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This article contains Spider-Man: Brand New Day spoilers.
One need not look at the box office returns for Brand New Day to know that Spider-Man is the most popular character of all time. He’s recognizable around the world and has starred in a constant stream of comic books, movies, video games, television shows, and of course merchandise. Almost immediately after his debut in 1962, he has been the face of Marvel Comics, if not superheroes in general. And yet, because of Marvel’s decision to sell adaptation rights to Sony decades ago, he’s been a side player in the MCU, sneaked into the franchise through Captain America: Civil War and always subordinate to big-hitters in the Avengers.
But with Brand New Day, that’s not the case. Not only is Spider-Man the central figure that connects everything from the X-Men and the Avengers to Hulk and Punisher, but he ends the film with a new sense of purpose. Brand New Day plays as a coda to the trio of movies starring Tom Holland as a teen Peter Parker, hanging out with his high school pals, and opens the door to not just more grown-up adventures but perhaps a life beyond wall-crawling.
Gone From Home
In the final moments of Brand New Day, Peter starts to buy the flowers to put on May’s grave, continuing a practice he’s been doing since her death four years earlier. But upon seeing Ned, who still doesn’t remember Peter Parker, he stops and decides to engage. The shot of recognition dawning on Ned as he and Peter reenact their signature handshake hints at the restoration of their friendship—but that’s all it does, hints. We don’t see them fall back into their familiar banter, nor did we see Peter and MJ declare their love for one another again.
Instead the movie ends by opening the door to a different type of friendship with Ned, just as it did a different type of relationship with MJ. Or, in other words, the ending saw Peter finally grow up.
The ending of Peter’s arcs with MJ and Ned completed his transition from not just high school, but the previous MCU Spider-Man movies. Those three films made use of Peter’s status as a high schooler, both in their supporting cast of teachers and friends and in set-pieces built around prom and school trips.
But now, Peter’s free to make new relationships, which has always been one of the most interesting parts of Spider-Man comics. Of course, this Peter has not yet met his best friends from the comics, Harry Osborn, son of Norman. That may be because Norman and Harry don’t exist in the MCU—Willem Dafoe‘s Osborn said as much when he visited the universe in No Way Home—but it also means that Harry can be Peter’s adult friend, not an old pal he somehow knew back in school.
Even more exciting are other pals from the comic that Peter has yet to meet, from girlfriends Felicia Hardy (aka Black Cat), Gwen Stacy, and Carlie Cooper to mentor Robbie Robertson and his son Randy, or fellow scientists Max Modell and Hector Baez. Like all young adults, Peter has to realize that there’s a whole world for him beyond high school. Perhaps most important of all, this version of Spider-Man has fully moved out of the shadow of his mentor Tony Stark, which can change the ways he interacts with his villains.
Bring on the Bad Guys
Peter’s move into adulthood also opens the way for a different set of bad guys. Both Homecoming and Far From Home had incredible villain performances, strong takes gave well-known baddies from the early days of the comic, under the direction of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, refreshing twists. However, both Vulture and Mysterio were fundamentally laborers who had a grudge with Tony Stark, making Spider-Man a class-warrior for the rich. No Way Home didn’t have Spidey fight the working class, but he was saddled with retreads of other villains who fought other Spider-Men, all of whom were also from the Ditko era.
Brand New Day gave Spidey a different type of conflict. His mistakes pit him against the desperate mutant Jean Grey, and when he realized his error, he fought against an oppressive government organization in the form of Damage Control, complete with its army of Hand Ninjas. Even if the movie ended with Peter still very much aligned with the police, it still put him on the side of the downtrodden and vulnerable and against more powerful enemies.
Then there are the movie’s secondary villains. While Scorpion is another early Ditko creation, Boomerang and Tarantula are later additions, each with their own interesting motivations. Boomerang is a jobber who does crimes for cash, while Tarantula is a thug who works for an oppressive government. Most compelling of all is Tombstone, who only appeared in one scene of the movie. With his striking appearance and rock-hard skin, Tombstone poses a formidable physical threat. But Tombstone operates as a gangster, a part of the New York mafia (or Maggia, to use the term from the comics) that frequently shows up in Spider-Man comics but not in the movies.
A grounded, adult Peter, free of Tony Stark’s class warfare, has room to engage these more complicated villains. He can clash with people who wield not alien weaponry or advanced AI, but just their fists and guns and a complicated web of relationships. All of which could build to one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous enemies, someone who has appeared in plenty of MCU projects, but never against Spidey: Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime.
Kingpin first debuted as a Spider-Man antagonist, but in the MCU he has existed entirely in the orbit of Daredevil and Punisher. But maybe it’s just as well that Peter Parker doesn’t fight the Kingpin. Because maybe, it’s better for a different wall-crawler to get some of the action?
Spider-Man… No More?
For as much as Peter suffers throughout Brand New Day, the movie finds a positive note on which to end. Instead of ignoring his lost identity as Peter Parker and immersing himself in Spider-Man, he declares that he’s both Peter and Spidey. As triumphant as that moment is, one has to wonder: did Peter go far enough? Is he moving to embracing his identity as Peter so much that he’ll let the Spider-Man identity fall away?
For as many times as Marvel has tried to replace Peter with a different spider-person, the answer to this question is obviously, “No.” But the question gains more validity in relationship to live-action. Tom Holland cannot play Spider-Man forever. So can the franchise go on without Tom Holland? Can it go on without Peter Parker?
Obviously, there have been Spider-Man actors before Holland and there will be more after. Further, Avengers: Doomsday and its follow-up Secret Wars do offer an opportunity to soft reboot the universe, giving an opportunity for a new actor to take the role of Peter. However, that need not be the only choice. We may get a different web-head swinging around New York.
Most obviously, there’s Miles Morales, the main character of the Spider-Verse movies. Miles hails from a different universe but with so many multiversal things happening in Doomsday and Secret Wars, it wouldn’t take much to bring him to the mainline MCU, allowing Marvel to capitalize on one of its most popular characters. We could see the MCU toy with something like The Clone Saga, introducing Ben Reilly as a new Spider-Man or bringing Miguel O’Hara from the year 2099 into present-day. These options could give Holland a break to do other work while leaving the door open for his return, giving fans deep-cuts from the comics to keep them entertained while the main Spidey is elsewhere.
Then again, Holland has already said bringing Miles Morales into the MCU is something “I’m really working towards,” and that he’d love to “shepherd” an actor playing Morales in the same way that Robert Downey Jr. mentored him. So… it seems pretty likely we’re getting Miles sooner than later.
Swinging Into the Future
Clearly Marvel has plenty of options for Spider-Man. With Brand New Day providing a palette-cleanser, the MCU Spidey has a new lease on life. It’s the perfect opportunity to let Spider-Man grow up a little, make some more complicated friends and fight a different breed of bad guy, if not step aside altogether.
Whatever Marvel intends to do, there’s one thing they must keep in mind from here on out: Spider-Man is the best superhero in their bullpen, and he needs to be the center of their universe, forever showing the rest of the heroes how to take great responsibility for their great powers.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now in theaters.
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