#TAPReviews | “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Movie Review

Can we talk about how shitty Spider-Man movie titles have been under Marvel?

Marvel Studios has finally reached the stage where the state of the universe has lived up to the self-fulfilling prophesied words of the degenerative era: implosions, fracturing like timelines with sound and light dying in darkness.

A depressed Spider-Man is seemingly a fan favourite from the days of classic Spider-Man comic narrative arc. Marry that facing unsurmountable opposition from a ruthless cunning enemy is in theory a potential gold mine. So with the Spider-Man franchise under the Marvel/Sony banner, back again with yet another instalment in the Spider-Man/Tom Holland franchise, continuing to sport the most generic title-after-colons in the game, does Brand New Day offer anything brand new? Albeit worth seeing?

⚠️ So, you know, Spoilers and all that from here on out ⚠️

The world is a truly relentless place when you’re your entire existence exists around research tinkering with your tech and being the greatest superhero in the world. And while the Marvel Cinematic Universe had the extinction level event known as the blip wipe out half of all living souls from the universe, Peter Parker experienced a mini-blip himself. The ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home saw many—you guessed it—universes colliding which for some reason needed to stopped by wiping everyone’s memory of Peter Parker, including from his friends. The fact Doctor Strange is not the enemy of all timelines is actually infuriating.

alone in a big city dealing with all the low-level to geared up freaks (the Punisher is included in this unique categorisation) Spider-Man comes face to face with a be threat. One that wears the bodies of civilians like cheap Zara clothing to be used and discarded at will. Possession? Mind control?

All of which may have been a slightly above average day at the office if Peter was not dealing with suppressed emotion and an awakening of his spider mutant DNA with some instinctually dark outcomes. Ultimately it is a game of balances and control on all fronts.

Back in the Neighbourhood

The fact this feels like a first for MCU’s Spider-Man. A grounded story. Literally. No outerspace. A steel and concrete cityscape as his sandbox. The classic, tech-toned down red and blue suit. And whilst we are never suggesting that Spidey should remain relegated to the confines betwixt Manhattan and the Bronx, the first time we ever saw Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in any memorable action piece was a flat green screen environment at a local airport. There seems to be an introduction problem over at Marvel Studios. Which has been getting irksome as the quilting characters and storylines expand and thin. To the point Brand New Day feels it really should have been kin to Spidey’s introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not on the tail end of a movie franchise run.

And this speaks also to another introduction that Spider-Man: Brand New Day has introduced as a paved path for a certain character class and the heroes that exist under it.

New York, New York

Spider-Man? In New York? I know, wild. The fact we have finally seen the MCU return to the roots of Spider-Man’s penultimate playground is a nostalgic heartwarmer for sure. Cities are like characters. The have a presence that is felt. The people, the buildings. Restoring your belief in humanity. Equally obliterating it. And Spider-Man is at home. Cleaning up the streets, talking with lieutenant on a first name basis, well, her first name.

Great interactions with the people of the city. Quips before going superhero mode. Classic Spidey. An authenticity, nostalgia and groundedness that is much needed for Marvel’s most beloved character. This is mirrored in the environment. By presenting the familiar, the oddities and the malfeasance present boldly and with more impact when juxtaposed.

We’re not seeing we don’t want to see Spidey in space. Or Italy. Because those places are in ruin and racist. But there are some formulas that need to be respected before exploring the changing of variables.

X-Men in the MCU

After much online debate as to who else actor Sadie Sink as a redhead could be playing, many thought she was some replacement or otherworld Mary Jane. Alas, it ’twas not but another redhead that was equally as contentious… maybe that is a strong word. Jean Grey has officially entered the MCU, and she has ultimately been heralded as the harbinger of all that is to come… X-Men and mutantkind. Other than somehow tying this back to the Blip event (they might have had already in Brand New Day, I just might have forgotten).

