marisa tomei

Spider-Man: Brand New Day truly feels like a new chapter for our favorite web-singer.
Tom Holland has always had an endearing humility and charisma that meshed well with Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter ego, Spider-Man. But Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his fourth solo outing as the superhero, gives him mature depth and a layered story about where true strength lies. Spider-Man: Brand New Day features more exhilarating web-swinging than Holland’s earlier outings, with the special effects and visual effects teams mimicking Spidey’s poses from various comics. Yet the film also feels more grounded, from the tactile appearance of his costume (noticing the outline of Holland’s features beneath the mask, for instance) to director Destin Daniel Cretton (Wonder Man) blocking shots that show off Spidey’s acrobatic fighting style as much as Holland’s emotional beats.

Like many others, I was suffering from superhero fatigue – which is why I’m intrigued by the head-spinning success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, scoring the highest grossing domestic box-office weekend ever. What makes this installment different is that it’s character-driven, as opposed to the hocus-pocus of other comic-book adaptations. If you recall at the conclusion of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) begged Doctor Strange to cast a spell that would cause everyone to forget that he is Spider-Man.