Films at their best: Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Hello, and welcome back to my blog series. 

This week we will be reviewing the highly anticipated fourth instalment of Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

WARNING - Spoilers

Plot 

Following the third movie, after Dr Strange cast a spell to make the world forget Peter Parker's identity, Peter is now left with no one, not even his girlfriend, MJ, and best friend, Ned. With the hope of reintroducing himself in this movie, fast forward four years, and Peter is celebrated as a great hero across New York City. Whilst also earning the trust of a police detective called Jean DeWolff.

Peter stops Frank Castle from causing collateral damage to a truck which is headed for the Department of Damage Control (DODC) prison. After forcing the door open to the truck, Peter is faced with an elderly woman who is possessed by a telepath that body hops from person to person, but can't enter Peter's mind. He discovers that their facilities have been attacked by a person searching for "V-Max". Director of DODC, Bill Metzger, denied any knowledge of "V-Max".

Peter attends Ned's and MJ's housewarming party after the pair graduated from MIT together. However, he witnesses MJ kiss her new boyfriend, and has no choice but to leave. The next morning, he wakes up to heightened senses and organic webs on his wrists. Peter is later faced with fighting a possessed Gargan (Scorpion) and eventually loses control of his abilities, injuring a police officer in the process. Peter then visits college professor Bruce Banner and ends up making his own inhibitor. While testing it, the telepath finds Peter's apartment and ends up possessing MJ, which almost gets her killed. Peter learns that the person behind the telepath is Jean Grey.

MJ is moved to Castle's hideout for safety, and she helps Peter build his inhibitor and a universal one too. Jean attacks the DODC's headquarters, where she also possesses Banner, transforming him into the Hulk. Jean then possesses Frank to open a vault hiding the DODC agents. Peter then blocks Jean's powers with the universal inhibitor, and she is also tranquillised. She mentions the name "Sara" before she is knocked out.

MJ finds the letter Peter wrote with the intention of eventually reading to her and tells her that he loves her. She tells him she doesn't remember and turns down his feelings for her. She later invites him to her apartment, and Peter chats with her and Ned. Peter then finds out that Sara is Jean's sister, who was kidnapped by the DODC.

Metzger experiments on Jean, and while being strapped in a chair, she happens to look up and realise an air vent labelled as "V-Max". This was the last thing her sister communicated to her before she died. Jean then creates a psionic field that freezes a proportion of the city except for Peter. Peter stops her from killing Metzger and removes his inhibitor, letting her enter his mind. Jean is presented with the memory of Aunt May telling Peter she loves him. However, Frank takes a shot from his gun, injuring Peter, who shields Jean. He later wakes up in the hospital with a remorseful Frank, who says Jean kept Peter alive with her powers. Fast forward, and Peter meets Ned in a shop, reintroducing himself with their old handshake.

My Analysis

As a movie watcher who hasn't seen the majority of the Marvel movies, this is my favourite movie by far. Tom Holland really delivered his part as not only Peter Parker, but also Spider-Man.

The action scenes throughout the movie made my heart race on the big screen. They were beautifully filmed with a mixture of sound effects, music, timed shots and picturesque scenes.

My favourite moments across the movie were the visual sequences that recreated the iconic Spider-Man comic book covers. A classic touch to the movie and a memorable experience to witness. Furthermore, as soon as it reached the heightened moment when Peter discovered he had organic webs, the movie just got better and better.

A truly phenomenal movie to witness on the big screen!

Post-Credit Scene

At the very end, after the credits had finished rolling, there was a small scene of Ned's Spidey tracker. It beeped and beeped until it tracked Spider-Man away from the Earth and the Moon.

Box Office

The movie has grossed $1.689 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing Spider-Man movie and the highest-grossing film of 2026.