When Spider-Man: No Way Home reached its epic conclusion five years ago, there was a bit of trepidation to go with the tragedy. Setting aside the basic impossibility of Doctor Strange truly eliminating all traces of Peter Parker from living memory and record (surely the video footage of Mysterio outing him still exists, among other things), we realized the weight of the moment. But given the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula and Kevin Feige’s unwavering commitment to not having actual stakes, we all realized there would be another adventure, and there’d be some way for the MCU Spidey (Tom Holland), to reunite with MJ (Zendaya), Ned (Jacob Batalon), and the various other heroes, Avenger or otherwise. We also could put two and two together and realize that the timing of the release of Brand New Day would “necessarily” include some more table-setting for Avengers: Doomsday, the bloated cast having caused a slew of memes for more than a year already.
Still, we were all at least a bit curious to see how the deed would be done, mostly because the lead cast in this version of the franchise is arguably the best developed and most charming, with the greatest overall sense of chemistry (people of good faith can argue between this and the Spider-Verse films). Seriously, the flick made over $350 million over the weekend. Clearly, a lot of us care about their continued adventures and eventual fates. But how would it all play out? Would it be a quick fix to get the team back together? What new threat would Peter face? Most importantly, could this rekindle some actual interest in the MCU after so many high-profile misfires post-Endgame?
On the whole, I think the film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Just Mercy and Shang-Chi), does a decent job. There are some great ideas on display, a few awesome action scenes, and the character progression definitely works. However, there is one element that holds the picture back from being legitimately amazing, mostly because the Marvel formula continues to win out over innovative storytelling, making the subtitle into something of a meta lie.
Right off the bat we’ve got the first excellent move, in that we don’t just pick up where the last film left off. We’re reminded of Peter’s sacrifice, but we also see him live with the consequences of his decision. Over the course of the next four years, we witness him mourning the loss of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), watching MJ and Ned have their college experience via social media without him, and he resumes his duties as the friendly neighborhood webslinger, taking down a series of baddies familiar to fans of the comics. Sadly, only Scorpion (Michael Mando) gets any significant screen time, but it is a fun montage, and the collegial rapport between Peter and an NYPD detective named DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) is a welcome change from the moody “by the book” cop characters who normally resent supers across all the various comic properties.
This could have easily been botched by basically undoing the protections granted by Strange’s spell. We could have simply come back, found a loophole, and restored our trio without incident, but the film is at least clever enough not to do that. We need to see Peter without a support system. For the previous three films, not to mention the crossovers, he’s always had some combination of Iron Man, Nick Fury, Strange, and any host of heroes at his disposal, including two alternate versions of himself. For once, he has to go it alone, and the film is smart to showcase this new reality.
The main action begins when a tank starts barreling through the city, heading for a building run by the Department of Damage Control right as Scorpion is about to be transferred to another facility. Spidey’s in pursuit, but his desire for public safety and a lack of casualties is broadsided by the arrival of Frank Castle, aka The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). Apparently the two have history, with Spider-Man even saving his life in a previous incident (probably in some Disney+ show I don’t care about), but that doesn’t stop Castle from attempting to solve the situation with extreme prejudice. The operation succeeds in springing Scorpion, however, not because Peter or Frank do anything wrong, but because of a different threat presenting itself, one that can use telepathy to possess the minds of civilians and bystanders, and who is apparently only stymied from penetrating Spidey’s grey matter due to his arachnid-mutated DNA.
Spidey seeks the help of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), referred to in this film for the first time as the new Black Widow. Taking place in her “office,” which is just a bathhouse, this is a mostly pointless scene, more there to remind us that the Thunderbolts are the official “New Avengers” ahead of December’s gluttonous mass team-up. That said, any excuse to get Florence Pugh in a bathtub, I’m all for it. This leads Peter to inquire with the head of Damage Control, Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman), who’s so obviously the real villain that he might as well just wear a nametag to that effect.
