{"id":2645431,"date":"2026-08-15T12:30:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spider-man-brand-new-day-is-a-slog-for-the-uninitiated\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T12:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:36:45","slug":"spider-man-brand-new-day-is-a-slog-for-the-uninitiated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/spider-man-brand-new-day-is-a-slog-for-the-uninitiated\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Spider-Man: Brand New Day&#8217; is a slog for the uninitiated"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fspider-man-brand-new-day-is-a-slog-for-the-uninitiated%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2645431&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article criticizes the film &#8220;Spider-Man: Brand New Day&#8221; for its heavy reliance on viewers&#8217; prior knowledge of previous Spider-Man movies, arguing it is less a standalone film and more a collection of references that require familiarity wiht earlier installments. The author contends that modern <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stephen-dorff-says-comic-book-movies-ruining-hollywood-hes-embarrassed-for-scarlett-johansson\/\" title=\"Stephen Dorff Says Comic Book ... Ruining Hollywood, He\u2019s Embarrassed for Scarlett Johansson\">comic book movies<\/a>, especially those from DC and Marvel, demand constant attention and understanding of their extensive series, making them less accessible to newcomers.The critique also highlights the film\u2019s weak portrayal of Spider-Man as a hero, criticizing Tom Holland&#8217;s portrayal as emotionally limited and the character&#8217;s repetitive powers.Additionally, the movie&#8217;s moral universe is questioned, particularly its portrayal of telepathic chaos and sympathizing with morally ambiguous characters. The reviewer admits to limited knowledge of the broader comic book universe but finds the film&#8217;s plot confusing and unsuccessful at delivering a cohesive story, ultimately suggesting that it might be a &#8220;brand new day&#8221; for those who endure its length and complexity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To call <em>Spider-Man: Brand New Day <\/em>a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/movies-and-films\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"744\">movie<\/a> is to do a disservice to all other examples of filmed <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/entertainment\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/entertainment\/\">entertainment<\/a> that bear the name. As traditionally understood, a movie purports to tell a story to an audience whose ideal state is one of relative ignorance. Preconceptions, assumptions, and advance knowledge in the viewing public are regarded as impediments to the capacity of the tale to surprise, startle, or transport.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4686807\/new-york-gas-station-customers-dance-for-a-deal-joe-concha\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>New York gas station customers dance \u2018for a deal\u2019: Joe Concha<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4686487\/kennedy-center-board-vote-two-year-closure-renovations\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Kennedy Center Board votes to close facility for two years for construction<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4685872\/national-symphony-orchestra-ticket-sale-plunge\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>National Symphony Orchestra suffering as ticket sales plunge during Kennedy Center takeover: Report<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The writer-director Peter Bogdanovich (<em>The Last Picture Show<\/em>) used to tell me to assume the reader knows nothing, and although he was referring to writing, his exhortation applies to moviemaking, too. Whatever else <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4675921\/odyssey-proof-politics-makes-person-miserable\/\">can be said<\/a> of the recent film version of <em>The Odyssey<\/em>, no one can claim that Christopher Nolan assumed that the viewer was overly familiar with Homer. For better or for worse (in his case, for worse), Nolan took it for granted that his audience was a blank slate. Even sequels and prequels \u2014 say, those in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/equality-not-elitism\/3919463\/star-wars-spent-force-say-goodbye\/\"><em>Star Wars<\/em> canon<\/a> \u2014 ideally aspire to a degree of self-sufficiency in which the audience can discern the story and, properly bewitched, can proceed to seek out the other movies. You can see the second <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/614534\/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny-a-tired-dance-with-nostalgia\/\"><em>Indiana Jones<\/em> <\/a>movie first and not feel like an idiot.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alas, this compact between viewer and moviemaker is discarded in most contemporary comic book movies. I am hardly the first critic to observe that the big-screen adaptations of the DC and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marvel-comics\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"2737\">Marvel Comics<\/a> canon demand constant consumption and unflagging attention from the viewer: missing but one entrant in a given series is a sin worse than falling asleep in French class. In French class, at least, the student will presumably still be able to say \u201cBonjour\u201d and \u201cMerci beaucoup,\u201d if not carry on a conversation, but if someone watches, say, <em>Avengers: Infinity War <\/em>(2018) without seeing whatever preceded it, well, good luck.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\">Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. (Courtesy of Sony)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/08\/localimages\/LA.Spiderman.081926.jpg?w=300&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tom Holland in \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day.