Marvel has a bad habit of premature, non-eventful teasing of things highly likely on the way to come. Jean Grey’s presence is kept as a secret until the late part of the second act. Before that, her powers present as possession, a “psionic push” to control the minds and bodies within a certain radius of her presence. A deliberate misleading motif to keep us thinking a physical but unseen entity was the source of random citizens. And the ultimate goal of Jean Grey is using whomever she can control as pawns to infiltrate the Department of Damage Control–an institution that has been amassing tech and personnel that could neutralise many a superhuman-powered threat… vigilantes included.

Everyone’s mind easily succumbed to Jean’s takeover, save for Spider-Man, as unique mutant genealogy offered him the ability to repel her taking over. However not enough to stop her infiltration. And all his secrets are know to the redhead firewall buster, and the non-redhead MJ gets used as bait.

This is where things get slightly weird. I’ve seen a lot of hysteria over consent and people making jokes about leaving MJ on the roof the moment Peter spills his heart and MJ not returning the sentiment. See in this current reality, she has no idea who he is. And I have equally seen responses of he’s not owed anything, or that he has no right to feel hurt, talks about consent… not about Jean Gray mind fucking MJ, but Peter kissing a MJ he did not know was possessed. All very bizarre think pieces in response to exaggerated memes and story.

Yet no one even considers to go on a diatribe about what is essentially Jean Grey’s mind, will and body r*pe. Something she learnt from her older sister. Or the fact she inhabits MJ to f*ck with Peter, and ends up throwing herself (as MJ) off the roof for him to save. Not even as a means to get away or to buy time or anything. Just for kicks. And this person–in Marvel, Spider-Man and fans’ eyes–deserves redemption? Miss me with that.

Sadie Sink’s casting does however give some insight to Marvel’s X-Men plans. They are going very young. A mileage thing, surely. But also, youth is good when it comes to what is a new phenomenon in the MCU. That with the newly discovered Adamantium derived from the husk of the failed hatched godling from the events of The Eternals… it all feels new. How will they address mutant seniority like that of Professor X and Magneto has yet to be seen.

Flocked up beyond all recognition

I want to see the military/government contract that made its way to the writer’s room that proposed the co-signing of mass-surveillance and the big brother state as a good thing. Spider-Man: Brand New Day should actually take Captain America’s title of “Brave New World”, because this is egregious. Not to mention dangerous. But hey, Spider-Man loves spying on his neighbourhood to keep them safe. So why not Flock Cameras? Or Palantir? Or Satan?

This sadly comes as no surprise seeing how Sony and Marvel have whored out ever sellable real estate of the movie (which honestly feels like a Sony push), from BMW’s shitty product placements, to mobile phones and everything else. Much of the spirit of Spider-Man is all but saved by the integrity and equity of Spider-Man has amassed over the years alongside a more emotive, rooted sets and performances. Especially between Zendaya and Tom Holland.

Punish ’em

The Punisher for some reason gets brought to us in Brand New Day. A unnecessary addition. And this comes from me, a guy that loves Jon Bernthal and the Punisher. Well, the Punisher when he was done well in the Daredevil Season 2. Now all we get are grunts. No depth, nuance or anything else. And things look more scrupulous when Marvel has all the energy to make a standalone Punisher film that sought only to punish the fans, yet Blade slips through the cracks getting ungracefully cancelled. Alongside Marvel’s Wonder Man Disney Plus series. I’ll let you make the distinction why this is. I do feel, in part, there is a working relationship behind the scenes that wants to see Bernthal active in the MCU. Mirroring–to a lesser degree–the relationship Marvel Studios has with Robert Downey Jr. being brought back to the MCU as Dr. Doom.

And it takes a lot to make Bernthal’s Punisher feel like a third wheel, but alas this is what Marvel has achieved.

