Today is a Brand New Spider-Day (With No Spoilers)

Spider-Man Brand New Day:             

Rated “PG-13” Runtime 2h 25m

Director:          Destin Daniel Cretton

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Bernthal, Sadie Sink

 

As we rejoin our intrepid hero, Spider-Man, it has been some four years that have passed since the events of No Way Home, and Peter is now an adult living entirely alone in Queens, NY, having voluntarily erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves. Given his chosen solitary life, fighting crime in a New York that no longer knows his name, he's devoted himself entirely to protecting his city as a full-time Spider-Man. This is where Peter proves how resourceful he is, Given that no one remembers who he is, and he is now totally and completely on his own, with no back-up or support from Stark Industries, he has had to create all of his own tech. Peter has created his own artificial intelligence assistant E.V. (often referred phonetically as E.V.I.E. and voiced by actress Naomi Watts).

 In his fight against crime in NYC, Spidey has formed an alliance with NYC Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) with whom he is connected with not only by phone but an app that alerts each of them to crimes being committed throughout the city.  However, as the demands on him intensify, and his increased isolation weighs on him, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crime gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced.

As the film opens Peter is shown setting up his apartment in what was essentially a storage unit filled with boxes and junk. He also monitors the video TikTok postings of his friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) who has been hanging out and traveling with MJ (Zendaya)—which naturally adds to Peter’s depression and anxiety). This is followed by what this long-time Spidey fan can describe as the most amazingly spectacular footage of Spidey swinging through the steel and glass canyons of midtown Manhattan. All of which is interspersed with Spidey taking down an impressive array of his rogues’ gallery, including (but not limited to) Scorpion, Tarantula, Tombstone, Boomerang, and Ramrod. He also goes up against several ninjas from The Hand, a traditional Daredevil set of villains.

Also appearing (and having a major presence in this film) is the organization Damage Control. In the comics, Damage Control is a private business that is tasked with repairing damage created during battles between Marvel heroes and villains. Here in the MCU the group has been transformed into a paramilitary/quasi-governmental establishment tasked with capturing and housing super-criminals. As the film kicks into high gear, there is a massive tank blowing through the streets of the city heading towards the Damage Control building.

As Spidey is swinging down the streets avoiding machinegun and rock fire, he runs afoul (and over) by The Punisher’s (Jon Bernthal) van. This results in an exchange between the pair (who obviously know each other as revealed by Spidey about an interaction they had on Staten Island, where Spidey saved Frank Castle’s life). Spider-Man manages to stall Punisher, and follows the tank to the Damage Control building where it crashed through the side of the building.

Once inside this sets off an amazingly cool chase sequence where the driver of the tank is revealed as an elderly woman, only we immediately see that she isn’t so much the driver of the tank, as simply as someone who is being possessed by somebody else. As soon as she is discovered, the entity begins jumping from person to person as they race through the building to get to the rooftop were Damage Control cops are loading Scorpion into a helicopter, escaping the chasing Spider-Man.

From here we follow Peter through the film as he works his way through the mystery of who the entity is (you may already know, but I’m not going to reveal that here), tries to protect MJ from the entity, deals with Frank (and his murderous tendencies), recapture Scorpion, reconnect with MJ & Ned, and deal with his own evolving physiology. To do this last part he reaches out to Dr. Banner, who is now a teaching professor at Empire State University. To deal with the entity and scorpion, he connects with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) who is now going by Black Widow.

Throughout all of this we gain a real connection with Peter and his struggles to live in a world that no longer knows who he is, including his best friend and (more tragically) the love of his life, who knows she is missing something, but is wholly unable to understand quite what that thing is. All of which gives us, the viewing audience, something that is more than just “another superhero punch-em’-up), but a fully functioning, completely fleshed out story beautifully panted across a two-and-a-half-hour film that is full of equal parts sentimental emotional highs and lows, and several high-octane fight sequences each designed to bring thrills, chills, heartfelt emotions, as well as an thoroughly enjoyable experience.

So, yeah, not only is this a most amazing cinematic experience, it is the best Spider-Man film created to date (yes, even better than the first Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire (which I waited some 10 years from it’s announcement to debut) and yes even better than Spider-Man: No Way Home which was stunningly brilliant. This film is the whole package, and it is really that good. I remember when the first Spider-Man film came out and it help kick off a golden era of superhero films. Hopefully, this film will re-kickstart a new golden era, of superhero films as we head over the next three years including Clayface (October 23, 2026), Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026), Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (June 18,) 2027),  Man of Tomorrow (July 9, 2027), Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027), The Batman 2 (February 18, 2028), and Dynamic Duo (June 30, 2028), Black Panther 3 - December 15, 2028.

Oh before I go, I do want to reveal two non-spoiler, very cool Easter eggs I saw in the film (I’m sure there are more). One is There is a scene where The Hulk is chasing Spidey down a hallway that is reminiscent of Him chasing Black Widow through the Helicarrier in the first Avengers film. The second isn’t so much an MCU reference as it is a film reference. There is a shot of Spidey and MJ on the roof of a building with the lit-up Silvercup sign, that seems to be a call-back to the first Highlander film. Both very cool.