*deep breath* HulkkillsSpider-ManintheUltimatecomics! š«£ Yes, I donāt know much about the comics, but I do know that. And what if Sadie Sink is playing Gwen Stacy, with the option of bringing Spider-Gwen into this universe at some stage? Wouldnāt that be something ā Mary Jane is traditionally the red-head of the Spider-Man world, but since we didnāt get that, letās make Gwen Stacy a rusty! Remembering Max from Stranger Things, I think Sadie Sink could be an excellent Gwen Stacy š Ugh, Iāve fallen so far behind in the MCU. Iām not proud of it. I havenāt seen a movie since The Marvels. I planned on catching up on all the TV shows since the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special before Fantastic 4: First Steps, but that didnāt happen. I wouldnāt mind skipping this movie to one day catch up with the MCU in order; but the threat of spoilers is too great, and Spider-Man: No Way Home was the beeās knees. So here I am, for the Spider-Man of it all, and hoping not to have to muddle through the MCU connections due to my own tardiness.
This movie begins with a montage of Spider-Man rounding up a few various villains across his rogueās gallery. THATāS HOW I WANTED THE DARK KNIGHT RISES TO BEGIN! LIKE, EXACTLY! AS BATMAN FALLS DEEPER INTO HIS WORK! It wouldāve fit perfectly and remains one of the biggest cinematic letdowns of my life š Anyway, I donāt want to get too āback in my dayā with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but thereās a bit of āback in my dayā to be had. I shouldāve known Sadie Sink would be playing something outside the direct Spider-Man canon, because since Spider-Man: Homecoming, every time Iām keen for a Spider-Man movie, itās always been an MCU project first. Itās a bold strategist who suggested the next Spider-Man villain should whet the audience for X-Men, but here we are. I suppose my silly Gwen Stacy prediction is āsmall potatoesāš„And through the might of the MCU, itās surreal we have a playground where Spider-Man, Scorpion, Punisher, Hulk and Jean Grey all get to be together on the same screen. Itās truly surreal. But I, for one, made the mistake of being very okay with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on my very first viewing just because we were finally getting a live-action adaptation of the Gwen Stacy death, without really considering the movieās machinations of how we got there, and so Iām always cautious not to do that again. Sometimes these MCU movies can really feel like smashing figurines together, with an ever-watchful eye directing them towards future projects. Like, itās great to have Hulk back ā true Hulk ā but only so he can be incredible again in the next Avengers movie; the mid-movie fight here is pretty forgettable. I thought Banner (Mark Ruffalo) had permanently unified his forms in Avengers: Endgame; yet then was switching between peaceful forms in She-Hulk, for unknown reasons, and here, Banner is suppressing Hulk againā¦ Iām confused šµāš« This version of Bruce Banner works very well for this movie, but the different Marvel strands going in and out of all these movies are so distracting at times for the movie in focus.
And I think it was Author Jason K Pargin who I recently saw say that our eyes are becoming too good at telling CGI from sets, and itās disappointing because itās true. Thereās that shot in the trailer, of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) checking his phone on a rooftop, where everything is noticeably CGI except for Tom Hollandās face; and it adds to this notion that this world is rubbery, synthetic, not truly inhabitable. Something that I think may be glossed over too regularly about the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, is how beautiful they are ā the sunshine layering, as MJ comes out of her dingy job at the diner, or the leafy windswept burial in the graveyard. The world-building for the old Spider-Man movies feel truly livable, timeless, old-fashioned and new. Otherworldly, yet grounded. And look, this could be nostalgia speaking, or I could be onto something š§ Sometimes, films arenāt films anymore. Theyāre computerized matte paintings with people. The flatness and colouring of the picture, along with the soundtrack, are often criticized with these big bombastic productions, and I noticed it here.
More specifically, I had problems with the dialogue, multiple times, where it seemed that characters were making convenient leaps to fill in what needed to be said to further the story. Like, MJ volunteers to a complete stranger that her boyfriend thinks sheās āwithholdingā, just because the conversation needs to move to Peter and MJās romantic connections. Detective Jean DeWolff tells Peter he needs friends becauseā¦ we need to know Spider-Man works too hard, and DeWolff canāt have Spider-Man solving all the crimes š Even the fact that nobody knows who Jean Grey is until she decides to show her face, unnecessarily, and is fast and loose with her name and image thereafter. These are audience-orientated decisions, not congruent within the story, and the art in writing is to get from A to B while making it feel natural.
