July 30, 2026 7 min to read

Spider-Man Brand New Day

How good is Tom Holland's latest outing as Spider-Man?

Review: Wow, this is an incredible Spider-Man movie, and I’m going to attempt my best to dissect why it was so good, so let’s have at it.

First thing’s first, this movie has a wonderful balance of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Not only do you get to see how lonely Peter is after the events of No Way Home, but they do such a great job at letting his loneliness and his desire for connection seep through the screen and make you feel it on a personal level. All of us, even those of us who like being more secluded/isolated all have this innate desire to have at least a few people with whom we can connect with, and in this movie Peter literally has nobody. The only person who is willing to even try and help him is Frank Castle (the Punisher), who himself also suffers/struggles from this same issue. Also due to his loneliness Peter is fully consumed as Spider-Man, making that his entire personality and self for 4 entire years, only to have his life and his emotions shake up once Ned and MJ come back to New York after graduating from MIT. As for when Peter is Spider-Man, the movie has some of the best (if not the best) Spider-Man action, web swinging, and visually appealing Spider-Man movies we have ever received. The suit he wears is also the best Spider-Man suit that they have put on the big screen, so that just made everything even better.

Second, this installment delivers a much more mature take on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. While his earlier films were fun and relatable when I was in high school, I’m glad the franchise avoided repeating itself. Watching Peter quietly observe his friends graduate from MIT—while he misses out on college entirely—highlights his transition into adulthood. It mirrors right where I am in life: having graduated college two years ago, I’m navigating that same space of feeling older, figuring out how to mature, and facing tough decisions.

Third, I really loved what they were able to do with the villains of the movie (spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the movie). Of course they started the movie with a montage of Spider-Man taking down classic villains from his rogues gallery, but found a way to weave in Jean Grey (played by Sadie Sink) and Damage Control (predominantly by the head of Damage Control, William Metzger, who was played by Tramell Tillman) in a way that really fit the tone of the movie, which was loneliness and isolation.

I’ve seen so many people online fuss about how Jean Grey was the predominant antagonist throughout the film, but for me that didn’t really matter. Throughout comics (and the other X-Men movies we’ve gotten), Jean usually ends up getting the Phoenix Force, which has Jean embody the more dark aspects of herself, ending up becoming more villainous than heroic. Having Jean be the antagonist in this movie was a great tease for the character as a whole, as we know there is so much good that Jean can do as a member of the X-Men, but because of her past and her eventual connection to the Phoenix Force, so much of what she is and who she becomes is corrupted. After Jean in the movie was able to enter Peter’s mind and have that discussion with Aunt May/Peter, you really see how her actions had been misguided and led by guilt and anger rather than an obsession with truly doing terrible things and how she herself had been truly alone, searching for the only person left that cared about her after her parents abandoned her.

As for Damage Control (specifically William Metzger), I love what Tramell Tillman was able to bring to the character. He brings a similar gravitas, hearkening back to his character on Severance. His character in the comics is extremely anti-mutant, and since the MCU is going the direction of the X-Men in the future, I’m really excited for the possibility of seeing him more. I also found it fascinating that in the same movie they finally brought in the first future X-Men, they introduced gene suppression technology, and not only did they bring it up, they also made it created by Spider-Man. Since Metzger was able to get his hands on this technology, I see his character potentially pioneering a Sentiel-like program (maybe with a Bolivar Trask?) in order to fight against the mutants. I also think the fact that Spider-Man himself created the gene suppression technology will/can be a catalyst for great discussion/fights in the future between the X-Men and Avengers (and Avengers adjacent heroes like Spider Man), as a super hero himself is the one who made the technology that can hurt other heroes.

In addition to the villains, I love the other hero characters they were able to incorporate throughout the film. I think the Hulk’s addition was perfect, as Peter needs some guidance throughout the film scientifically, and Bruce Banner is one of the only people in the Marvel Universe still alive that is intellectually capable in assisting him. Additionally, when he finally Hulks out, it is some incredible Hulk-ing. I also thought Jon Bernthal’s Punisher was a fantastic addition to the film. As I mentioned above, not only do Peter and Frank both struggle with isolation and the lack of connection with others, but it comes to a point where Peter needs to protect MJ and the only person in the world that he knows that could help. What made their dynamic even better is the fact that they have as much fun banter as you would expect them to have. The Punisher is literally going all out trying to take out people in his way while Peter is trying to keep everyone alive and save people. This banter is aided that Holland and Bernthal have such good chemistry together

Other Notes:

• I’m not sure how the Punisher is freely roaming NYC without the cops trying to get him. All of the killing he has done should put the cops on him, but I have no idea why they aren’t after him. I should care more about this, but based on how much fun Bernthal and Hollard were together I’m allowing myself to not get bothered/upset about this.
• The movie does such a good job showing how smart Peter is. We see how smart he is across the other movies in small doses, but this movie has him at his computers and fabricators all the time whipping up new inventions to help him. My only gripe with the movie is that Peter Parker is generally not well off, but Peter in this movie had some wild, very expensive inventions that looked like they cost way too much money that he didn’t have, and they don’t even explain how he is even affording anything, let alone his apartment.
• The Hand - They have previously been portrayed as villains in the Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Defenders shows. While their fighting in the shows is truly fun, I never cared for any of the lore of the Hand, their mission, and what they are fighting for. In this movie they are used as puppets of Damage Control, not working for the cause of The Hand. Because of this, I really liked how the movie had some awesome ninjas in the movie for Peter to fight against, but I can see some people getting frustrated with the fact that The Hand would never work for Damage Control in the first place.

Overall, this is a fantastic Spider-Man movie, and it made me love spider man even more, which is a testament to how good the movie is and how good Tom Holland is as the character. I’m really hoping they can keep Destin Daniel Cretton as the director of the next movie as well, as it was just a beautiful looking super hero movie. As a super nerd, this movie also gave me a lot to chew on, as not only did they make a really good movie I can enjoy right now, but I also saw them setting up so many interesting ideas that I really hope they fulfill in the coming years. I highly recommend everyone seeing this, as it is one of the best Spider-Man movies (maybe the best?) we have ever gotten.

Rating: /5