Through the years, Spider-Man fans have seen various elements of the wall-crawler make it to the big screen. First came Tobey Maguire’s boy-next-door take on Peter Parker, followed by Andrew Garfield’s cooler kick-flipping version, before the MCU introduced Tom Holland’s decisively teenaged iteration, following the character through high school. (Plus, of course, we’ve had Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films too.) But the arrival of Spider-Man: Brand New Day will take Holland’s Parker into a new era: now a fully-fledged Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man operating in New York City, isolated from his friends – and Zendaya’s MJ – since the world no longer remembers who he is (courtesy of some Doctor Strange sorcery).
As Marvel boss Kevin Feige explains, it sets the stage for perhaps the most comics-accurate Spidey yet. “It is the first Spider-Man film that we’ve made in the MCU that is focused on the classic elements of Spider-Man,” Feige tells Empire in our world-exclusive Brand New Day issue. “He’s doing the Spidey thing of living in a rather sad, small apartment, listening to the police scanner and going out and using his great power responsibly.”
In the absence of his friends – and following the losses of Aunt May and Tony Stark – Brand New Day sees Peter burying himself in his web-slinging work, while his powers undergo strange transformations. “He is dedicating his entire existence to his job. That’s the core theme that I find incredibly relatable,” says director Destin Daniel Cretton. “I think most people at certain points in our lives have gone through loss. At least for me, and I think for many people, the result can be: ‘Screw it. I’m just going to work. I’m going to do nothing else but work.’ That’s obviously not the most healthy state.”
The hope is to get deeper under Peter Parker’s skin than ever before – – still with all the thrills fans expect from a big summer Spidey blockbuster. “[Brand New Day] is a more internal movie,” producer Amy Pascal teases, “and the bigness of it is emotional, not worlds exploding.” Get ready for Spider-Man’s all-new evolution.
Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.