The greatest there was, now is

The Hulk entry into the story does not feel like a wildcard, thanks to the trailer. Yet his impact is actually felt more than Jean Grey’s. Namely because we had a return to what we know the Incredible Hulk to be. Outside of the mind control. And getting outclassed by Thanos in one-on-one combat. And looking eunuch version which was a mash up between Mark Ruffalo and the Jolly Green Giant. We saw the return of the best there is. The Frankstein’s monster kind. Slack jawed. Heavy browed. Jack Kirby-coded. Essentially Jean Grey hijacks the Hulk to break into the Department of Damage Control’s stronghold in search of the cryptic V-Max… something Jean Grey believes is the key to finding her kidnapped sister that she accuses the DDC of. And when she eventually loses control of the matcha Hulk, the OG Hulk takes control and honestly we missed him. See Spider-Man take on the Hulk, and even the HAND was a unique fight in decent enough set pieces. There was a physicality that made every landing and hit feel real and impactful.

The Punisher is not all useless. He does offer a peek into a future where Peter remains detached from everyone, consumed by the job and grief. The Hulk additionally gives insight to Peter’s mutation, a sounding board for Peter Parker to bounce his idea off of. The idea? A very suspicious RNA/cellular editing tech to edit the good genes from the monster growing inside him. Pfizer has entered the Sony producer chat.

And in this sense the Hulk and–to a slightly lesser extent–the Punisher are not useless props like Iron Man was in the first movie Spider-Man: Homecoming. I’m being mean; let me vent.

Speaking of vents…

VillainMAXxing

We see the expenontial growth of both Jean’s and Peter’s mutant ability through high physical and emotional stress. This as a trigger for bring on the next evolution of human evolution feels an old tale. And for Jean to search for her sister, being led by the cryptic search for V-Max, takes a ugly, melancholic turn.

The V-Max was the word psionically pushed by Jean Grey’s sister, a telepathic message sent as clear as day all the way from locations unknown. When Jean Grey is captured by Department of Damage Control, thanks to a misplaced trust from Spider-Man, they group takes Jean Grey to the same clandestine site where they had her sister–Sara Grey. And using a series of geometric pattern mapped to violently trigger her telepathic, mind control ‘jumps’. Repeatedly. And it was in her exhaustion Jean’s head flung back in her restraints and chair, that we see a vent. On the vent, a sticker that flickers with the flow of air. The brand spells out VentMax, only for part of the sticker blowing ends up covering the ‘ent’. This is the last thing her sister saw. That telepathic push wasn’t a coded message for help. It was the death throes of Sara’s synapses firing off. Searching a dying mind for anything it could use for survival, anything to focus on. The modern day Rosebud.

This would have been more heartfelt if Jean Grey’s first appearance in the MCU was not indubitably evil. But we don’t get a sense of an actual turn that could see a troubled, extremely powered woman fall from humanity and grace. We get someone who’d through MJ off the building, like actually do it, not threaten. For someone who can read people’s thoughts she sure lacks empathy and judgement. In any case, Jean Grey feels way too villain coded this early in the MCU.

Spider-Man can’t escape the Marvel character tapestry. Or being used as a springboard for potential future of other MCU characters and storylines. However, this is the most rooted Spider-Man film we have gotten from the MCU and Sony endeavours. Even with the shitty BMW product placements (hell, Across the Spider-Verse did it better)–Zendaya and Tom’s acting as well as solid fight choreography helped to do some heavy lifting. The imitating of classic cover art was cool. Fan service. Once or twice would’ve been fine. But excess is the Hollywood default I guess.

And with a cheap post-credit, it seems like Marvel could not wait to throw Spider-Man back into space, or at least hint at some convergence event of a new Spider-Man entering the arena… who knows what the future will hold for MCU’s Spider-Man. Albeit, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.

And can we kill off the post-credit scenes. Show me something truly memorable, or nothing at all.

Marvel did a decent job with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. At least two movies too late, though. Nevertheless, it triggered a blip of fun in the current MCU. To the point where this film is the first time Marvel has exuded any form of cohesiveness in thought and story since… well, maybe Wonder Man. Hopefully a good sign of things to come?

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