Marvel Studios may have hit a rough patch following the box office conquering high of Avengers: Endgame, but the undeniable bright spot of the shaky Multiverse Saga has been Tom Holland's Spider-Man. After 2021's No Way Home – a post-Endgame victory lap featuring all three big-screen Spideys – Spider-Man: Brand New Day is something of a creative refresh. Divisive director Jon Watts is out, Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is in after an aborted Avengers movie. And while there's much that feels familiar here, alongside some frustrating wheel-spinning as far as the MCU's big picture is concerned, Brand New Day is a home run, and Marvel Studios' strongest standalone outing since Endgame.
Picking up some four years after the events of No Way Home, which ended with Doctor Strange casting a spell that caused the world to forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man, including love of his life MJ (Zendaya) and geeky BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon), Brand New Day takes Spidey back to web-slinging basics. Pete may be keeping the streets safe by taking down colourful costumed villains, but he's the loneliest boy in New York, longing for a reunion with MJ and Ned, and privately mourning the death of Aunt May.
