Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is exactly the fresh start this franchise needed. Between the emotional storytelling, the spectacular action, and Tom Holland turning in his best performance yet, this easily ranks among the MCU’s finer superhero outings, even if the long runtime slows things down here and there.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Release: July 30, 2026
Language: English
Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo
Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes
After the gut punch of an ending in Spider-Man: No Way Home, plenty of fans were left wondering where Peter Parker’s story could go from here. The world has forgotten who he is, his closest friends no longer remember him, and he is basically starting from scratch. Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes that heartbreaking premise and turns it into one of the most personal stories the MCU has told in years.
Rather than diving straight into another multiverse adventure, director Destin Daniel Cretton keeps things grounded. Peter no longer has the people who once had his back and instead spends his time juggling college, rent, new friendships, and being New York’s friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. That smaller, more intimate approach gives the film an emotional weight that a lot of recent Marvel movies have been missing.
Tom Holland turns in easily his best work as Peter Parker here. This version feels older, wiser, and worn down by everything he has lost, and Holland captures that loneliness without ever tipping the character into hopelessness. His quieter moments land just as hard as the action beats, and it is another reminder of why he remains one of Marvel’s best casting decisions.
A lot of the film’s emotional pull comes from Peter’s relationships with MJ and Ned. Even though the events of No Way Home wiped their memories of him, their scenes together still carry real weight, mostly because the audience remembers everything they have forgotten. Fans might wish for a bit more time between the three of them, but every reunion the film does give us counts for something.
One of the bigger surprises here is Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. His rough edges play nicely against Peter’s optimism, and their scenes together mix humour, tension, and more emotional depth than you might expect. Instead of just tossing in another popular Marvel name for the sake of it, the film uses Frank to push back against Peter’s ideas about justice and responsibility.
Sadie Sink also makes a strong first impression in the MCU. Without giving anything away, she quickly turns into one of the film’s most memorable new additions. Her performance feels natural and confident, and it is easy to see why she has been getting so much praise. She brings a new dynamic to the story that could matter a lot for where Marvel goes next.
The action holds up its end too. Spider-Man swings through New York with a speed and freedom that feels closer to Sam Raimi’s original films than most recent MCU entries. Cretton stages every fight with real creativity, leaning on practical stunts and sharp choreography instead of just falling back on CGI. A few of these sequences rank among the best Spider-Man has ever looked on screen.
Visually, Brand New Day is one of the best-looking films Marvel Studios has put out in years. The daylight scenes, the detailed city locations, and the overall cinematography give New York real personality. The effects work is polished throughout, and Michael Giacchino’s score strikes a great balance between excitement, emotion, and heroism.
Credit is also due for stepping away from the endless multiverse plotting. Instead of trying to save the universe, Peter is focused on helping regular people and putting his own life back together, and that smaller scale makes it easier to reconnect with Spider-Man as a neighbourhood hero rather than just another piece of a bigger superhero puzzle.
That said, the film is not without its flaws. At two and a half hours, it does drag a bit more than it needs to. A few subplots get more attention than they deserve, while some supporting characters could have used more screen time. The villain’s motivation also gets a little muddled later on, which makes some of the plot developments land less convincingly than the emotional journey around Peter.
Even with those issues, the emotional storytelling stays consistently strong throughout. The screenplay handles loneliness, friendship, responsibility, and moving on after loss with more maturity than you might expect, letting Peter grow into a more independent and emotionally layered hero instead of retreading old ground.
What really makes Spider-Man: Brand New Day stand out is how confident it is telling a smaller story. It proves Spider-Man does not need a world-ending threat or a tangled multiverse plot to work. Sometimes watching Peter Parker just try to get through everyday life hits harder than watching him save the universe.
Related Article: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Budget & Cast Salary
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is one of the strongest Spider-Man films to date and easily ranks among Marvel’s best releases of the past few years. Tom Holland delivers his finest performance yet, the emotional beats feel earned, the action is thrilling, and the grounded approach gives the character new life after the massive events of No Way Home.
The long runtime and a few overstuffed subplots keep it from being perfect, but Brand New Day still delivers where it counts most, reminding audiences exactly why Spider-Man remains one of the world’s most beloved superheroes.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theatres.