The best advertising Spider-Man: Brand New Day got this summer came from an article about a different movie. In a June 2026 GQ interview, Tom Holland explained that his experience making Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey led him to insist that everyone working on the film needed to know “why we are making this movie beyond the fact that it’s Spider-Man 4 and they make loads of money.” It’s an approach that served as a promise, explaining why Brand New Day is a remarkably coherent, often joyful film, dedicated to giving the character some growth and grace.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and penned by returning Spider-Man writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, the title of Holland’s fourth stand-alone Spidey movie implies a stand-alone adventure. However, it primarily functions as a direct sequel to No Way Home. The 2021 movie, which famously brought together multiple universes, ended with a reality-changing spell that saved those universes from collapsing but erased the existence of Peter Parker from everyone’s memory. (It felt worth recapping that bit, gentle reader, in case your own memory needed jogging.)
The spell means that people remember being saved by Spider-Man, but those who were closest to Peter, especially his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and dream girl MJ (Zendaya), have forgotten his secret identity and their shared history. That, plus the death of beloved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) means Peter Parker’s truly alone in the world — and compensating for that by dedicating his whole existence to Spider-Man-ing.
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Four years go by like this, with Spider-Man doing some real good for New York City’s crime rate and even establishing a solid rapport with the police. As I was rewatching previous Spider-Man movies for our new ranking of the franchise, I was struck by how some of my favorite sequences didn’t have much to do with the main plot, but instead focused on Spider-Man dealing with a C-tier foe on a rampage or saving some people from eminent danger — our friendly neighborhood hero, making the world a better place in small ways. This energy permeates the film’s opening, a real celebration of how much delight is found in Spider-Man saving the day for the little guy.
This montage through time goes by pretty fast, but does spotlight key details that pinpoint the impact of isolation on Peter. Because, as every workaholic sadly realizes at some point, late hours aren’t enough to distract a person from loneliness. A detective played by The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas becomes his closest confidante, though, and over the years, he’s also apparently built up a begrudging bond with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), aka The Punisher.
Frank’s extended presence in this movie, along with a number of other confirmed and unconfirmed appearances by pre-established characters, is one of the highlights. In general, the increased integration of Spider-Man with the rest of the MCU continues to pay dividends: In the comics, these sorts of crossovers aren’t uncommon, especially given that they don’t require the physical presence of an actor, and help make the various books feel like they all take place in the same universe. The MCU always thrives when it can capture that same vibe, and seeing a Spider-Man movie fully embrace it like this creates so many charming moments.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Sony)
It’s not possible to dig into the main arc of the plot without revealing major spoilers, though there are some beats that feel pretty predictable even despite Marvel’s efforts at secrecy. One thing that’s been front and center in the trailers: A key thrust of the narrative is Peter facing issues with his powers, thanks to the arachnid DNA in his system getting out of whack. This includes increased sensory awareness and the emergence of organic web shooters on his wrists — the latter leading to one of many callbacks to No Way Home (specifically the reminder that “Peter 2,” Tobey Maguire’s version of the character, also had that ability).
One obstacle superhero movies can face is that superheroes aren’t often active protagonists with distinct goals. Instead, they’re reacting to the nefarious plots of supervillains. Peter’s determination to fix his issues with his powers helps the dynamic avoid that trap, while also drawing him to characters like Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) for advice — more of that crossover magic in action.
Peter’s newfound powers issues have another fresh consequence on the film: Of all the Spider-Man films, Brand New Day is the most invested yet in the biological… uniqueness of spiders. (Using the word “weirdness” somehow feels rude to spiders, even after watching a video of the molting process.) For the record, the cruelest tease of this movie? Featuring the voice of Keith David heavily in those trailers, hinting at a larger role for the accomplished actor. The sad truth is that David only plays the narrator of nature videos Peter is watching as research. It’s quite disappointing.
At least the rest of the cast is used well, fittingly when you consider how stacked it is with accomplished Emmy winners. There’s the aforementioned Colón-Zayas, Zendaya’s won multiple times for HBO’s Euphoria, and Tramell Tillman also won an award of his own for Severance. Ruffalo has two statues of his own at home, and Bernthal is a Walking Dead alum in addition to The Punisher series and his own Bear appearances. Bernthal might be the cast highlight: It’s pure pleasure to watch Frank and Peter yell at each other over what may or may not have happened on Staten Island that one time.
The prestige TV darlings don’t stop there: There’s also Better Call Saul star Michael Mando getting to really embrace the role of Scorpion since his original casting in Spider-Man: Homecoming. And Sadie Sink, of course, was first discovered on Stranger Things. Her unspecified-at-time-of-writing-but-probably-already-spoiled-on-Reddit role has been kept under wraps all this time; the one spoiler-free thing I can say now about her character is that she has bangs, which does help distinguish her visually from the character of Max.
There’s also Holland himself, well past his babyface era as he draws out Peter’s exhaustion with the world. Though as much as Peter might be feeling the weight of a young life already filled with too much sadness, there are still echoes of his original teenage pluck. Brand New Day doesn’t aim for galaxy-saving drama; it instead explores what, exactly, keeps Spider-Man swinging — and it’s a better movie for it.
Cretton and the VFX team execute some incredible aerial journeys through New York City, sometimes moving so fast it’s scary. As high as Spidey might soar, though, he remains the most human and humble of superheroes. And that, Brand New Day confirms, is where his real power comes from.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in theaters on July 31st, 2026. Check out the latest trailer below.
