specter of nuclear war or fiddle with the space-time continuum.The exchange also captures the malaise that has marred Marvel’s recent films: the studio’s reluctance to let an individual character sustain a stand-alone story. Even Brand New Day is crowded with Pugh’s rueful Russian accent, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, to name a few. Why can’t Spider-Man just be Spider-Man? The result often feels like a collection of future Marvel projects searching for a plot.
We pick up after No Way Home (2021), returning to a New York that only knows Spider-Man as an anonymous vigilante. Nobody has any memory of Peter Parker, including his former girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), and best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon).The opening act cleverly uses social media to convey the passage of time. Instagram reels chronicle MJ and Ned’s journey through their years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, interlaced with Spider-Man’s crime-fighting escapades back home. While they graduate into adulthood, Peter isolates himself socially, fully embroiled in vigilantism, locking up criminals faster than Mayor Zohran Mamdani can release them back onto the streets.Tom Holland is visibly comfortable in the role. Looking more muscular and assured than in previous films, he carries himself like a fully formed Spider-Man — no longer the overeager adolescent clamoring for Tony Stark’s approval. After thwarting a break-in at the Department of Damage Control, he mimics Columbo’s folksy candor: “Oh, and one more thing — what’s V-Max?”Peter is also undergoing some form of spider puberty. He unexpectedly begins shooting webs through his wrists, as in the Tobey Maguire films, while experiencing changes to his senses and temperament. He must relearn how to be Spider-Man, something like driving a stick shift after becoming accustomed to an automatic.The conceit gives physical form to Peter’s instability. He has lost his identity, his friends, and his place in the world; now even his body has become unfamiliar. The film links his mutation to Bruce Banner, though the Hulk’s inclusion soon becomes another excuse for an enormous set piece.A man is dressed in a Spider-Man costume (AP photo)