I would also question if the first part of this movie has a morality issue, and I would suggest that it does. Spider-Man talks about setting up a surveillance system to search for Scorpionās face and DeWolff says she will just pretend she didnāt hear that. Um, hello! That was the biggest moral dilemma of The Dark Knight; the lengths a person, or Batman, would have to go to stop a villain, or Joker, and that movie made a pretty clear point through Lucious Fox that this is wrong. In 2026, do we just accept illegal surveillance now? Even Frank Castle ā heās an anti-hero. I get that the movie wants to have Punisher and Spider-Man partner up, with some nice catharsis to be passed on from Frank to Peter about loved ones, and I think thatās a great connection. But Punisher is a straight-up murderer, and the only byplay we are going to have in this movie is that, āI saved your life once on Staten Islandā š® How about, āI donāt like what you do, at all, but right now, you owe me, and I know youāre my best bet to protect MJā? In fact, it wouldāve worked within the overall theme of this movie, about not completely judging how someone overcomes the event that leads them to pursue their āgiftsā in this Marvel world ā Spider-Man couldāve valued his relationship with Frank in spite of his afflictions, not simply ignore them. But I donāt know, I havenāt seen Punisher since the end of his excellent Netflix series, so maybe this morality clause has been addressed and answered since then š¤·āāļø I also found it questionable that both Bruce and MJ recognise how unethical this gene suppressant could be on a global scale. Like, theyāre right, and I know why theyāre saying that ā because it may have ramifications for the X-Men moving forward (and already has) ā but why are these characters bringing this up in these specific moments? In so far as I can surmise, individually, Spider-Man has a problem that he thinks he needs to fixed, just like Banner does. Whereās the āgo get āem, tiger!ā? Science the shit out of it, you little spider freak. Iād think, for this generation, the prevailing morality would be, if you think you have a problem, then you most definitely do, and so I found the pushback peculiar ā even though, insightful! And lastly, Peter Parker comes home after spending the night in his web cocoon, walks into his apartment to see natural webbing everywhere, and he doesnāt shut the doorā¦ SHUT THE DOOR! This whole movie is about you keeping your identity secret, so SHUT THE DOOR! Remember when Han died, and Leia walked past Chewbacca to embrace Rey? Okay, Peter not shutting the door isnāt that bad, but weāre in the same realm. My Spidey-tingles, or autistic tendencies, were going berserk.
Anyway, Iāve had my moan, so now Iām here to say that by the time MJ finds the note inside the coffee cup, this movie transforms into something fantastic. My posture straightened up, my eyes widened. Okay, this movie somewhat becomes the Jean Grey story, but I think all elements come together for an exemplary ending. I spent a lot of the movie wondering why we were even wandering down the road of Peter becoming more spider-like; like, why do we even need a story where he gets organic web-shooters? But the story is about him embracing his mutation, being changed while staying grounded in the way he is encouraging Jean Grey to do, via Aunt May. And it isnāt lost on me, the inverse this is with Spider-Man 2, where the spider-powers were getting in the way of Peterās life in 2004, and so he suppressed them, where here, Peter is more Spider-Man than ever, and so the powers have intensified. I thought the movie was scoffing at the idea of Peter Parker being a downtrodden loner, and the internet mocks Spider-Man fans that want to see Peter āstruggleā; but to me, that was Tobeyās Spider-Man, that I love, and also what makes Spider-Man so amazing, in that he keeps that goodness in light of how drudging his humdrum life can be. To take that away, is like having a serious Batman portrayal where the trauma is his parentās death isnāt a big deal, instead of the motivating factor. But this movie chooses to interpret Spider-Manās mission in the sense that the loneliness is to be overcome; that delving too vivaciously into the work, and ignoring parts of yourself, has a chemical reaction, and Parker is losing himself to the persona. Again, themes I definitely wouldāve BEAT into The Dark Knight Rises if Christopher Nolan had just given me a call š This movie mocks Peter Parkerās single-guy lifestyle and doesnāt lean into it, but with the contention that itās a silly existence, and not being open and honest with other people is a detriment to everyoneās health. I can jive with that šAnd I felt the air in the theatre get heavy when MJ finally reads that letter and the