August 11, 2026 — 7:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. AAA Anyone with even the slightest Spidey sense knew Spider-Man: Brand New Day would do well at the box office. The three previous Tom Holland-led films were warmly received, and its
Anyone with even the slightest Spidey sense knew Spider-Man: Brand New Day would do well at the box office. The three previous Tom Holland-led films were warmly received, and its record-breaking trailer drop in March sent superhero fans into a frenzy.
But the movie didn’t just do well at the box office, it absolutely smashed it. Destin Daniel Cretton’s film enjoyed the best US domestic opening weekend ever, grossing $US360 ($510) million, and beating 2019’s previous heavy-hitter, Avengers: Endgame ($US357 million). After just over a week in cinemas, it had already surpassed $US1 billion globally.
In Australia, the movie recorded the biggest opening weekend of the year, surpassing Disney’s Toy Story 5. It grossed $30.43 million on its opening weekend – the second-best result ever, behind only Avengers: Endgame’s $34.1 million.
These results are even more impressive against the current state of superhero fare. According to data from the FranchiseRe industry newsletter, annual box office revenue for superhero movies is down by an average of $US3.5 billion, about half of the pre-pandemic peak from 2017-19.
Audiences are fatigued by capes, spandex and multiverses, whether that’s because of the sheer overload of content, or perhaps due to new C and D-list superheroes taking over screens. Brand New Day, however, appears to have beaten these odds, generating major excitement around a genre that has fallen flat.
So, how has Spidey overcome the superhero slump?
No ensemble? Yes, please
The superhero genre loves an ensemble. This only intensified when Avengers: Infinity War smashed the box office in 2018, triggering a slew of multi-hero Marvel titles such as Eternals, Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and DC’s The Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Even the previous Spider-Man film, No Way Home, featured something of a “semi-ensemble”, pulling in previous Spideys Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Brand New Day, however, drew it way back. The sole focus is on Peter Parker – after all, the world no longer remembers him, ridding him of his trusted mentors and pals, and giving him little choice but to propel the film largely on his own.
Stripping a superhero film back to a sole protagonist – an extremely isolated one, at that – creates space to understand Parker’s internal turmoil and his deep longing for connection, feelings most of us can relate to, especially post-pandemic.
With less multiverse madness, the film remains entirely character-driven. In fact, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Tom Rothman, told The Los Angeles Times the film is about a “superperson” rather than a “superhero”.
And Spider-Man was arguably the ideal superperson in which to invest. Since first appearing on screen in an animated TV series in 1967, he’s proven to be a lucrative character, attracting not only comic book fans (the first comic book appearance was in 1962), but also casual movie-goers and even families (all live-action Spider-Man feature films are internationally rated PG-13). Having attained his arachnid powers while still in high school, Parker brings a youthful energy to what can sometimes be a grim genre. His is ultimately a coming-of-age story, a narrative-style that has demonstrated time again to work across all four quadrants.
Back to basics
Brand New Day hasn’t just stripped back the characters. The entire film returns to Spider-Man’s street-level roots, focusing on New York City’s more localised crime rather than world-ending chaos. He’s our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, after all. This hearkens back to earlier, pre-MCU titles, such as Blade (1998), which grounded itself in a gritty urban environment where underground crime syndicates posed the biggest threat.
Its visual style feels more grounded, too. Cretton, who helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Wonder Man, consciously chose to shoot on location, including in Glasgow and a UK prison.
He also opted against an overload of CGI, which has become the norm for most superhero fare (looking at you, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania). Instead, much of Brand New Day is executed practically, such as the fully functional subway car built especially for the movie, as well as Holland’s largely unenhanced physical stunts. Given concerns around AI and the excitement for directors like Christopher Nolan using practical effects, it’s clear audiences increasingly yearn to see the actual craft behind movie-making alongside a killer story.
No homework required
One of the main gripes superhero fans have these days is the overload of content. To understand an upcoming film, there’s a massive backlog of other movies and TV shows you need to watch first.
In Brand New Day’s case, however, there’s very little to catch up on. Sure, there are three previous Holland-led titles (Homecoming, Far From Home and No Way Home), but Marvel gave us a solid four-year break after the previous instalment. That’s ample catch-up time for even for the busiest fans.
In fact, you don’t even really need to have seen the first three films. No one remembers Parker in Brand New Day, meaning the slate is wiped almost entirely clean. Some may wish to familiarise themselves with certain Marvel properties such as Damage Control or The Punisher, but beyond that, the film largely stands on its own.
Tom Holland mania
He acts, dances, does acrobatics – he’s even known to dabble in woodwork. Tom Holland has come into his own recently, impressing audiences with his talent range and genuinely likeable off-screen charm. His penchant for high-fiving kids on red carpets and teasing himself in interviews gels well with fans, and makes his turn as Spider-Man – a character known for youthful innocence – even more believable.
He exudes so much talent that he’s even been cast to embody Fred Astaire in Paul King’s upcoming biopic about the debonair dancer. This casting is off the back of a blockbuster season for Holland, who has just completed promotional tours for Nolan’s The Odyssey and Brand New Day, each very different films that have both stormed the box office. It is suggested his range and ability to command attention on the big screen could send him on a similar trajectory as other A-list stars like Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Pattinson or even Tom Cruise.
The Tomdaya effect
What’s better than Tom Holland? Tom Holland and Zendaya. The pair hard-launched their marriage shortly before Brand New Day’s promotional tour, confirming they had quietly wed earlier this year. The duo, who aptly star as lovers in the Spider-Man films, began dating around 2016, but have always kept their relationship private, something fans have come to interpret as proof of their genuine connection.
In interviews, Holland has called Zendaya a “saving grace” on set and said she “makes every scene better”. Though MJ (played by Zendaya) technically doesn’t know who Spider-Man is in Brand New Day, fans still presumably feel like they’re watching the couple’s love story play out on screen, providing them a glimpse into the down-to-earth dynamic between the ultra-private pair.
Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.
Nell Geraets is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
For more tech updates, stay tuned to our blog.
