Story
Four years after Doctor Strange’s spell erased people’s memories of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, Peter (Tom Holland) is anonymously protecting the citizens of New York City.
When a tank drives into the Department of Damage Control (DODC) and causes mayhem, Spider-Man intervenes. He discovers that the driver was telepathically controlled by Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). Jean has repeatedly attacked the DODC, trying to discover the source of V-Max. It turns out that the DODC captured and killed Jean’s sister, Sara, whose final message to Jean was to look for V-Max.
Spider-Man has also discovered he has heightened senses and agility and increased powers through webs in his wrists. He seeks the help of Dr Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who has invented inhibitors to control his transformation into the Hulk, but they don’t always work. Spider-Man comes up against the Hulk on several occasions as well as escaped criminal Mac Gargan/Scorpion (Michael Mando) and Frank Castle/the Punisher (Jon Bernthal), when they’ve been possessed by the telepath.
Meanwhile, Peter Parker meets up with his old girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), and his old friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), neither of whom remember him. Peter is sad to discover that MJ has a new boyfriend, but their paths overlap and a new friendship begins. Peter takes MJ to Frank Castle’s hideout to keep her safe and to use her insight to track down Jean Grey.
When Spider-Man eventually finds Jean and hands her over to the DODC, he realises he has made a mistake and sets out to make things right.
Themes
Superheroes; fantasy; action; telekinesis, telepathy and possession
Violence
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has a lot of violence, although little blood and gore is shown. Examples include:
- punching, kicking and throwing
- fighting with weapons like assault rifles, guns, lasers, grenades, knives, samurai swords and Ninja stars
- multiple explosions and car crashes.
Other examples of violence include the following:
- A tank crashes into a building. The building explodes and collapses.
- Scorpion uses his weaponised tail to attack Spider-Man.
- Scorpion holds Spider-Man by his throat.
- The tank drags Spider-Man along the road. He’s hit by a car.
- A bomb inside the tank explodes.
- Peter is inside a web and falls from a height, landing on the ground in pain.
- Peter bashes his head against a wall.
- The fighting between the Hulk and Spider-Man is particularly intense. The Hulk punches and throws Spider-Man, smashing him against a wall and repeatedly punching him.
- Jean causes a psychic wave to spread over the city, making everyone freeze on the spot.
- A character is shot through the chest with a huge assault weapon.
Sexual references
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has some sexual references. For example, there are references to a romantic relationship between Peter and MJ.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows some use of substances, including people drinking at a party.
Nudity and sexual activity
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- Two couples kiss.
- A woman in a pool has bare shoulders. She invites Peter to take his clothes off and join her. Her strips down to his underwear.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Budweiser.
Coarse language
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a superhero movie based on the Marvel comic book hero Spider-Man and a comic book storyline.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is action packed and likely to appeal to Spider-Man fans, but it has a lot of violence, making it unsuitable for children aged under 12 years. It’s better suited to teenage and adult viewers.
The main messages from Spider-Man: Brand New Day are that even superheroes need friends and that you don’t have to do it alone in this world.
Values in Spider-Man: Brand New Day that you could reinforce with your children include bravery, courage, friendship, collaboration and heroism.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the following:
- Superheroes and superpowers are fictional, and it’s best not to copy them.
- Real heroes are normal people who act bravely in difficult circumstances and who do good deeds to help others.