written by: Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
produced by: Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, Avi Arad, and Rachel O’Connor
directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
rated: PG-13 (for sequences of action/violence and some language)
runtime: 145 min.
U.S. release date: July 31, 2026

Five years ago, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was an epic way to cap off the “Home” trilogy, starring Tom Holland as the iconic webslinger created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. It started out as a punky and vibrant high school-era adventure, in which our hard-luck hero tried to balance teen drama while figuring out how to be Spider-Man over two movies, “Homecoming” (2017) and “Far From Home” (2019), and became a thrilling and surprising multiverse, franchise-hopping experience, worthy of repeat viewings and making it almost impossible to follow. Nevertheless, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios know what they got, and it was absolutely inevitable that we’d get another Spider-Man movie with Holland back in the red-and-blue tights. The looming question is whether or not we would see Peter Parker doing the superhero thing on his own, without any mentors or anyone knowing his alter ego.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” picks up four years after Dr. Strange cast a spell that saved the world, while also becoming a world in which Peter Parker was forgotten. Everyone would recall Spider-Man, but not the young man behind the mask. It’s a selfless act that only the aforementioned Master of the Mystic Arts and ‘Ol Webhead were aware of, and unbeknownst to Peter, that has left him in quite a lonely place.

While returning screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are back, things look and feel decidedly different with director Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) now at the helm, replacing Jon Waters, who had directed the previous trilogy. There are plenty of impressive action sequences and some fun comic-book interactions, but what stands out most is how relatable Peter Parker’s struggles are here. That’s no surprise for those who’ve read any Spider-Man comic over the last 60 years, since his familiar struggles are often the draw, but “Brand New Day” shows the character “going through it”, as he deals with neglecting a work/life balance, along with a heavy dose of FOMO and loneliness.

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) has been keeping busy protecting New York City from an assortment of threats, whether it’s the super-powered Scorpion (Michael Mando), superhuman crime boss Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), or C-Level characters from his Rogues Gallery of villains (True Believers will spot Tarantula, Boomerang, and Ramrod). Citizens and Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colon-Zayas) alike embrace his heroic acts. His life as a superhero has overshadowed any semblance of a regular life as Peter Parker, especially now that his two best friends, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalan) and MJ (Zendaya), no longer remember him. He keeps tabs on these two via Ned’s Instagram posts, but nothing compares to the constant closeness Peter once had with his loved ones. It also stings that he no longer has Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) to offer encouraging support, which leads him to lose himself in his homemade red, webs, and blue suit. Minus the spider-powers, Peter’s like any of us – when life stressors overwhelm, we get neck-deep in work.

Besides loneliness and feelings of isolation, what else is Peter battling? Unfortunately, he has a couple of new battles that mostly have to do with Spider-Man, which wind up weaving a complicated web for our hero. Something strange is going on inside Peter related to his arachnid side. He gets headaches, surges of super-strength, and develops kind of gross organic web fluid, which leads him to seek help from Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who is currently teaching quantum mechanics at Empire State University and may know a thing or two about mutations. At the same time, a strange new threat is targeting the Department of Damage Control (DODC), specifically its head, William “Bill” Metzger (Tramell Tillman), an organization that has gone from cleaning up debris from superpowered battles to policing those with superpowers. This unseen threat, which has telepathic and body-swapping abilities, is causing chaos in the Big Apple and has also attracted the attention of anti-hero Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), someone Spider-Man has clashed with in recent years. Peter has his hands full as Spider-Man as he struggles to determine the source of this threat, while also dealing with whatever transformation is occurring from within.

Peter’s post-college years have taken unanticipated turns since the pivotal events at the end of “No Way Home”. With his friends and family stripped away, he’s forced to fend for himself, living in an attic apartment in a New York borough. Oddly, he has access to state-of-the-art technology that lets him track his own bio-readings, create an AI assistant named E.V. (voiced by Naomi Watts), and monitor criminal activity in the city. It’s unclear how he’s affording all this or how he’s paying rent – maybe Tony Stark or Aunt May (both?) left him a bunch of money? He could be working, but McKenna and Sommers never include that in their screenplay, and as a result, the movie misses out on another relatable aspect of Peter Parker: making ends meet.

