Brand New Day is dedicated to the memory of Gerry Conway, a writer who joined Marvel at sixteen and is best known for creating sociopathic vigilante The Punisher (he acknowledged the unfortunate real world legacy of the character who makes an appearance in this film). Conway died earlier this year and it’s his confident run on The Amazing Spider-Man (August 1972 – October 1975) that feels like the biggest influence on this film. Taking over from Stan Lee as writer of the flagship title Conway produced stories that were mature and confident (it is genuinely shocking that he was only 19 at the time) and wrote some of the characters most defining stories. Like Conway’s run, Brand New Day shows a more mature Spider-Man grappling with the weight of his heroics and the consequences of his decisions.

For much of the film’s runtime he keeps on the iconic mask, explaining that it’s to maintain his secret identity but he seems to have no life outside of his web slinging. It’s a little baffling how Peter is able to maintain a Manhattan apartment seemingly without a job but these are the disbeliefs we must suspend in superhero films. The tone is noticeably darker in comparison to Tom Holland’s other outing as Spider-Man, he’s still the quippy underdog but his losses have taken their toll. This is a character grieving his aunt and friends who have had their knowledge of him erased from their lives, his prolonged isolation manifesting as a physical danger to him. Peter is unable to move on from his past, haunted by the friends who don’t recognise him and longing for their connection. It’s great then that the scenes in which he interacts with MJ and Ned have an effortless chemistry generating genuine tension when the film’s antagonist inevitably threatens their safety. 

The elephant in this review is the mysterious character, who I’m trying my best to ensure I give no clues towards. Sony and Marvel’s marketing for the film did its best to obscure the film’s major threat and speculation was rife. This character works well though and their motivations tie nicely into Parker’s narrative arc. Included in the trailers was Jon Bernthal’s Punisher whose lethal criminal solutions bristle against Spidey’s as the pair work together, Mark Rufallo’s Bruce Banner who assists in unraveling Parker’s mutations and further another familiar cameo who wasn’t revealed during the trailer so I’ll not spoil. At times it feels like a 70s Marvel Team-Up comic book with characters flitting in and out of the narrative when needed. Too much of the film feels like a franchise in transition though, whether that’s setting up Spider-Man’s next few films or Marvel's next cataclysmic event with Avengers: Doomsday (2026) which releases December this year.