Culture
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ is a triumphant return to live-action Spider-Man after five long years
By: Woohyuk Kong
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Via Snyder, a senior at Ohio University and employee at the local Athena Cinema on South Court Street, braced for impact as Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrived for its opening weekend in an otherwise peaceful summer. They couldn’t have predicted just how packed it would get.
Snyder explained the protocol for movies of this size: “We have our first day on Thursdays to help diffuse big rushes like that,” they said. Despite the preparations and a crew that consisted of five extra people, the line of fans circled the theater by the weekend.
As a worker at the Athena and a fan of cinema and theater, Snyder encourages the community to come back to the movies in a big way and make it an event.
Around the world, people were excited for the film that would bring Spider-Man back to the big screen. Theories about Sadie Sink’s character, trailers dropping for eager fans and a massive amount of press surrounded the movie before it came out. However, while many were excited, others, including me, worried about the film’s potential failures. As exciting as the prospect of a new Spider-Man movie is, it has to be done right.
Early Skeptics
Parker Brunner, a junior at Ohio University and lifelong Spider-Man fan, wasn’t sure what to expect from the new Tom Holland film. After finishing the Home trilogy (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home), Brunner saw nowhere to go.
“No Way Home was a perfect conclusion to Tom’s trilogy… How are they going to build off of that?” he said.
Before watching the movie, the trailer scared me into believing it was too packed. I worried about the oversaturation of characters and a lack of development for each. Seeing the star-studded cast list, teasers full of iconic villains and rumors of what was to come turned my pure optimism into cautious hope. I was in for a truly special surprise.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a movie about loneliness, repression and love. The choice that defines the film is the ever-looming question in Peter Parker’s life, one that all Spider-Men must answer: Which is truly greater, responsibility or love?
As Brunner put it, “Everybody wants to be Spider-Man; nobody wants to be Peter Parker.”
Isolation and Connection
At the beginning of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter Parker has already made his choice.
After losing his Aunt May, his girlfriend Michelle Jones and his best friend Ned Leeds, Parker can no longer afford to hurt the ones he loves. He decides to trade his personal life for Spider-Man and his responsibilities, becoming the figure New York loves while he lives alone.
One of the movie’s best needle drops comes from a subway encounter with Ned, as Peter gazes at his friend with longing eyes before turning away. “Loser” by Tame Impala perfectly captures the scene’s mood, with wailing vocals that tell the somber story of a loner who needs what he doesn’t have: companionship. In this scene, Parker chooses to protect Ned, continuing to sacrifice the relationship he once had with his best friend.
In the following scene, Peter sees MJ across a party, further highlighting his self-imposed isolation, only for her to turn and kiss her new boyfriend.
“In that moment, it felt like the movie grabbed me and told me to pay attention,” Brunner said.
The kiss from a lost loved one and the ensuing panic attack are gripping, adding to the feeling of absolute solitude as Parker can do nothing but leave it all behind.
The crushing loneliness comes to a head in the confrontation between MJ and Parker, when she rediscovers his secret identity and her love for him. In the scene, MJ shows how severe the memory loss was, explaining that the girl in the note is gone. She is not the same person who fell in love with Peter and never will be. A weight falls on the audience as Zendaya’s acting brings forth the pain of a woman who has lost agency. Her voice shakes with a flurry of emotions: confusion, anger and pain. MJ does not want to hurt Parker, but he still loves the idea of her that no longer exists, leading to an inevitable rejection of love.
Although she turns away from his love, MJ shows Peter grace and brings him to her apartment to speak with Ned. The two hit it off instantly, as if nothing had ever changed. MJ reopens Parker’s web of connection, snapping him out of his solitude and helping him finally take the first step toward living a full life. While they no longer have what they once had, MJ opens the door to something new with Peter, with a touch of familiarity from his best friend Ned.
New and Returning Faces
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is ambitious in the scope of the MCU, bringing mutants to the main universe while also reintroducing characters like Hulk and the Punisher. Unfortunately, the abundance of heroes reduces iconic Spider-Man villains such as Tombstone and Scorpion to cameos with little impact on the story. Their inclusion feels forced, as Scorpion has been teased ever since Tom Holland’s first Spider-Man movie, making the lack of development disappointing.