\u201d (Courtesy of Sony)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, I am not the first critic to say this, but, having just endured <em>Brand New Day,<\/em> I am among the latest. This movie so decisively requires audience acquaintanceship with the other Spider-Man movies starring Tom Holland \u2014 2017\u2019s <em>Spider-Man: Homecoming<\/em>, 2019\u2019s <em>Spider-Man: Far From Home<\/em>, and 2021\u2019s <em>Spider-Man: No\u00a0Way Home <\/em>\u2014 that I contend it is something other than a normal movie. It is an assembly of scenes that do not exist to further a discrete narrative but to amplify, reference, or complicate the movies that came before. Since I have not faithfully followed any screen versions of Spider-Man since Tobey Maguire was still in his 30s, I am not the ideal viewer for the Holland franchise, or even one contemplated by the studio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet perhaps my estrangement from the <em>Spider-Man<\/em> film series gives me a certain valuable perspective on the whole enterprise. To start with, Tom Holland makes for a very weak sort of<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/superheroes\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"2736\"> superhero<\/a>. As Peter Parker, Holland alternates between states of loneliness and lovesickness, which, after all, are not such different conditions. As near as I can tell, the actor\u2019s limited range is attributed to a kind of amnesic event in the last Holland-starring Spider-Man movie that induced mass forgetfulness of Peter\/Spider-Man\u2019s existence, including in Peter\u2019s girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya).<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peter\u2019s plight might have acquired a certain stoic dignity were his alter ego a truly impressive superhero, but I\u2019m afraid I fail to see the appeal of Spider-Man: he has neither the transcendent, Christ-like grace of Superman nor the anguished personal agenda of Batman, and his defining characteristics \u2014 namely, the ability to will webbing from his wrists and to swing wildly from said webbing \u2014 are profoundly repetitive. Furthermore, Spider-Man\u2019s chief means of identifying <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/crime\/\" data-type=\"category\" data-id=\"71\">criminal activity<\/a>, at least in this movie, seems to be to monitor the police radio and to place phone calls, seemingly every five minutes, to a detective (Liza Colon-Zayas), whose tolerance for Spider-Man\u2019s extrajudicial methods is truly remarkable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I will concede that the filmmakers seem to imply other reserves of superhuman strength in Spider-Man, given his ability to withstand repeated nosedives from skyscrapers, but since other, non-superhero characters are put in similarly perilous situations and emerge unharmed, including MJ, this seems less a quality assigned solely to Spider-Man and more a matter of Hollywood physics. Undoubtedly, many, many millions of fans will think my assessment of Spider-Man wrongheaded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do feel on solid ground in objecting to the movie\u2019s distorted moral universe. Even if they offer nothing else, most comic book movies are unafraid to draw clear moral distinctions: Superman is good, and Lex Luthor is evil. <em>Brand New Day<\/em> offers something else altogether: for most of the movie, an unnamed character marshals some sort of telepathic power to invade the psyches (and control the words and actions) of other characters, leading to such obviously bad things as jailbreaks and general urban chaos. In time, it is revealed that one Jean Grey \u2014 my comic book-savvy brother informs me she is a character from the <em>X-Men<\/em> universe \u2014 is behind all this psychic mayhem and that, in fact, she is somewhat justified in her mayhem since the government, represented by the Department of Damage Control, kidnapped her sister, the equally telepathically inclined Sara. Sadie Sink plays Jean Grey as a Gen Zer malcontent who wears a hoodie and whose affect suggests a steady diet of Sylvia Plath. That we are meant to sympathize with this angst-ridden character, despite her antisocial tendencies, is a little disturbing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4659625\/review-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey\/\">REVIEW: NOLAN\u2019S \u2018THE ODYSSEY\u2019 IS CLUMSY, ANACHRONISTIC, AND BADLY ACTED<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many other things were lost on me in the movie, such as the fact that the characters played by Jon Bernthal (Punisher) and Florence Pugh (Black Widow, who, for reasons unclear to me, operates out of a spa) each have their own extensive comic book histories. I concede this is my limitation. But it was not lost on me that Marisa Tomei, as Peter\u2019s dear departed Aunt May, is made to sound like a fool in flashback scenes in which she tells her half-arachnid nephew pearls of wisdom such as: \u201cThis whole thing can get really scary.\u201d There were scenes involving red-outfitted ninjas, too. (I did recognize that a professor identified as \u201cBanner\u201d was really the Hulk.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also have no idea what the title means, although, if you choose to see <em>Brand New Day<\/em> fairly late in the evening, as I did, by the time it is over \u2014 it runs well over two hours, not including trailers and a weird filmed greeting by Holland \u2014 it may well be a brand new day by the time it is, blessedly, over.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Peter Tonguette is the Life &#038; Arts editor of the <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calling Spider-Man: Brand New Day a movie undermines true storytelling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2691,"featured_media":2645432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LA.Spiderman.081926.jpg?w=300","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[84225,84223,84222,63888,84224],"class_list":["post-2645431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-brand-new-day","tag-comic-book-review","tag-marvel-comics","tag-spider-man-2","tag-superhero-comics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LA.Spiderman.081926.jpg?w=300","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2645431"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2645436,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645431\/revisions\/2645436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2645432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2645431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2645431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2645431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}