‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Review: A Fun, Heartfelt Return to Form — But Is It for Lesbians?

Summer is here, which means it’s time for a good old popcorn-munching tentpole film. Swinging in to take that mantle is the latest superhero movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And for those who may still be feeling superhero fatigue (count me among you), there’s good news: this latest trip to Queens is, in many ways, a return to form.

It’s fun, it’s heartfelt, and it’s not so mired down by side characters, lore, and the need to push a “universe” forward that it feels more like a very loud, bombastic series of checked boxes than an actual story. Which, again, is a breath of fresh air in a time when all things must serve the “verse.”

This installment does, however, require that you’ve seen the previous Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies, as this picks up in the aftermath of the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which left Peter Parker largely alone in this world. His Aunt May is gone, and the rest of his loved ones forgot his very existence due to a spell cast to save the multiverse. It’s complicated, but IYKYK.

In this film, Peter responds by doubling down on his crime-fighting, and the city has never been safer. But despite this great work, it’s an empty existence of routine and violence. Peter fights crime, visits May’s grave, and watches his former best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and the love of his life, MJ (Zendaya), carry on with their lives as if he never existed because, for all intents and purposes, he doesn’t to them.

He also finds himself facing off with a new kind of enemy, something he has never encountered before and has no idea how to defeat. This mysterious nemesis has the ability to possess people around it, quickly jumping from person to person so that anyone and everyone is a threat. And this enemy seems like it will stop at nothing to get what it wants.

As if that weren’t enough to keep our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man busy, Peter is dealing with his own demons—or rather, his DNA—as his spider hormones have suddenly begun taking over, leaving Peter confused, frightened, and suddenly confronted with new questions about his identity. Is he Peter? Is he a monster? Is he something else entirely?

Yeah, there’s no shortage of plot in Brand New Day. Add to that his associations with Frank Castle, aka the Punisher (Jon Bernthal); Yelena Belova aka Black Widow (Florence Pugh); and the government’s Department of Damage Control, tasked with protecting civilians and cities against rogue metahumans (while picking up any left-behind technology) and led by William ‘Bill’ Metzger (Tramell Tillman). And yet somehow it all largely works, much like Spider-Man holding together a collapsing building or a runaway train while whisking an innocent New Yorker out of harm’s way. The task is monumental, but the movie makes it feel easy.

Much of this lands on the shoulders of Holland, who remains one of our most charming and likable Peter Parkers to date, and this universe’s MJ is effortlessly cool and remains both brilliant and funny without skewing into damsel-in-distress or manic pixie dream girl tropes. Much of that has to do with Zendaya’s performance, which infuses her with plenty of humanity. Something that can feel rare, particularly with women characters in superhero films.

Speaking of women breaking the mold in superhero films, Sadie Sink’s role, which we won’t spoil here, is one of the best villains we have seen in the Marvel universe, perhaps since Captain America: Civil War‘s Baron Helmut Zemo. For one thing, Sink, like Zendaya, adds depth to her character, but also her motivation feels meaningful and is not linked directly to her gender or motherhood, a trap that Marvel movies have dropped nearly every one of their women heroes into.

That’s not to say that this film’s politics are above reproach. This movie, in parts, has more than a whisper of “copaganda.” While there is some institutional critique akin to the deep state, and some nods toward bodily autonomy for those whose bodies do not conform to the “norm,” it’s played with arguably too light a hand. However, the most egregious element of the film is how pro-mass-surveillance Brand New Day is. It’s tech that Peter uses liberally, that largely saves the day, and there is no pushback or any real reckoning with a truly fascistic tool that our “hero” wields.

It’s honestly a little hard to stomach, considering our present-day reality.

That aside, however, the film still manages to pack in a lot of heart, humor, and cartoonishly fun action. It is just self-contained enough to remind you why these movies are at their most enjoyable and accessible when they aren’t just a conveyor belt to the next film or a larger universe.

But is this film for lesbians? Well, yes and no. The presence of Zendaya, Pugh (who spends the whole film discreetly nude), and Sink all absolutely killing it on the big screen puts this on the sapphic radar. But as for anything even remotely, textually queer, sadly, no. There is one little joke at Parker’s expense (that actually lands and is quite funny), but for the gals, it’s straightforwardly straight. Still, if you’re going to pick an over-the-top, family-friendly action movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day spins a very entertaining one.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in theaters on July 31. Check out the trailer below.