No amount of pro-Israel statement-making from Avi Arad, former Marvel chief and contractually obligated forever-producer of Spider-Man media, is enough to deter the webslinger’s horde of fans from making sure that Spider-Man: Brand New Day reaches nearly a billion dollars ($938 million to be exact) during its first weekend at theatres worldwide.
Heck, even Pakistan, the very pro-Palestine state, helped with a staggering Rs25 crores in the three-day debut. That’s more than most successful films’ business in their lifetime here. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), in comparison, made Rs20 crores in 10 days, and Rs34 crores in its entire run.
After The Odyssey’s Rs5.83 crores weekend debut — and its $922 million worldwide gross — at least according to the latest accounts — who says cinema is dead? Especially when the year ends with the pre-destined blockbuster Avengers: Doomsday, where Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr are presumably returning for one final bow. And of course, as we’ve known and now see from the post-credit scene, “Spider-Man will return” as a part of Avengers.
Few can argue that Spidey’s narrative dependencies are tightly webbed into the tapestry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). When you look past the hype of interconnectivity and marquee cameos, one needn’t even squint to see that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies have one slowly developing angle and one absolute consistency: the personal growth of a teenager and his dependence on other heroes.
