Currently Spinning: Reality Awaits (The Strokes, 2026)
Rating: 4/10
Review in progress. Come back later for the full report!
Currently Watching: Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Rating: 8/10
Spoiler free review, I hope
For Marvel to call a movie “brand new” is about as trustworthy as Apple assuring novelty in the latest iPhone; but if we are to hold Marvel to the same tepid standards they have curated in this post-Endgame saga, then Spider-Man: Brand New Day satisfactorily lives up to its name.
In my marathon of every Spider-Man film a few years ago, I was surprised at how unnatural it felt to watch the “Home” trilogy of Holland’s movies compared to Maguire’s and Garfield’s, the obvious detriment being their tie-ins to the greater MCU. For example, between Homecoming and Far From Home, the viewer is expected to understand that five years have elapsed, Spider-Man went to space, an alien eliminated half of life on Earth (including Peter Parker), then the “blip” reversed to revive everybody, and Parker’s mentor Iron Man died. Sure, these incidents occurred in the highest-grossing films of all time and have sinceentered the cultural zeitgeist, but as a casual moviegoer I think it’s fair to expect the complete story of a character when you watch the very films they’re named after.
This is also why, as the casual moviegoer, I found Brand New Day to shed most of the handicaps of its predecessors. There is far less MCU homework to have completed since Spider-Man himself is starting from scratch. As much as I find Peter, MJ, and Ned to be a charismatic trio, it was sensical and necessary to remove them from the narrative, despite several plot conveniences in this film to bring them back together (keep in mind that Spidey's neighborhood is supposedly the largest city in the United States). Peter is finally portrayed as alone. No Iron Man, no Aunt May, no MJ, no extra Spider-Men; and the movie is better for it. The highlights of the movie are watching Holland navigate his new reality as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, from the classic comic quips to the heartbreak of losing his loved ones. Additionally, the banter between Spider-Man and the Punisher was always hilarious to watch in all its New York glory.
Perhaps due to the tangible attempt to isolate Brand New Day from the rest of its broader universe, the movie's flaws are accentuated when the MCU is caught planting the seeds for its future projects. The most egregious example is its villain. The story momentum before their reveal is electric, but everything afterward grinds to a halt as we wade through uninspired references and tired "sympathetic baddie" tropes. The back half of the movie almost ceases to be a Spider-Man film as it sacrifices his own development in favor of its "complex" antagonist, shortly followed by the audacity to pretend it actually was to the benefit of Spider-Man. I don't buy how four years of Peter Parker's isolation are soothed over less than a week's worth of plot. I also don't buy that Hulk and Punisher were added for anything other than audience appeal, even if I found their performances charming and relevant enough for the plot. Why else would the latter show up in a PG-13 movie?
Anyway, these flaws shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has seen a Marvel film in the past ten years. The bigger surprise is how enjoyable Brand New Day remains in light of its most stereotypical pitfalls. The "small potatoes" carry the most flavor here. The emotional beats aren't from a villain coming to their senses, but rather Peter watching his beloved MJ live a life she never knew he participated in. They're in the street-level robberies when the city isn't at the brink of collapse for the 3000th time. They're in the upwards web slings and downward dives. They're in the petty arguments over chili, not whether violence is the answer or not.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day did the impossible: for a time, it made me forget I was watching another Marvel film. By the end, a small part of me even wanted to know what will happen in the next one. I doubt this has resurged my passion for the MCU, but it has given me optimism that Hollywood might finally be listening to their audiences. Our real world is too exciting to sell on apocalyptic stakes now. Isn't it time we brought the attention back to the friendly neighborhood where it matters?