RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The 2021 blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home ushered in a pile-up of villains from the superhero's past, multiplying the title character by three to even out the odds and extend its embrace across the Marvel property's modern screen era, dating back to 2002's "Raimiverse" kick-off. Five years on, Spider-Man: Brand New Day reins all that in to find a more introspective Peter Parker in emotionally bruised isolation following his self-sacrificial decision to save the world by erasing its memory of him.
Directed with adrenaline and feeling if not always an ideal grasp of pacing by Destin Daniel Cretton and penned by returning screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, the entertaining new entry has the good sense to stop banging on about the damn multiverse. Instead, it foregrounds the humanity that has always been Spidey's greatest strength — with an extra dash of angst. But fear not, that doesn't mean the man in the red and blue webbed suit (don't call it a leotard!) is stuck whining away on a psychoanalyst's couch or poring over self-help manuals. Related Stories Movies Tom Holland Says He'll Play Spider-Man "For as Long as They'll Have Me" After 'Brand New Day': "If This Movie Does Good, I Guess We'll See!" Movies 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day': First Reactions From the Premiere Spider-Man: Brand New Day The Bottom Line Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man grows up. Release date : Friday, July 31 Cast : Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Mark Ruffalo, Liza Colón-Zayas, Michael Mando, Marvin Jones III, Marisa Tomei Director : Destin Daniel Cretton Screenwriters : Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko Rated PG-13, 2 hours 25 minutes
Naturally, he still spends a lot of time fighting villains and thwarting crime, most notably a threat of almost unprecedented magnitude through which telepathic mind games enable the misunderstood fiend to hop from one host body to the next like a nimble trickster — with help from some cool, woozy freeze-frame effects. Anyone in New York City could be the menace, including those who set themselves up as peacekeepers.
Trailers have already given away the presence of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, now teaching college physics to students who mostly just want to hear about the not-so-jolly green giant. No surprise that where Bruce goes, Hulk follows. Ditto a terrific Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, who acts like he and Spider-Man are old frenemies though that will be somewhat confusing to those of us without a comprehensive knowledge of the comics.
But there are two more MCU crossovers — one from The Avengers and one from X-Men — that go beyond fan service to bring welcome touches, respectively, of mordant humor and unpredictable danger. Spoiler ettiquette forbids me from naming those characters or the actors playing them, even if they will probably be all over social media by the time this review runs. But if you want to try figuring it out, one quite hilariously treats a Russian bathhouse in Brooklyn as their HQ and the other was often described by Professor Xavier as his most talented student. IYKYK.
The dominant thread, however, at least until full-scale mayhem erupts, is Peter Parker's identity crisis, which gives a never-better Tom Holland soulful new notes to play in his fourth solo turn in the tights. This is a heavily burdened Spider-Man, rendered more vulnerable by his sense of loss, mourning his beloved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and pained by having to watch from afar as the love of his life, MJ ( Zendaya ), and his geeky best friend Ned Leeds ( Jacob Batalon ) carry on with their lives with no memory of him.
Peter obsessively rehearses the reunion speech he has written for MJ — "We used to know each other. We were together." — going on to explain that the only way to stop something terrible from happening was to make everyone forget. But rekindling the spark proves complicated, even as he slowly reintroduces himself into MJ and Ned's lives, soon after they graduate from MIT and move back to NYC.
In his bleakest moments, Peter tries to reconcile his loneliness with his self-diagnosed new responsibility: "To live alone with the truth." But his mental anguish is upsetting the balance of his cross-species DNA, first with paralyzing headaches and gradually with an internal battle as his arachnid side starts overpowering his human side. That also plays havoc with his control over his web-shooting capabilities, both the old-school organic method and the tech version built for him by Tony Stark.
While separated from his inner circle, Spider-Man has been busy reducing crime to a record low, earning much appreciation from Det. DeWolff ( The Bear 's Liza Colón-Zayas , nice to see you), with whom he maintains a bantering phone friendship. But he comes up against a greater challenge when he responds to a crime alert about a hijacked tank careening through the city, headed for the Damage Control Headquarters.
That high-speed, major-destruction chase is one of several supercharged set-pieces impressively executed by Cretton, DP Brett Pawlak and an ace stunt team. The tank's arrival coincides with the transfer to maximum-security lockup of the mutant criminal known as Scorpion (Michael Mando), last seen wielding his armored tail in Spider-Man: Homecoming . Or is the Scorpion just a red herring, under the spell of a darker force?
That encounter gives Spider-Man a taste of the mind-control phenomenon that will be the action's principal driver — described as something closer to "possession" by a savvy insider who makes teasing mention of the erotic gay fanfiction Spidey has inspired. (Maybe Sony should market that to broaden their audience?) While at Damage Control, Spidey meets the center's director, Bill Metzger ( Tramell Tillman , coolly composed and authoritative), who reveals that they are studying captured villains and their weaponry, with t...
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