There’s a trick to making a great Spider-Man movie, and it’s simple: Don’t make a Spider-Man movie.
We don’t go to these movies to watch a costumed do-gooder do good anymore. We can see that anywhere. We go to these movies to see Peter Parker and/or Miles Morales. They aren’t indestructible quip machines. They’re highly destructible quip machines. They may fall off buildings without breaking a sweat, or a bone, but their hearts are fragile and they break all the time. We relate to the men behind Spider-Man’s mask. That’s what makes everything he does mean something, whether he’s wearing a costume or not.
If you make a great Peter Parker movie, or a great Miles Morales movie, then a great Spider-Man movie always follows. Sure enough, Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is a great Peter Parker movie. For the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s all alone and suffering in silence. Without friends and family he’s become a mostly functional workaholic, spending all his time saving New York City, and New York City loves Spider-Man for it. But nobody loves Peter Parker. His closest friend is the Punisher, for crying out loud, and even the Punisher thinks that’s pathetic.
“Brand New Day” picks up years after everyone on Earth forgot Peter Parker (Tom Holland) ever existed — still one of the most contrived plot points in a franchise that’s lousy with them. God only knows how he got himself an apartment and manages to pay for it, since he doesn’t have a day job. He also still cyberstalks his former best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and his former girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), but not in a creepy way. Well, not super creepy anyhow.
The plot kicks in after a mysterious telepathic supervillain targets Damage Control, a government organization that cleans up superhero and supervillain messes. This body-swapping baddie jumps from one rando’s mind into another, even into Spidey’s b-tier villain Scorpion (Michael Mando), in search of something called “V-Max.” It sounds like a MacGuffin, but in a marvelous twist on the Mighty Marvel formula, it’s not. I won’t say what it is, but it’s not a super-weapon or any other arbitrary nonsense. The story matters, and it works.
I wish I could say that much for the plot. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has a wonderful, propulsive quality. The tension and stakes and spectacle keep building in scale so you’re always swept up in the characters and the action. It’s only on the car ride home you realize the villain’s plan makes no sense, because with their powers they could easily achieve all their goals without attracting any attention to themselves. Even on a personal level their scheme falls apart, since after we learn their true motives their most heinous crimes make little sense.
But, and I say this from the bottom of my heart, screw the plot. Even the best movies have holes in them. How did Michael Myers learn to drive in “Halloween?” If Buzz Lightyear thinks he’s real, why does he pretend to be a toy when Andy’s around in “Toy Story?” Who gives a damn? It’s more important that we care about the characters and their journey — the “story” part of the story — than that every little cog in the narrative machine fits perfectly.
In the end, the villain’s story in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” means just as much as Peter Parker’s. They’re both lonely and not handling it well, and the way their stories tie together is touching. Even the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) is a miserable dude, living in a booby-trapped safe house, wolfing down chili and feeling sorry for himself. “Brand New Day” never reckons with the fact that the Punisher is a murderer, and as such, he’s kind of a strange buddy for Spider-Man to have in any context. Then again, almost every superhero in the MCU has killed someone in the name of so-called justice and nobody complains that they’re still running around scot-free. Why should we treat Frank Castle any differently?
Besides, Jon Bernthal is a perfect foil for Tom Holland. His Punisher is a bitter, middle-aged a-hole who treats Spider-Man like his very own Dennis the Menace. Sure, he’s a nice kid, but God is he annoying. These two are comedy gold, and somehow that dynamic doesn’t sully the Punisher’s reputation as a darker, more wounded character. Of course he seems cuddlier when he’s in the same room as Spider-Man. Who wouldn’t? Spider-Man is the Muppet of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He could soften Galactus’ image just by standing on his shoulder and waving.
Zendaya and Jacob Batalon have less to do than usual in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” but Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers wrote a clever script and they find novel ways to bring MJ and Ned back into Peter’s story without undoing the ending of “No Way Home.” Surprising nobody, Zendaya steals a lot of “Brand New Day,” spinning gold out of bizarre character beats that could only exist in this film’s context. The whole ensemble is on fire, including Sadie Sink, playing a character whose identity is supposed to be a secret. We’ll play along until the movie actually comes out, but let’s just say it’s not a shocker.
“Brand New Day” is a fantastic film about Peter Parker and his ongoing, often disastrous attempts to be a good person, no matter how much it hurts him personally. It’s even a fantastic movie about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which other superheroes and supervillains show up, contribute to the story and meaningfully relate to its themes, but never outstay their welcome or hog the spotlight. We don’t get many great MCU movies anymore. That this is one of the highlights of the whole franchise feels amazing. And spectacular. And sensational.