In the comics, Peter has always had to scrounge for cash to either pay rent, do laundry, or buy Aunt May’s medication, which usually leads him to take pictures of Spider-Man in action for the Daily Bugle. That role brought with it a contentious working relationship with J. Jonah Jameson (last seen at the end of “Spider-Man: Far From Home”, portrayed by J.K. Simmons, reprising his role in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy), as well as with other colorful supporting co-workers. But we have none of that in “Brand New Day,” and perhaps that’s a decision to prevent the movie from being overcrowded and a development that we’ll possibly see in the future – that is, if this is the first of a new trilogy with Tom Holland.

Disney and Marvel Studios did their darndest to keep the character Sadie Sink is playing in “Brand New Day” a secret, but anyone well-versed in Marvel Comics knows who the most famous red-haired female in the Marvel Universe is, aside from Mary Jane Watson. Sure enough, speculations and hunches were spot-on, and Sink’s introduction officially indicates a future MCU expansion that’s been anticipated for years. Her character’s introduction here is somewhat underwhelming, but it’s perhaps understandable considering her youth, and she is yet to develop into the iconic Omega-level character Marvel geeks know so well. That said, I’m not crazy about how she behaves with such callous cruelty for most of the movie. The apex of this behavior plays out in a cringey sequence between a lovelorn Peter and a confused MJ. It’s addressed later, but it still left me feeling uncomfortable. It’s a younger, different iteration of one of my favorite Marvel characters, so within that context, I understand the differences. Still, how she goes about what she sets out to do should result in greater ramifications than what we see here.

On that note, it’s also odd that Frank Castle, a guy who should be at the top of the federal government’s “most wanted” list, is roaming around New York City like a friendly-neighborhood vigilante. This is Bernthal’s theatrical debut as The Punisher, a character he’s played for years on Disney+ and most recently seen in last May’s inappropriately named “One Last Kill”, an intense and gruesome exploration of bloody violence from a PTSD perspective. In “Brand New Day”, Berntha’s Castle replaces the kind of mentorship Holland’s Spider-Man had with Tony Stark, Mysterio, and Stephen Strange in the previous trilogy. It’s more of a contentious big-brother/little-brother relationship that certainly offers a still-intense, albeit softer, Punisher than we’ve ever seen in live action. If you’ve seen “One Last Kill”, it’s a jarring about-face that’s hard to swallow, but we must also consider that the target audience for “a Spider-Man movie” is everyone, especially younger viewers. So it makes sense to depict Frank Castle this way. It’s still odd, especially to see him offering Peter and MJ his homemade chili, but it makes sense.

Despite all that, what makes “Brand New Day” work is Holland’s emotional performance and Peter’s characterization as he navigates the changes in his life. Right from the start, there are tender moments when we see him perched over on a skyscraper, high above the entire city, scrolling through Insta reels as he laments the connection he had with Ned and MJ. He has these “amazing” abilities and is out there using them to help others, but he can’t help himself reclaim the tight connection he had and still longs for. It’s hard for him to see the two most important people in his world carry on without him, which gives the movie a chance to weave a touching amount of heartache throughout this chapter of Peter’s life. It’s not necessarily a bummer of a movie, nor is it a slog, because the Spider-Man action keeps it going at a good clip – the highlight being when Spidey takes on a whole clan of ninjas on his own.

After “No Way Home”, it was indicated that we’d get a more street-level Spidey tale, and “Brand New Day” definitely offers that, keeping the action in New York City, which is where the best Spider-Man tales have always been. We’re free of swirling portals and outlandish threats, and offered a look at Peter and Spider-Man having to tackle new internal and external mysteries in his hometown. Some of the developments we see here, especially the internal arachnid growth, can definitely be picked up in sequels, but what is started here certainly piques our interest and sets a new journey in motion for Peter.

Cretton sets out to match the franchise’s previous energy and chaos, overseeing impressive physical activity and introducing a fresh take on the intensity of Spider-Man’s web-swinging. The picture is impressively crafted and often involving, yet the emotional moments tend to win out here, thanks to Holland deftly handling the complicated psychological turbulence Peter undergoes, while a poignant supporting turn from Zendaya reminds us why she is one of the best and brightest young actors out there. While the movie has some missteps with its antagonist, resulting in a drawn-out third act, “Brand New Day” still gets the most important parts of this endearing character, as Spider-Man (and Marvel Studios) figures out the next phase of his superhero career.

RATING: ***