With apologies to the excellent and beloved Captain America movies, my favorite character series within the greater MCU is unquestionably Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films. And as the box office results show, I’m clearly not alone. Like seemingly most of the rest of the world, I went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day at my local movie theater this past weekend. Though I’ve loved all three of the previous Spidey films and expected to enjoy this one, I still couldn’t help but feel a bit less enthusiastic heading into it on account of the same superhero movie fatigue that a lot of my fellow moviegoers seem to be experiencing these days. It just hasn’t been the same since Endgame.
By the time Brand New Day’s credits (and post-credits scene) rolled, however, I was left in shock at just how much I adored the fourth Spider-Man film. It’s rare enough for a superhero series to sustain excellence for three movies, let alone four – heck, even Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., started so similarly and so brilliantly as a critically wounded man trying to figure out how to survive in a cave halfway around the world before ultimately slogging through that horrible lava-people threequel by the time his solo run ended – but Spider-Man keeps delivering for me again and again. And I think I know why: it’s because, to quote Yelena, Brand New Day – and Holland’s solo Spider-Man films by and large – keep “small potatoes” stakes.
It’s inevitable that as sequels build on what’s come before – particularly one in which all of the films live in the same cinematic universe – the stakes get higher. But my favorite MCU films, with Spider-Man being the best example, have focused on the micro rather than the macro. Peter Parker’s problems have largely been his own: balancing schoolwork and superhero work, managing his feelings for his high-school crush, trying to protect the only family he has, and in Brand New Day, trying (and failing) to wield his great power responsibly all by himself.
My favorite MCU films, with Spider-Man being the best example, have focused on the micro rather than the macro.
More broadly, Brand New Day excels because it is clearly and unmistakably about Peter Parker and his struggles with being a superhero in New York City. Yes, the Hulk is in it, and Yelena Belova is in it, and Frank “The Punisher” Castle is in it a whole lot – but they aren’t there to solve galaxy-sized problems. Even the (apparent) villain in Brand New Day isn’t trying to end the world or take it over; instead, she’s just trying to find her sister.
Side note on Castle: I absolutely cherish Bernthal’s brilliant portrayal of that tortured character, and coming into Brand New Day and knowing it wasn’t rated R, I worried that we’d get a really lame, watered-down version of The Punisher. And while we certainly don’t see any One Last Kill-style rampages, Castle completely works in this movie because it focuses on his small-scale but nevertheless relatable problem that’s central to his character: his loneliness – his “sentence,” as he calls it – and how his burgeoning friendship with Spider-Man can help bring him out of his self-imposed darkness.
But back to Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The first Holland solo film, Homecoming, is a grounded, New York-specific story (minus the academic decathlon team’s trip to Washington, D.C.) about coming to terms with high-school life when you have newfound superpowers. Its follow-up, Far From Home, takes the gang to Europe, but still grounds the story around Peter, MJ, and Ned. The third film, No Way Home, tugged at my heartstrings more than any MCU movie since Endgame by bringing Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire back into the fold, but in the end, it’s still about Peter having to suffer the burden of his superhero life by saying goodbye to his best friend and the girl he loves – not to mention the only parental figure he has left in his life. And Brand New Day sees Peter struggle with bearing the weight of that burden alone before realizing that we all need people we can count on in order to get through this life, with or without arachnid DNA.
These sorts of local, intra-character problems are the most relatable, which is perhaps why all four Spider-Man films in the MCU have clicked so well with me while so many others – particularly recent ones – haven’t. After all, this is how the MCU started: with an egotistical man held prisoner in critical condition, put there by the weapons built by his own company. Tony Stark’s internal journey from apathetic billionaire playboy to someone who uses his power for good is what endeared us to him in the first place. And so too has it been for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. I’d argue that Holland gives his best portrayal of Peter Parker yet in Brand New Day, and it’s because the story focuses on his individual journey rather than one with multiverse-moving stakes. You know, small potatoes. I hope Marvel, Sony, and Holland never lose sight of it.
Thwip!
Spider-Man’s Record-Breaking Box Office Clinches It: Marvel as We Know It Is OverBrand New Day – Our Biggest Burning QuestionsWhat the Heck Is Marvel Doing With the Hulk Anyway!?What Does the Brand New Day Post-Credits Scene Mean for Peter Parker?Spider-Man: Brand New Day ReviewWhy Spider-Man Needs a LandlordThe MCU Is Introducing a Very Different Version of the X-Men, and That’s a Good Thing
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
