Marvel, Sony, can you please just give Spider-Man a break in Brand New Day? That is all that I am asking for in this next film!
Five years ago, Marvel fans were absolutely blown away by Spider-Man’s best MCU outing to date, Spider-Man: No Way Home. It brought the universes of the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Men firmly into the greater multiverse of the MCU, with its heroes and villains reprising the roles we grew up seeing. As you might recall, though, I was not a fan of how Spidey got the short end of the stick. Not only did he lose his Aunt May, but to save the universe, he had to have everyone forget Peter Parker ever existed. It felt so unfair, even by the standards of the character’s own bad luck. Five years have passed since we lost saw MCU Spidey, and while we know he’s coming back for the Avengers films, we still wanted to see how he’s doing. But now, less than three months before it premieres in theaters, we finally have our first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
How is it? It’s good, but I have a few concerns.
It’s been four years since Peter Parker had Dr. Strange make everyone forget he existed, and they haven’t been very kind to him. As the trailer shows, he’s managed to silence his haters enough to be seen for the hero he is, even getting the key to the city. But despite being seen as a hero, he’s miserable without his friends or Aunt May. Despite deciding to distance himself from MJ and Ned for their own safety, he can’t help but want them back in his life, with the trailer giving us moments where he’s trying desperately to reintroduce himself. And it gets worse when the lajr graduate from MIT and move right across from his apartment. And then he sees Flash Thompson FLIRTING WITH MJ right in front of him!!
This is exactly what I’m talking about when I said I hated what happened to MCU Peter. He lost five years of his life, his mentor and hero, his reputation got ruined by a lunatic, and then he lost his Aunt May and had to make the entire world forget he existed to save it. I know how they say misery builds character, but for goodness sake, this is too much! He might be a superhero, but he’s still a human being, and there’s only so much misery a person can take before they break! And evidently, the events of Brand New Day are where Peter hits his limits.
Is Spider-Man Losing his Humanity?
It’s not made entirely clear what’s happening to him, but it seems that the stress of everything he’s going through is causing his DNA to mutate. As a result, his powers are starting to go out of control. His senses are sharper than ever, and he’s now able to make organic webbing like his Tobey Maguire variant. But with even greater power comes greater risk to his well-being, and it seems like part of the movie’s plot will be trying to figure out a way to get his powers under control. My best guess is that that means that he’s going to have to either try and bring his friends back into his life or choose to move on. He can’t keep torturing himself like this about MJ.
As a quick aside, though, I think one of the big highlights of this trailer for me was seeing how Tom Holland and Zendaya interact onscreen. Since they last played Peter and MJ, the two started dating, and now they’re apparently married. It’s one of those crazy love stories that Hollywood loves, and considering how these films were how they met, I’m curious to see how they will handle their characters relationship. I want them to both be happy in real life, so I wish them all the best and that their relationship doesn’t end badly, but it would be cool to see Peter and MJ reunite.
MJ and Ned aren’t the only characters that are making their returns. As shown in the trailer, Mark Ruffalo is back once again as Bruce Banner. This time, though, he’s not in his Hulk form. This has led some to speculate that he and the Hulk split again, as that tends to happen a lot in the comics. They are two different personalities sharing the same body, after all. Even crazier is that Jon Bernthal is reprising his role as the Punisher in an apparent team-up with Spider-Man. The two have been allies and enemies in a lot of incarnations due to Frank’s willingness to kill, so this team-up is something fans have been looking forward to. Even better is that we’re going to see Scorpion get his famous suit, and there are rumors that Daredevil and the Kingpin might have a role to play.
Please Make Things Right for Spidey!
I have been a fan of what the MCU has done with Spider-Man over the last ten years. I have loved seeing Spidey help save the universe. But at the end of the day, Spider-Man is at home on the streets. That’s why he’s the face of Marvel. So despite my misgivings, I’m still looking forward to seeing Brand New Day. There’s no telling how long Tom will be able to keep playing Spider-Man, so I want to enjoy it while it lasts. And the fact that the trailer gave us a shot remaking the cover for the comic that Spider-Man debuted in is enough to get me interested!
