WHO IS SPIDER-MAN? The man who keeps saving the Marvel Cinematic Universe

A DP Film Buff’s Review of the Movie

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and other MCU projects!

Ever since the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) ended with Avengers: Endgame, the MCU has begun sinking in an ocean of forgettable and repetitive narratives. Throughout the latest phases, it has only caught a few gasps of air through films such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 and Thunderbolts*, where the stakes and overarching themes are bigger than the story. Phase 6 started on an unbalanced step, with The Fantastic 4: First Steps finally bringing Marvel’s first family to the MCU by heavily limiting the power of its villain—Galactus—and predictably reviving Sue Storm by the end. That said, it’s once again Spider-Man who swings hope for Avengers: Doomsday and the future of the MCU in his latest film: Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

This film feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison to both the latest MCU films and the previous Spider-Man stories. Rather than taking on intergalactic threats, like Mysterio’s illusionary attacks in Spider-Man: Far From Home, or a multiversal gathering in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker returns to his humble beginnings as a friendly neighborhood hero and focuses on protecting New York City from “small potato” threats. This gives the movie a more grounded, scaled-back, and serious tone compared to the rest of his previously lighthearted and high-stakes trilogy.

I think that as a consequence of this narrative, Spider-Man: Brand New Day didn’t always feel like the other MCU Spider-Man films that preceded this one. The street-level narrative allows the story to innovatively explore Peter’s struggles since his identity was forgotten and the loss of Aunt May. It also means that his iconic friendship with MJ and Ned was also left behind, so Peter explores how to navigate his lost relationships through more awkward but serious interactions. I also think the film feels scaled back because of the ambition of its predecessor: Spider-Man: No Way Home. This project not only united five of the most recognizable villains from the Spider-Man universe, but it also connected the MCU to the other Spider-Man films through cameos by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. I don’t think any other standalone Marvel film will be able to achieve this level of ambition, except for any Avengers projects, and I don’t think that this is a problem for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Considering Peter Parker’s character arc, after having the world forget who he is, it’s completely logical to want to return to a street-level hero, and the film’s stakes, tone, and name perfectly reflect these new beginnings. However, all of this didn’t stop Spidey from encountering unexpected team-ups.

From the trailers, it was known that Mark Ruffalo would reprise his role as Bruce Banner, which marks the big guy’s second co-op adventure since Thor: Ragnarok. Jon Bernthal also appeared in the trailers as he portrays The Punisher in his first MCU film. While the Hulk offered some of the most intense action sequences and the highest stakes as he was mind-controlled to attack Spider-Man, Bernthal’s performance stood out as he brought the grim and relentless anti-hero to life. The Punisher provides both a realistic perspective to Spider-Man’s fights, understanding the importance of killing off a villain if necessary, and gritty humor that foils both his and Spidey’s personalities. I think he was a super unique character the MCU hasn’t seen since Nick Fury, and his personality matched the film's overall more serious, grounded tone. I also think that Marvel found a unique way to integrate Bruce Banner into the narrative, but throughout the years, he has become an expendable character and Marvel has no clear direction for his development. His initial arc of becoming this horrifying monster and then learning to control his anger felt like a natural and deserving story. However, after Thor: Ragnarok, where he was a gladiator champion, the character has just felt stuck between wanting to be a smart and controlled Hulk and not wanting to be Hulk at all. It doesn’t help that, in this film, the character has no emotional development whatsoever and serves only as support for Spider-Man’s development of his mutant inhibitor and, ultimately, as one of the villain’s weapons. That said, the Hulk did offer one of the biggest surprises towards the end, where despite Peter’s efforts to save him, he ends up falling out of a building. I genuinely thought that it would be the end of Ruffalo’s character; that this would be the end of one of Marvel’s most iconic beasts. Fortunately, Marvel’s financial department ensured that Banner survived, so fans should likely not be worried about seeing him in future co-op projects. I understand that it’s highly unlikely that a standalone Hulk movie will be made soon since Universal Pictures owns the distribution rights for standalone films. Therefore, because of Marvel’s lack of direction in the co-op stories, I would say that the sun’s getting real low on The Hulk’s time in the MCU.

The promotional material for Spider-Man: Brand New Day also included the casting of Sadie Sink as a mysterious character. Though rumors spread that she would portray the MCU’s version of Gwen Stacy or a new love interest for Spider-Man, the film surprised everyone by introducing Jean Grey and her telepathic powers. Unlike with some of the duller villains we have seen throughout the recent phases, who either have undeserving backstories or once again pose a major threat to New York City, I was impressed by Marvel’s approach to the character’s powers with the use of a jump radius. This is a fresh concept that isn’t present in the comics, and it brings real consequences for both Spider-Man personally and the rest of the citizens. It also naturally allows for one of the most impactful scenes in the film, where Jean takes over MJ’s mind and tricks an emotionally struggling Peter Parker into believing she remembers him, which results in a kiss. Sink’s character also brings a great amount of the movie’s emotional core, especially through Jean Grey’s backstory. Getting revenge on the government for seizing her sister, Sara Grey, because of her mutant powers is a perfect reason to try and rescue her, even if through violent means. While family issues are becoming a cliché backstory throughout the MCU, such as with Helmut Zemo taking revenge on his family’s death during the Battle of Sokovia in Captain America: Civil War or Erik Killmonger’s fight for his father’s death in Black Panther, Jean Grey’s backstory feels new and different because of the way the story withholds the mystery until the end. I think it was innovative that the audience experiences the same mindset as Jean Grey, where both are searching to find out what V-Max means. It allows them to empathize with the mutant since it’s revealed simultaneously that Sara Grey was killed by the government, which rationalizes Jean’s actions and makes her comeback feel deserving. This also makes Peter’s final sacrifice feel that much more impactful because the audience celebrates that Jean Grey survived and got revenge on Damage Control. 

