Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Movie Review

At the time I am writing this, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has passed $2.4 billion at the worldwide box office in just under two months, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2026 and the third-highest-grossing film of all time, behind only Avengers: Endgame and Avatar. This has also propelled Tom Holland into becoming the highest-grossing actor of all time (his movies have totalled an incredible $15.5 billion worldwide).

Regardless of my thoughts, or anyone else's thoughts, on the movie itself, this is an incredibly impressive feat that proves Spider-Man is still one of the superheroes with the greatest appeal to audiences all over the world, spanning all different ages and backgrounds. More so than any other superhero, he represents the common people. He's not a billionaire genius; he's not a god from another planet; he's just a regular guy from Queens who could be any of us, and that's what will always continue to draw people to his stories.

If you are part of the small minority of people who haven't yet contributed to the almost 2 and a half billion that this movie has made at the box office, the rest of this article will be full of spoilers, so proceed with caution.

There's so much to praise about this film.

The first hour of the film is pretty close to perfection and definitely one of the strongest hours we've seen in a Spider-Man movie. Having lost everyone in his life, we get to see Spider-Man back to his roots: fighting local New York villains and being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man we know him to be from the comics. They do a great job at portraying the heart and soul of the city in this one. New York just feels like New York, more so than it does in any of the other previous Tom Holland movies. The cinematography in this one is also a step up from its predecessors: every frame looks gorgeous, the colours pop, and the city itself feels more alive than ever.

Tom Holland is truly at his best when Peter Parker is at his worst, and he pretty much acts circles around everyone else in this movie. Seeing him grow into this role, all the way from Captain America: Civil War ten years ago to today, shows that he was truly born to play this role. Not only is he a great Spider-Man, but he's a phenomenal Peter Parker, and it's that balance of nailing the portrayal of both characters that you can argue previous actors struggled to master.

It's always nice to see Mark Ruffalo on our screens, and Bruce Banner's segment of the story is a nice and welcome addition, which offers us one of the best lines in the movie: “How would you decide? What parts of nature are good or bad? What if you’re trying to control the expression of something that needs to be expressed?”

The big talking point of the film is the inclusion of Sadie Sink's character, who is revealed to be (as a lot of fans suspected before the movie was released) none other than Jean Grey, thus introducing us to the first official new cast of the X-Men movies. As a character, she's a phenomenal addition. The scenes of her jumping from one person's mind to another's are some of the best scenes in the movie, masterfully done and cleverly shot. Her backstory is also heartbreaking and offers us my favourite personal scene in the movie: the reveal of what "V-Max" is. The writers do a great job at leading us into believing "V-Max" will be some elaborate weapon or super techy machine, and when the reveal happens and it's a simple, bleak, humane detail, it hits you like a truck.

Ultimately, though, I do think that Jean Grey's introduction comes at the expense of Spider-Man taking a backseat in his own film. This becomes especially noticeable in the second half, which focuses more heavily on Jean and her backstory, losing sight of why we're watching the film in the first place: to see Peter Parker. As much as I love the character and am happy that she was introduced, I can't help but wish her introduction had been saved for another film, allowing this one to remain more focused on Spider-Man.

But when all is said and done, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is an incredibly hopeful film that still manages to capture everything Spider-Man represents to the people of NYC: a hero who is just like them.

"Are you Peter Parker? Or are you Spider-Man?"

"I'm both."