pair discuss their past ā I would love to meet the person who had a problem with that. And then, thereafter, because these MCU Spider-Man movies excel at chill frivolity, MJ invites Spider-Man inside to meet Ned and play Lego, which works well, so she can observe and explore the suggestion of this friendship theyāre said to have had. Oh, and I also want to write about how this movieās poster uses MJ in the eye of Spider-Man, playing up the pining, and prioritizing this movie is a young romance, where there was an argument they couldāve cut MJ and Ned out of this sequel entirely, allowing Parker to focus on new friends ā the fact that they didnāt was intriguing, and ultimately, I think the way theyāve handled this threesome is commendable. Because, it couldāve not been, and I know thereās already a lot of people out there who hate Ned! (Iām not one of them.) It wouldāve been rotten if the spell from the last movie was instantly foregone, like an unkept promise, like Andrew Garfieldās Spider-Man going back on his word instantly in The Amazing Spider-Man ā what a jib. I also wasnāt against the way the scene plays out on the roof, with MJ feeling her mind had been scrambled ā although itās really Jean Grey, and Jean Grey reckons MJ wouldāve thrown up at the idea of that scenario, so perhaps Iām easily pleased.
When I read the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, I remember being taken aback by storylines that had Spider-Man beaten and bloodied in hospital, and Aunt May acting like a surrogate to Peterās wayward female friend (I think it was Gwen Stacy); and both of these story elements show up here. Itās really fun having Frank don the Spider-Man mask while Peter gets to enjoy the crowd of adoring fans down below too. Jonathan Berthal is delightful. And I like the hue Sadie Sink gives Jean Greyās more emotional moments. So, I donāt know about you, but I am stoked for another X-Men movie, again, and I like the care put into establishing Jean Grey that I donāt think has ever been done before, across two other attempts. But you know, I want an X-Men movie, with its themes and characters, and Iāll probably be bitching about the āMCU of it allā once it comes, while hopefully, also stating that itās really good. Like Iām prepared to do now, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day š Watching?
Itās epic! Itās spectacular! Even though I was seemingly a mix of enjoying myself and going through the motions of the first and second acts, I was always caught up in the query of just who this spirit-villain was, and what was V-Max? Ey, Sadie Sink played the-Max in Stranger Things, but never V-Max š And, holy smokes, does this ending bring it home, providing some of the best uplifting superhero fare youāre likely to see. In the scene against the Hand, Tom Hollandās Spider-Man finally resembles a Spider-Man(!), and not just, like, Junior Iron Boy, like heās been criticized for being across six or seven movies. I hope that stays. Even my view on the world-building, as neglected or inferior, is addressed in the creditās preamble, highlighting just the everyday bustle of New York City and its residencies š I think this movie ends up taking important elements from The Dark Knight trilogy and also The Batman, and molds them into Spider-Man, and Iām thoroughly impressed. I always loved how Bruce Wayne, Catwoman and Riddler just feel like lonely kids addressing their struggles differently in The Batman; and as we leave off, we have Peter Parker, Jean Grey, and even Frank and Banner, in a sense, doing the same. The Batman and Spider-Man also learn community, with Batman helping innocents out of the flood, and Spider-Man not having to be the one to chase down every robbery, taking the time to learn the detectiveās kidās names. Itās really powerful stuff. And Iām not one to go to repeat viewings of a movie, but I did for Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Iād be very tempted to give this movieās first half another look now knowing the quality in store come the ending. So how goes it? Whoās got a spare seat or ticket for me?
3.5
P.S. I think what this movie does with Jean Grey is similar to what was done with the villainous lass from Falcon and the Winter Soldier but in so much of a better way; the downtrodden, bitterness towards the world, while still at a young formative age. Someone who just needs to be acknowledged in their strife and comforted into making the right decision. And I havenāt mentioned Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), because, why canāt Jean Grey use him again like she does Scorpion later in the movie? Itās a tease! Heās like Chekhovās Tombstone ā donāt show a gun in the first act if youāre not going to use it!
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