Spider-Man: Brand New Day feels like a combination of everything that makes the character adoring. After wiping the tears from my eyes after some of the most emotional scenes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I found myself having a smile on my face. As we constantly hear rumblings of superhero fatigue, Spider-Man Brand New Day laughs that off with one of the best live action iterations. This review will be as spoiler free as possible as we will avoid naming a certain character, so lets dive into this spectacular film.

From the start, this film does something that I absolutely love, it feels like a comic book. The opening montage of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man facing off against his rogue gallery that recreated iconic covers. Getting characters like Boomerang, Tarantula and Ramrod in a quick montage was the perfect use of them. None of them would provide any substance to the story, however visually they looked awesome. Two other villains that show up briefly are Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone played by Marvin Jones lll and the return of Mac Gargan/Scorpion played by Michael Mando. I do wish they got more screen time, but in the limited amount of time they got, they felt ripped from the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. The film does this awesome thing though, while the viewer is having fun with the action scene and all of Spider-Man’s rogue gallery appearing, Spider-Man is depressed and going through hell mentally.

As cool as the action scenes are, this film succeeds in the quiet moments and with the growth of Peter Parker. Peter’s body is changing, he thinks its stress and the punishment he deals with being Spider-Man, however upon waking up in a web cocoon, Peter realizes that his mutation is changing his DNA. Seeing his friends Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) living their lives without him, causes additional stress beyond the crimes of New York. Peter misses his friends and lacks a support system after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. As Peter is dealing with this, there is a new villain (played by Sadie Sink) that is causing massive damage to New York with mind control powers.

Frank Castle (played by Jon Bernthal) and the introduction of Jean DeWolff (played by Liza Colon-Zayas) represent the only support Peter has throughout the film. These characters are perfectly used, which can be said for all the characters from the greater MCU. I was a little hesitant with the inclusion of Frank Castle in a PG-13 film, but the script and chemistry between Bernthal and Holland allows Frank to succeed in a PG-13 setting. As for Jean DeWolff, it reminded me of the inclusion of Yuri Watanabe in the Insomniac video game. Someone on the police force that has a line to Spider-Man that allows him to be the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

While watching the film, it was easy to pick up on the influence that the Insomniac games had on the action and certain shots throughout. Spider-Man diving off a building with the wind creating resistance is something that every player of the game did and in this film its done incredibly well. This is all due to the director, Destin Daniel Cretton who continues to be Marvel’s secret weapon. Cretton made a fun martial arts film in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and created the surprise hit Wonder-Man (Disney, why the hell did you cancel season 2?). With Spider-Man Brand New Day, Cretton gives us one of the best looking Spider-Man films. He simply does not miss.

Ned and MJ are used for the emotional punch in the film, as loneliness and support systems are themes throughout. These scenes actually made me cry as did a scene later in the film that we will avoid talking about. Although one criticism on the film, and its more of a criticism of all four films, that is the use of Zendaya. Zendaya is a powerhouse with unbelievable chemistry with Holland, however MJ does not have much to do. Yes, her scenes are more impactful to the overall story for Peter, there should be more they can do with such a talented actor. Also, don’t hate me MJ fans: I would be interested in a different love interest for Peter. There are so many stories that can be told with Gwen Stacy and Black Cat, that I feel like it may be something worth exploring.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day does an amazing job at establishing where Peter is at in his journey. He is older, he has been through hell and yet he will protect New York. Holland has played Spider-Man more than anyone else and I feel like this film is the one that turns him into the best live action adaptation of the character. His performance in this film is the best I have seen from someone playing the web crawler and the supporting cast all deliver. Its a long movie, but I wouldn’t cut anything from it, as each scene is pivotal to the story. I’m excited for the future of the MCU, the future of Sadie Sink’s character and what will happen with Spider-Man.

I will probably be seeing this in the theater again and a few more times before Avengers: Doomsday. Life may suck but its a great time to be a nerd right now.