Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) Columbia/Action-Adventure RT: 145 minutes Rated PG-13 (sequences of action/violence, language) Director: Destin Daniel Cretton Screenplay: Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers Music: Michael Giacchino Cinematography: Brett Pawlak Release date: July 31, 2026 (US) Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman, Marisa Tomei, Mark Ruffalo, Liza-Colon Zayas, Michael Mando, Zabryna Guevara, Marvin Jones III, Eman Esfandi, Olivia Booth-Ford, Naomi Watts (voice), Keith David (voice).
Rating: *** ½
It looks like the MCU is finally getting back on its feet after several lackluster entries (e.g. Eternals, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels and Captain America: Brave New World). It started with last year’s retro-tipped The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It continues with Spider-Man: Brand New Day which, as per the title, marks a fresh start for the webslinger also known as Peter Parker. It has a few minor kinks, but it’s a mostly well-oiled superhero actioner with a generous helping of emotional content.
Tom Holland, fresh off the box office behemoth The Odyssey, returns as the title character. As I’m sure you may recall, he made the supreme sacrifice at the end of No Way Home in allowing Doctor Strange to cast a spell to erase the memory of Peter Parker from the world including best friend Ned (Batalon, Novocaine) and girlfriend MJ (Zendaya, The Drama). Since then, Spider-Man has been anonymously keeping the people of NYC safe as Spider-Man while watching his former friends live their lives via Ned’s TikTok videos. He’s all alone and thinks it’s better that way.
There’s a new villain in town and only Spidey can sense their presence. This particular villain has the ability to jump from body to body, inhabiting it until it’s time to switch hosts. It’s the perfect way to evade capture. He first becomes aware of the new baddie in town after he tears up the streets trying to stop a rampaging tank. To be fair, he has some help from his sort-of ally Frank Castle aka The Punisher (his Odyssey co-star Bernthal). In any event, the villain is after something in the possession of government agency Department of Damage Control. Naturally, the top guy at DODC (Tillman, Severance) denies any knowledge of the new threat.
Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), taking over directorial duties from three-timer Jon Watts, adds an interesting layer of emotional depth to Spider-Man: Brand New Day with Peter denying his all-too human need to connect with others. He has nobody in his corner. It’s been weighing on him and it’s only getting tougher. In addition, he’s going through changes. He wakes up after a particularly trying night to find he has heightened senses and can now shoot webs from his wrists. It freaks him out. Obviously, he’s mutating, growing into his powers. HOWEVER, it’s also a metaphor for Peter transitioning into adulthood. He’s changing from an awkward teen to an awkward adult. This should resonate with kids going through puberty.
I can’t say much about the character played by Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) without dropping a major spoiler. I can say she serves as a reflection of what Peter’s going through. She has issues of her own. I can also say that she’s one of the best things in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. She effortlessly makes you understand her character. This girl is going places. That is all.
It would be impossible for any Spider-Man movie to top No Way Home. It’s good then that Cretton doesn’t even try to outdo it. Instead, he brings Spider-Man out of the multiverse and back to street-level crime fighting. Yes, he’s your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man once again (for now anyway). He deals with bank robberies and enhanced troublemakers like Scorpion (Mando, Better Call Saul) before facing the new threat. He even has an ally on the police force (Zayas, The Bear) who frequently voices concern about Spider-Man’s emotional well-being. Being on the job 24/7 has to take a toll.
Just because Spider-Man: Brand New Day isn’t a grand scale type of outing doesn’t mean that we won’t see a few familiar faces. I already mentioned Frank Castle/The Punisher. It’s odd seeing him in a PG-13 movie. The R-rated anti-hero has to tone it down a bit. Bruce Banner (Ruffalo, Poor Things) shows up to answer a few of Peter’s questions before certain circumstances force him to become Hulk. That’s all well and good, but I was most thrilled to see Yelena Belova/Black Widow (Pugh, Thunderbolts). She cracks me up. From her office in a Russian bath house, she advises Spider-Man about what he’s up against. She may only have a few minutes of screen time, but she commands the scenes she’s in.
Holland is really coming into his own as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He really makes you feel the loneliness and isolation of a superhero. Some of the best scenes are the ones where he interacts with MJ and Ned. I am Team Zendaya all the way! I love her take on MJ, a fearless and fiercely independent young woman with a sarcastic edge. She shows a level of vulnerability in dealing with her feelings about Peter. Batalon adds comic relief as he geeks out about Spider-Man. He even invents an app that reveals the webslinger’s location anywhere in the world. Oh and let’s not forget Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny) who shows up in flashback scenes as wise and still hot Aunt May.
The action scenes are well done, especially the climax featuring a battle with a team of red-clad ninjas (“The Hand”). The CGI effects are more than decent. The scenes of Spidey swinging through the streets and skies of NYC are still thrilling.
I had a lot of fun watching Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It doesn’t try too hard and I like that. It tells a great story with heart. In the end, it’s an enjoyable late summer superhero, an appetizer of sorts before the main course (i.e. Avengers: Doomsday) arrives on December 18.
P.S. Yes, there is a post-credits scene.