Jean Grey, played by Sadie Sink, has an excellent debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Grieving familial loss, Grey mirrors Peter as she chooses to take revenge on those who wronged her. Sink’s performance as Jean adds weight to the mutants’ words, as her delivery carries the pain of losing her sister. Her tense yet vulnerable body language further emphasizes how much she needs connection.
While adding mutants to a Spider-Man film may seem out of place, Jean’s story runs parallel to Parker’s in many ways. She has lost everything in her life and feels othered because of her unique condition as a mutant. Parker knows her struggles because they are his, allowing him to connect with her and guide her the same way Aunt May guided him. Their connection creates a space where what makes them special is celebrated, not diminished.
Bringing back Savage Hulk not only revives the interesting dynamic between Bruce Banner and Hulk but also adds to the theme of resisting nature and instinct. Parker struggles to resist his strange mutation, which dials up all his abilities to an overwhelming degree, as he watches his friends have the time of their lives. Both Peter and Bruce face a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde conflict, adding to the isolation of the brilliant minds who already feel out of touch with much of the population. While Bruce keeps struggling, Peter finds an answer.
Jon Bernthal’s Punisher is quite an entertaining character, yet his inclusion often feels unnecessary. The Punisher is famously isolated, often cast out by other heroes for his lethal approach. He also lacks a family to go back to, as they have been murdered — the life-changing event that began his crusade against crime.
Despite the perfect alignment of stories, Spider-Man: Brand New Day fails to explore how isolation led Castle down a darker path than even Jean Grey.
Instead, the movie relies on him as the straight man in a comedic duo with Spider-Man. The pairing has great on-screen chemistry, constantly butting heads for comic effect, yet it also erases much of the nuance the character could otherwise bring.
Furthermore, in each of his appearances, Frank Castle directly hinders the plot through his actions. Most significantly, at the end of the movie, Castle shoots at Jean Grey because he doesn’t know how to reach out to her and connect. While this does not damage the relationship between Parker and Grey, the shooting deepens Jean’s distrust of others who are not special like her or Parker. Even though the character is fun and Bernthal does a fantastic job carrying much of the humor, the film would be better without the needless complications brought on by the murderous vigilante.
A Fresh Take on the Traditional Mold
Spider-Man: Brand New Day follows the mold that makes many of the best Spider-Man stories.
Parker starts at one of the lowest points of his life and is given a choice: personal happiness or great responsibility. In many cases, and even at the beginning of the latest installment, Peter chooses to give it all up.
As Brunner pointed out, “One of the most tragic things about Spider-Man is that he is too worthy of his own power.”
However, unlike many other famous stories, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man rejects the idea of having to choose between personal happiness and responsibility to the city. When he is finally asked to choose between Peter Parker or Spider-Man, love or responsibility, he replies, “I am both.”
The big guiding force behind Parker’s decision, and a presence that was sorely missed throughout the Home trilogy, is Aunt May. Finally in the role of an older, gentler figure, Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May provides the reassurance that grounds both Peter and Jean: “We love you not because you’re special. We love you because you’re you,” she said. In a beautiful twist of words, May says that remembering love is the greatest responsibility any power could bestow.
At the End of the Day
Part of what amazed Snyder about working behind the counter was the sudden sense of community that brought unfamiliar moviegoers together.
“The full force of the cinema brought fans to come and actually talk to each other,” they said. Fans in costumes, full of enthusiasm about the movie, met one another to share their passions and discuss a movie about isolation and finding connection.
Despite some unnecessary inclusions, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has the heart the Home trilogy lacked. From the evolution plotline to the heartbreaking isolation and the long-awaited, comforting figure of Aunt May, the film brings forth themes that define Spider-Man with all the attention they deserve. Most characters fit into the main theme of seclusion, whether they represent Parker’s choice to live in solitude or struggle to find their own people. Even those who don’t, such as the Punisher, add humor to a heavy story, letting audiences catch their breath before diving back into Peter’s lonely life.
Importantly, Parker refuses to accept loneliness after living with it for so long. Instead, he chooses connection with Jean Grey, Ned and even the Punisher, guided by MJ’s willingness to start anew and bring him back into the light. In the end, lessons from Aunt May bring Peter Parker back from the brink of erasure and teach him, and the rest of the cast, that love is true strength.