This is part of what I was saying earlier about the conventions of the franchise taking priority over going in actual new directions. Metzger is a shady operative in an even shadier sounding organization. If there’s one thing I would change about the MCU, it’d be to have the films abandon these clearly cheesy names from the comics that give away the game, and just come up with something different that might actually lead to a surprise twist. Every single one of these groups, save perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D., sounds lame as fuck, and it robs the adventure of any suspense in favor of a cheap reference. I mean, seriously? Damage Control? Why don’t you just have a blazing neon sign that says, “WE HAVE QUESTIONABLE ETHICS AT BEST”? But hey, because this is a movie, we have to pretend any of this isn’t a setup.
This carries over to our main antagonist, the aforementioned telepath, played by Sadie Sink. I won’t spoil the reveal (even though several fans figured it out the moment her casting was announced, and apparently one rando outright said it on the red carpet at the premiere), but this just made me bury my face in my hands. It’s not that the character is bad. In fact, she has a pretty decent buildup with the possession mechanic. The people standing in for her early on are genuinely intimidating and creepy, because you never know who it’ll be or what they’re capable of, especially given the ease with which she figures out Peter’s identity. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is a character that has NEVER worked in ANY film, despite multiple attempts at depicting her, mostly because we always try the exact same storyline, and it just doesn’t translate to the big screen. I’ll give credit that we’re at least approaching it from a somewhat different angle (even though her motivations and defeat are basically a repeat of Lewis Pullman’s Bob/Sentry/Void from just two movies ago), but I have no confidence that Feige et al will do anything interesting with her, especially given the ham-fisted ways they’ve been trying to shoehorn in a certain other superhero team over the last few years.
All of this is very much to the film’s detriment, which is a real shame, because most of the rest of the picture is awesome. I love the dynamic between Spider-Man and Punisher. It’s really funny, thanks to Holland and Bernthal improvising much of their dialogue, and there’s a genuine sentiment to how their relationship plays out. There’s an intriguing side plot about the spider DNA in Peter’s system fluctuating and transforming, resulting in biological changes in Peter that render him more feral in certain fights and replaces his synthetic web shooters with organic ones from his wrists. We’re literally watching him evolve and go through growing pains in tandem with his emotional maturity and suffering, and it allows for some interesting comparisons to the Black Suit symbiotic influence from Spider-Man III without having Emo Peter swing dancing. He visits Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who is still memory holed regarding Peter’s identity, just to have the scientific exploration of how he inhibits his Hulk transformations and see if the principles can be applied to “other” situations, because deep down Peter is still a loveable nerd, and the moment serves both characters moving forward.
The fight scenes are, for the most part, pretty solid, though I will quibble with the Chekhov’s Gun device of introducing a bunch of ninjas called The Hand early on to tease a battle later… only that intro had five members and the actual fight starts with five and somehow progresses to 12 with no establishment of other foes entering the fray. It’s a cheap gimmick and one of the few times where the editing is sloppy. That doesn’t stop the actual fight from being pretty kick-ass, but it did take me out of the moment a couple times. Similarly, the scenes of Peter swinging across New York are just as gorgeous as they were last time out, and his eventual reintroductions with MJ and Ned are handled really well (despite some convenient stupidity on Peter’s part that is clearly just the whim of the screenwriter).
All in all, this is a good movie, but the core problems are what prevent me from getting excited about the MCU again, particularly as we head into this next culmination point. When you have a title like Brand New Day, you kind of need to demonstrate that you’re willing to explore different avenues of storytelling. Instead, in the most crucial moments, Feige and Cretton frustratingly fall back into old patterns, putting a different sheen on the same tropes they’ve trotted out over… checking… 38 MOVIES?! Jesus. I’m not saying it isn’t entertaining, but it’s tiresome when things are so predictable. There are infinite directions they could have gone. I have no idea why they keep going down the same road every time, especially when they can see that fatigue has long set in with the viewers. Yes, this is a mega smash hit, but that’s almost entirely down to the audience’s affection for this set of characters and actors, not because we find any of this compelling. When you can set your clock by the plot beats over the course of two and a half hours (I will praise one scene with a countdown that actually adheres properly to the time), it becomes exhausting, and when you’re outright telling us that we’re going to continue beating this dead horse to a bloody pulp, you only have yourselves to blame when it inevitably stops working.
Grade: B
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I Actually Paid To See This 