Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review

“Hi. My name is Peter Parker. You don't remember me, but we used to know each other. Something bad was gonna happen, and the only way to stop it was to make everyone forget about me. Because I'm not just Peter Parker. I'm Spider-Man. And sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker's heart.” – Peter Parker

Before this film was released, I was already more stoked than your average 66-year-old should be for several reasons. The first and foremost was hey, it’s a Spider-Man film and I’ve been reading Spider-Man since my age was in single figures. Second, Marvel have made huge strides in getting their cinematic universe back in order, especially since last year’s Fantastic Four: First Steps and with the Avengers back in Doomsday at Christmas, it’s a safe bet they weren’t going to drop the ball with THIS character, of all of them. Third, my whole obsession with comic book superheroes has over the past few months been launched higher than ever into the stratosphere since the launch of the Comic Panel Universe podcast with my pal Alex Lewczuk where I appear bi-weekly. (You’ll find links to all episodes here.)

Batman is my favourite superhero character. I’ve never hidden that. But the one I actually identified with the closest when I was growing up was Spider-Man. No, I was never bitter by a radioactive spider. No, I can’t crawl up walls or stick to ceilings. And no, I can’t shoot webs. Specifically, I was always closer to Peter Parker in real life. Never the most popular guy in the room, prone to some bad luck, just keeping my head above water. And that’s the appeal and the genius of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s creation.

Over at DC Comics, the civilian identities were just around in the main to top and tail the stories. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent were never given more than a couple of panels per story. Marvel, however had more of an equality between Parker and Spider-Man. His private life and problems were as much of a story element as his ongoing struggles as Spider-Man. Life wasn’t perfect. He might well have saved all of New York City from Doctor Octopus, but he still needed money to pay the rent. There was realism and circumstances we all face to offset the soaring fantasy. His life was an ongoing soap opera. And that’s why I chose the quote above to open the review. (Although there are several more quotable lines; “Go home, Frank”, “You are small potato” and “you have no secrets, I’ve seen your belly button” among many, many more.)

I avoided EVERYTHING online before seen this movie, I wanted absolutely no spoilers to ruin any surprises Marvel had in store. I just wanted to be swept along on the ride. Yes, I had seen the trailer, of course. I’m at the multiplex often enough to make that unavoidable, along with the movie poster, showing some of the supporting Marvel characters making an appearance. But other than that, I’m going spoiler free on this review out of courtesy and not wishing to spoil anybody’s fun. (There will be my theory concerning the sting at the end of the film, but I’ll tuck that safely away in The Spoiler Zone – yes, I’m bringing THAT back this time.)

You might remember last month, I had read the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel in preparation for seeing that movie? Well, this time I read the Brand New Day storyline as research. On the one hand, I needn’t have bothered – that story isn’t this story. But on the other hand, it reignited my enthusiasm for reading more current Spider-Man again, as it was in essence, a relaunch for the character and a good jumping-in point if, like me, you’ve been away for a while.

The film takes place four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. In that film, you’ll recall Spider-Man’s identity was revealed to everybody. Doctor Strange caused, with Parker’s interference a rift what allowed characters from the multiverse to appear, including villains from the past and previous incarnations of Parker/Spider-Man, Aunt May was killed, and in a desperate attempt to restore everything to normality, Doctor Strange cast another spell which not only sent everybody back, but also wiped out everyone’s previous memories of Parker/Spider-Man.

And therein lies the tragedy. As we join Spider-Man (Tom Holland) this time, he has, over the intervening years, established himself as a street-level superhero. He has evidently amassed a rogue’s gallery of colourful villains and has forged an uneasy alliance with Frank Castle, The Punisher (Jon Berthnal). But nobody remembers him ever being an Avenger, his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) has no recollection of him neither does his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon).

Normally, I wouldn’t expect the fourth film in a series to be this strong, because we’re so familiar with the characters and (let’s face it) actors have been known to just phone in their performances by the fourth. But these characters are constantly evolving. Tom Holland has ALWAYS been great in the role – a role, incidentally that I never thought could be improved on after Toby McGuire. But the revelation here is the maturation and development of the MJ character. I’ve thought she was just a sneery smartass in the first trilogy, and I was never sure if that was the way this incarnation was written or if it was just Zendaya’s performance being slightly off. But this time, MJ is a better-rounded character and has more to do, with a greater emotional range and Zendaya easily steps up to the mark.

The addition of a handful of established Marvel characters and their interaction with Spider-Man is always fun to watch as it is to read in the comics, especially as they don’t always get along, be it Spider-Man and Punisher’s constant bickering and one-upmanship, Spider-Man finding himself on the wrong side of a furious and larger than ever Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) or his being deemed as “small potato” and thus beneath them by a member of the New Avengers when he needs guidance when facing a new superpowered threat, this is pure comic book gold for us fans.

I’m not going into detail about the new threat, just enjoy the surprise – I was stunned. I never saw that one coming.

So as much of a multi-layered character piece as this film is, a Spider-Man movie stands or falls on its visuals at the end of the day, and this one is absolutely stunning. The effects in previous films owe a great deal to John Dykstra’s insane cameras, and still astound me to this day, but Spider-Man’s movements and the poses his adopts while spinning on his web are the most, well, Ditkoesque (Hey, I invented a new word) I’ve ever seen – and to be honest, I’ve been impressed by all of the films in this regard, but this one is truly outstanding. To explain, Steve Ditko, whom I mentioned earlier, was the artist who co-created the Spider-Man character with Stan Lee back in 1961. He was the one who developed the way this spider-like movement be depicted on the comic book page. But what’s different about the visuals this time? Shots like the one below. With a gradual reveal he’s actually sitting upside down on a high girder. (I didn’t even know his butt was sticky.)

Another important point for me was, as an obsessive fanatic for comic book accuracy particularly as it relates to well-loved costumes, Spider-Man FINALLY has the bright red and blue outfit with no dramatic licence taken by the film makers. No Spider Armour, just the real deal.

It’s the must-see film of the summer – no doubt about it.

Rob Rating 10

And now, for the sting. Wait until the end of the credits and the studio logo and you’ll see it. It’s pretty important. What follows in the Spoiler Zone is entirely my theory. I might be correct, I might be way off – if you choose to read it, take it for what it’s worth okay?

Here we go.

10

9

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5

4

Turn back now if you don’t want to know…

3

2

LAST WARNING!

1

You’re in The Spoiler Zone

Okay, I assume now you want to be here.

The sting shows Ned’s Spidey Tracker app showing Spider-Man as being off-world. I admit I’ve laughed reading some of the fan theories doing the rounds on social media saying stuff like it’s Toby McGuire coming from space. Guys, y’all need to read the source material before opening your mouths.

It has been announced that Marvel will only have ONE film to release in 2027, and it’ll be a Christmas release titled Avengers: Secret Wars.

Secret Wars was a 12 issue series, now a graphic novel, where a selection of Marvel Superheroes including Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, characters from the Fantastic Four and the X-Men and a few more were suddenly swept away to Battleworld to fight a selection of Marvel super villains, including Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Kang the Conqueror, Klaw and the Lizard among others.

I’m not saying all those characters will appear in the film but there were in the graphic novel – to be clear. What I AM saying is that Spider-Man was the first one to appear on Battleworld in the comic book, and I’m pretty certain that’s where he is at the end of this movie. I’m guessing that the other characters will be heading there in a sting at the end of Doomsday.

Battleworld is also where Spider-Man’s costume was damaged, and he stated using a replacement black one he found there, which unknown to him was an alien living entity. One which would later prove a major threat – called Venom.

If I’m right, the future of Marvel Movies looks extremely cool.