Jakarta, ThedailyID — Superheroes are often pictured as people that everyone needs. Yet in the newest Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter Parker becomes nobody behind the suit that everyone loves. This brand new Peter Parker is far from sunshine and happy days, he basically struggles with loneliness, deals with unfinished grieving, and pays the cost of being different.
After the death of Aunt May, MJ and Ned’s memories were erased as per Peter’s request. For the next few years after the set of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter has basically been a lone spider, a slave to his responsibility to save New York on a daily basis. Every night, he comes home to his slumber attic-flat only to find himself longing for his friends that realized their dreams to study at MIT
Unlike previous Spider-Man films that balanced heroism with teenage life, Brand New Day is fundamentally about rebuilding identity after losing every meaningful human connection. The only social contact that Peter forms is with Detective Dewolff who sometimes also asks Peter not to be married with his job. This premis might be related to more people these days. Peter’s transition to adulthood feels harsh, and behind his cutting-edge suit lies the social isolation despite digital hyper-connectivity with social media.
The new franchise was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously successfully brought fresh action entertainment into Marvel Cinematic Universe through “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021). However, within 145-minutes duration, somehow it felt that Cretton was trying too hard to put so many issues for his version of Spidey to be more mature. Talk about the messy spider hormones that keep Parker’s headache and overstimulation for months, but really I think it is only the level of stress and cortisol rising, let alone his long overdue grieving and him not talking to anyone except to his enemies, polices, and AI.
The appearance of Professor Bruce Banner and his green monster is a special surprise, though at some point it feels like a long-winded scene. Sadie Sink, who only last year was introduced to join Marvel’s family, portrays beloved someone in Stan Lee’s early universe. As the villain – who’s not really a villain – Sadie played her part with the familiar feeling as she did in Stranger Things. Although it’s not perfect, this writer has a feeling that Sink’s character will play a pivotal role in the next MCU’s quests.
Other roles such as Frank ‘The Punisher’ Castle and Yelena Belova as the current Black Widow. It is a shame that Scorpion, who has the potential to be the real villain, is only used for a while. Overall, with the appropriate portion of action, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is enjoyable and entertaining but could do better. However, this writer kind of misses the goofy and friendly character that truly makes him a Spider-Man.
