What You Should Know About Spider-Man: Brand New Day

 Def Rec: Non-Spoiler Review of the newest Spider-Man Movie

Should you watch Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)? It’s not a question of whether or not I definitely recommend that you watch the latest Tom Holland-starring Spidey flick - it’s not even an issue of when you ought to see it. Most people are rushing to the theaters to see it or seeking any alternative means to do so. Let’s be honest, this is a Marvel movie that actually feels like it matters (for a change, in my opinion), so there is a serious sense of urgency. In addition to simply being excited about this new MCU adventure, eager fans are also wanting to avoid online spoilers. In order to escape crucial plot details, you would have to go completely dark, which the vast majority of folks aren’t willing to do. It’s sad, but this is the world we live in. Yet there are those among us who are either legitimately willing to hold out for streaming or just can’t go to the cinema for whatever reason. Regardless of when or where it is consumed, nearly every human on the planet will watch the newest Spider-Man franchise entry. So, what am I recommending? I absolutely suggest you lower your expectations. Maybe I should rename this podcast/blog “AbSug.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re seated in the theater or on your couch at home - or viewing on your phone while riding the bus - you’d be wise to not expect anything as grandiose as No Way Home (2021) or the other two blockbusters preceding it. Since I’m assuming anyone looking at this will also be seeing this comic book motion picture adaptation, I will try not to spoil anything. What I will say is that the original “Home” trilogy feels like they are movies. Brand New Day, contrastly, plays out like a Disney Plus miniseries. Sure, there are the, ahem, brand names of famous actors and big budget sets and CGI effects. But story-wise, this yarn spun by director Destin Daniel Cretton comes across as an episodic tale strung together with sticky, organic fluid.

A follow-up to a monumental third film is a tough challenge. I appreciate the approach of not really trying to match the huge scale of the multiversal mayhem and instead focus on the core issues surrounding Peter Parker. However, there is no getting around Part 4 Problems. In television, it’s Fourth Season Syndrome. Typically, years-spanning series reach a solid climactic or thrilling peak in their third act. It could be a set of individual episodes, issues, chapters, volumes, etc., but a show or film usually has an initial trilogy structure. Or it just happens to be that the storytellers reach their stride and have found their footing by this point, resulting in an excellent entertainment experience. Similarly to other entities that began their runs as teen dramas, Spider-Man has graduated from high school and in this fourth tale, the Wallcrawler finds himself in the college years. It’s often the case when a popular program about teen angst enters proper young adulthood - the fun kind of dies. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003) did not go the time jump route and instead marched right into the post-high school storylines. The tonal shift was jarring as the main premise of these series no longer existed. Peter Parker faces this new, more boring journey as a grownup and he is discovering that the whole great responsibility thing is super-stressful - and tedious. Perhaps the idea was to have our Friendly Neighborhood cast of pals to enter a St. Elmo’s Fire-situation of twenty-somethings navigating through the real world. As impressive as it is to finally see a live action Spider-Man get a fourth movie (or, I guess, technically a third sequel), the fact remains that this is indeed the fourth part, and a decidedly toned down one at that. It is certainly not a bad thing to see characters grow in as natural of a way they can while still living in a highly stylized world, but with the ability to legally vote comes the accountability of paying the bills. Peter should be allowed to evolve (or die), but the salad days are dunzo, and now we have middling meat.

The cameos and crossovers itch still gets scratched in case you were wondering. A key component to the plot left me scratching my head, though. The presence of one particular character and their significance to Spider-Man specifically confused me. And this familiar person gets a nice chunk of screentime to explain their backstory. So much so that the film flirted with the idea of this being a bait-and-switch where we find out that despite the title, we’re shown who the creators really think the story is about. There is still plenty of the Web-Head to go around and there is a satisfying fallout to the memory-erasing spell from the previous movie. I’d say there was enough, sure, but considering how much focus other supporting cast members got and what the end product was, I would’ve liked even more of a spotlight on the likes of Ned and co. I understand that the central antagonist(s) need explaining but after it was all said and done, I didn’t think sacrificing scenes involving Spidey’s amazing friends was worth it.

Usually, I’ll “def rec” something but in this case, there’s no need. If you have even an inkling of interest in Marvel or everyone’s favorite Webslinger, you’ll see Brand New Day one way or another. So, see the movie, of course, and let me know if you agree that this is the worst Tom Holland Spider-Man movie (so far). I’m not counting performances and appearances in other Avengers-adjacent offerings, just the solo films. And I’m not even saying Brand New Day was bad. But out of the four films, it ranks fourth place. The franchise will go on to have one more day, and whatever other way they can incorporate “day” in the name. If this latest one is how it’s going to be from now on, I think we’ll get some very long slow days ahead.

Def Rec Podcast available now in all its video glory!

Books by Jon McBrine

The Eric Icarus Series

Unable to hide his flying abilities, a shy high school student’s plan to hide in plain sight as just another superhero backfires after an attack leaves him as the only hope to stop a diabolical villain.

Recruited by tech mogul Baron Maddox, Eric Boxworth becomes Eric Icarus, a maskless member of the Super Society, tech-based defenders of New St. Cloud City. Eric’s miraculous, natural flight power is disguised by a decoy anti-gravity backpack to avoid getting dissected in a lab. Eric and his bubbly, good-natured classmate Jaycee - the armored hero Powerhouse - must stop a madman from creating an empire built on stolen powers. Fans of young superheroes, found family tropes, and high-stakes action will love this YA sci-fi adventure series.

Available at Amazon here

Available at Amazon here

Available at Amazon here

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