The mutant’s good heart is further emphasized as she saves Spider-Man from The Punisher's bullet wound. This was one of the most surprising moments of the film, as everything was initially pointing to the power of friendship once again saving the film, which has consistently been the strongest weapon throughout the latest phases. Now look, I don’t hate these types of endings when they’re done right. In some cases, I feel like films need this type of ending to stay grounded and tell the human story they want. Thunderbolts* is a perfect example of this, where even though it would be awesome to have an intense battle to capture The Void, the message on mental health and addiction benefited from the more human ending. Nevertheless, some endings, like the previously criticized Fantastic Four, feel coincidental and unnecessary rather than deserving and realistic, and it just feels like Marvel’s attempts at squeezing out every dime from their intellectual property. It's safe to say that Spider-Man: Brand New Day doesn’t fall into this category, and I think it's The Punisher who saves this fate. He had been teasing “doing it his way” if Spider-Man kept trying to save Jean, and the film climaxes with him attempting to snipe Jean right as he and Peter become friends. The gunshot was unexpected and fits the character’s personality perfectly, which I really appreciated since Marvel has often stayed away from attempting to kill off characters since Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark died in Avengers: Endgame (and even he’s returning as Doctor Doom soon). I obviously don’t want Spider-Man to die yet since I don’t think that his character arc is fulfilled, but it was a refreshing change to have this surprising ending, especially with this more scaled-back project.

Even at the smaller scale, Marvel needs to take inspiration from the film’s action, cinematography, and special effects. Being a part of the multibillion-dollar conglomerate that is Disney, it’s shocking that the MCU has been hit or miss with its CGI and special effects. Sometimes, it’s incredibly believable and looks visually stunning, which was honestly a trend in most of the older projects, and recently, sometimes it looks like it's running off a Nintendo GameCube and a prayer (I’m once again looking at you, Fantastic Four). This film, despite not being filmed once on New York soil, transports the audience to the concrete jungle and perfectly recreates the city during Spider-Man's swings. Speaking of, the swinging action was easily the best that the MCU has seen, as Spidey glides almost like a video game character through the tall buildings. None of the effects or CGI, especially the Hulk and Jean’s powers, looked out of place or unrealistic, and it all blended beautifully with the rest of the live-action setting. My only two critiques of the special effects would be that even though Yelena Belova makes a cameo as Black Widow, the skyline never saw The New Avengers tower, which was heavily shown during Thunderbolts*. I think having a few shots of it in the background could have further settled this more serious film into Earth-616 and helped establish when this film was set in the timeline (which is known to be four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home). There's also one shot towards the end, when Spider-Man saves Jean Grey from The Punisher’s bullet, where some form of green screen was visible, and the background’s lighting mismatched the foreground. This is just me being picky, though, because the rest of the film, especially the cinematography, looks stunning.

The camera operator took some incredible risks throughout the movie, primarily using longer and wider shots as opposed to consistently cutting. This makes the action sequences, even for smaller villains, incredibly entertaining to watch, and it also helps highlight Jean Grey’s movement through her jumps. The camera is also dynamic and will often tilt and rotate upside down to follow Spider-Man as he moves around the walls. There are some incredible shots throughout that haven’t been explored with Marvel yet, such as Spidey sitting upside down at the top of the roof in the beginning, and a unique water reflection shot towards the end. The phenomenal cinematography is especially noticeable in the action sequences, which I think are some of Marvel’s best since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The fights experiment by contrasting the use of height and scale, such as the final fight against The Hand, with the use of more compact and tight spaces, like when Banner unleashes The Hulk against Peter and Frank. It truly helps ground the film as a street-level adventure while also demonstrating Spidey’s powers and vulnerabilities, which are at the core of the movie’s story.

Apart from the singular and disappointing post-credit scene, that only showed that there is a Spider-Man in space (could it be Tobey Maguire?), Spider-Man: Brand New Day has set the Marvel Cinematic Universe back on course. The film not only builds up towards Avengers: Secret Wars, where Spider-Man is rumored to have a crucial role in taking down Dr. Doom at Battleworld, but the introduction of Jean Grey also sets up the new Mutant Saga and the new X-Men film coming out on May 5, 2028. The movie, and its box office success of more than $2.3 billion, has once again proven audiences' love for Peter Parker and creates a glimmer of hope for Marvel’s future.