It’s been a long time coming, but the MCU finally gives Tom Holland a story worthy of his brilliant portrayal writes Carter Smith
Spider-Man has been many things since he first swung on a web in Stan Lee’s comic in 1962. Each iteration may bring a new set of challenges, a new face, a different gender or a different race, but there are three principles which remain true – his quips, his help towards saving the neighbourhood and that with great power comes great responsibility.
I think it’s fair to say – and I’m sure Tom Holland would agree – that the MCU’s version of the web-slinger has struggled to capture these qualities.
The home trilogy wasn’t bad by any means, but his ties to Iron Man’s heavy tech – less said about the Iron Spider suit the better – have made this newest version feel like the only resemblance it holds to the character is the name and the suit.
No longer is he the kid from Queens trying to save his fellow New Yorker, but an Avenger travelling to different planets to save the world.
It’s been fun and necessary to the progression of the MCU, but it’s not the reason we all fell in love with the web-slinger.
Spider-Man: No Way Home ending signified a fresh start for the web-head to get back to his grounded ways. The world has forgotten Peter Parker. No more coddling from the Avengers, no more friends, just a Spider-Man with the exact two qualities we can all get behind – broke and alone.
So does Spider-Man: Brand New Day deliver on such a promising ending?
It does in ways Spider-Man fans could have only dreamed of. Pure Cinema.
Admittedly, going off the trailers and seeing a raging Hulk – finally –, the Punisher, and the Hand doesn’t exactly scream grounded superhero story, but it is the most contained Spider-Man has felt in a while.
After a slick montage, we land four years on from Dr Strange’s spell. Peter Parker is a name which barely holds any significance for himself. Spider-Man is all he has and all he is. New York is all the better for it, but Peter’s mind is far from sane.
Complications to the arachnid DNA inside and a dangerous new threat on the horizon put him in a position I honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to resolve.
Compelling stuff, and it’s all thanks to Holland himself. In several interviews leading up to this mammoth release, he spoke about how he delved deep into internet fandoms – poor soul – to get a real sense of what fans would have wanted.
It was promising to hear, but it does leave you with the slight worry that it is going to be 145 minutes of fan service and key jingling. Seeing the Avengers: Doomsday trailer before definitely didn’t help the matter.
Luckily for us, this isn’t made by the Russos. If there is any way to do fan service right, it’s like this. Comic panels come to life, Spider-Man is alone and cracking jokes, there is not a single mention of Tony Stark, and he is utterly depressed.
That’s my Spider-Man.
Holland realising he has Marvel and Sony by the balls as their only guaranteed one billion pound man was an absolute godsend. He holds the cards. I’m sure Sony would have loved to somehow tie in their horrendous collection of villain movies, but they are kept far away.
Added bonus is that Holland truly cares about the source material, so we finally get an outing which feels like Spider-Man. A big thanks to Christopher Nolan for teaching him what a movie set is actually like; you can see the impact it has on this film’s visuals.
The improved visuals aren’t just the sum of a few months on set of The Odyssey, but an important change in the director’s chair. Jon Watts’s isn’t necessarily bad, but in terms of studio directors, he is more Shaun Levy than Ryan Coogler.
Destin Daniel Cretton, however, is much more of an inspiring choice. What Watts lacked, Cretton more than makes up for this time around. The way he places the camera in Spider-Man’s mask and closer to him makes you feel a lot more immersed in the scenes.
For any ball knowers who watched and loved Shang-Chi, they would have known the potential of having Cretton sit down in the chair. Seeing his take on fight sequences with Holland’s athletic ability is just a delight. Please keep him on for any future Spider-Man films, please and thank you x.
Some of the old guard did return, however. Zendaya as MJ and Jacob Batalon as best friend Ned are back along with a few others from the original cast – even Scorpion! The Homecoming post-credit scene has been fulfilled — and all effortlessly continue where they left off.
I’m hard-pressed to find anything negative to say really. I had tempered expectations going in, but this is exactly, to me at least, what a Spider-Man movie should embody – tough choices, great dialogue and some excellent web shooting action.
The future is finally bright again. Just get him working in the Daily Bugle next time, and you have perfected it.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day: is still in cinemas
