02/08/2026
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, for a movie with a fun little title, it actually was a lot heavier than it should be.
As far as it is a standalone Spider-Man movie, it also ties-in to the greater MCU timeline. We got to witness some sort of a Marvel Team-Up here.
Frank Castle and Bruce Banner played a big role in this movie, and of course Sadie Sink’s character, they all have a thematic connection to Peter’s journey. Let me break it down:
Frank Castle is cautionary tale of what happens when you fully commit yourself to being a vigilante seeking out revenge for your family. Hulk serves as what happens when you try to fight nature rather than embrace it leading to you becoming a monster. Yelena and Sadie Sink character, went through their own journey of loneliness and grief that they recognized instantly when meeting Peter.
I wish the audience would really take time to notice the subtle, and some that are actually head on, themes of processing grief and moving on through the journey in this movie. It was without a doubt, the deepest and the most matured, Spider-Man movie ever made, in the Tom Holland era.
That one Aunt May scene broke me. You don’t have to carry every burden by yourself. No matter what friendship, relationship, or part of yourself you may have lost, you can always start over.
Well, this just became a long write up, and feels weird that I didn’t say anything about the action sequences, camerawork, or production design, for a superhero movie. I guess that’s how good of a script it was.
I really enjoyed the direction of this new Spider-Man / Peter Parker saga. I hope Destin Yori Daniel Cretton get to direct more of this franchise in the future.
“I have no one.”
“You have me.”