I attended the multimedia screening of Spider-Man: Brand New Day with the same flutter of excitement my son gets when he spots a new Marvel Lego set. And Tom Holland could swing past my window any day of the week. Now 30, a little broader in the shoulder, and flexing some seriously grown-up biceps, he’s clearly been doing more than just eating Peters Pasta. But as I settled in with my popcorn, one question kept buzzing in my ear like an angry wasp: does the film mature with him, or are we just getting the same old spandex?
What’s it all about?
If you need a quick refresher (and after the multiverse madness of the last one, I don’t blame you), No Way Home ended with Peter Parker erasing himself from everyone’s memory. MJ, best pal Ned, the nice lady at the bodega – all forgot he ever existed. So now Peter is back to square one: a lonely, crime-fighting bachelor living in a scuzzy single room, surrounded by screens and takeaway containers. Adored by New York as Spider-Man, but utterly unknown as the man behind the mask. It’s less “brand new day” and more “same old Groundhog Day with extra heartbreak”.
This time, a sinister new force is possessing the bodies of powerful people across the city, starting with Scorpion, and creeping towards the shadowy government unit Damage Control, run by the deliciously unsettling Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman, channelling all his Severance menace). Peter also has his own inner demons: crippling headaches and some very Cronenberg-esque bodily weirdness that I won’t spoil but will warn you is genuinely icky. To solve both crises, he seeks advice from a reclining Black Widow (Florence Pugh in a pool, Spidey in mask and pants, a scene that’s as awkward as it sounds), a grumpy Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo, delightfully shambolic), and a fractious bromance with Punisher Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal, doing his usual growly thing).
But the real story is MJ. Peter is obsessed, poor lamb. He stalks her (yes, stalks, not a great look), watches her snog her new boyfriend, and engineers “accidental” meetings with the desperate hope of rekindling something. The scenes between Holland and Zendaya are easily the film’s best. They fizz with pain, longing, and one flash of genuinely grown-up electricity that made me sit up and think, “Oh, we’re not in the Disney Channel anymore.” Zendaya, with her civilian status and unforced self-possession, saves this movie from its own silliness. She’s the anchor. Without her, the whole thing might float off into a cloud of CGI debris.
What works
The visual effects are, as you’d expect, spectacular. Web-swinging through Manhattan has never looked smoother, and the fight choreography is balletic chaos, every punch and twist feels tactile and thrilling. The humour lands more often than it misses, especially in the Black Widow consultation scene, which is pure cringe-comedy gold. New characters are introduced with care, and the body-possession premise is genuinely creepy, offering something darker than the usual “villain wants shiny object” plot.
What doesn’t
It all feels a bit too familiar. For all its “brand new” promises, the film keeps circling the same emotional roundabout. Peter punches bad guys, angsts over his double life, repeat. The apocalyptic city destruction, while visually impressive, starts to feel like digital wallpaper. And the script occasionally leans so hard on past glories that it forgets to build new ones. The film flirts with a Cronenberg-style body horror for Peter’s migraines, but pulls its punches, a braver movie would have gone full The Fly. Meanwhile, the Punisher subplot feels bolted on, like a grumpy uncle who wandered in from a completely different film.
Family-friendliness
Here’s the bit you really want to know. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a 12A, and it earns that certificate. The body-possession stuff is unsettling – think parasite-host vibes rather than cartoon villainy. There’s a fair bit of intense, close-quarters fighting, and while the blood is minimal, the threat level is high. Peter’s psychological distress is also quite raw; Holland sells the panic attacks convincingly enough that sensitive younger viewers might find it a bit much. Then there’s the mild swearing, the stalking behaviour (which might need a conversation afterwards), and one moment of sexual tension that’s definitely more Euphoria than Homecoming. I’d say 12 and up is about right, but know your kid. My teen niece would love it; my 11-year-old would have nightmares about the possession scenes.
The verdict
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is an entertaining, often exhilarating swing through familiar territory, elevated by a magnetic Zendaya, a game Tom Holland, and some genuinely spooky new ideas. It’s not the radical reboot the franchise probably needs, and I can’t help feeling that the Spider-Verse animations are still doing more interesting things with the character. But as a summer blockbuster that balances heart, horror, and humour, it does the job. Go for the spectacle, stay for Zendaya, and maybe have a chat about personal boundaries on the drive home.
London Mums’ Rating: 7/10 A fun but slightly dusty new dawn.
In cinemas rom 29 July 2026. Run time approximately 148 minutes. Certificate 12A.
The trailer
I am a mother of two teenagers and a London Mums magazine’s contributor. I review attractions, movies, restaurants, toys. In my profile picture, I am together with my partner in crime and London Mums’ editor Monica Costa.
