And Brand New Day Shows What He's Learned Since Civil War

By Sean O'Connell

With all due respect to Obsession, Backrooms and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the Hollywood story of 2026 has to be the gangbusters success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Tom Holland’s fourth solo Spidey film enjoyed an historic weekend at the box office, toppling a record once held by the behemoth that is Avengers: Endgame.

Which happened to be directed by the two gentlemen who hired Holland to play Peter Parker in the first place!

“Spider Man was one of my favorite characters growing up. If not my favorite,” Joe Russo told CBR during a Q-and-A interview we conducted on behalf of Captain America: Civil War, a movie that turned 10 years old this year.

The Russos and Holland have done significant work together toward shaping the version of Spider-Man that fans see on screen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This interpretation of Peter Parker has a very strong sense of community, sharing with his fellow Spider heroes during the culmination of Spider-Man: No Way Home, “I have been in a team, OK? I don’t want to brag, but I will. I was in the Avengers!” Holland, of course, is referring to the role he played in both Avengers: Infinity War and its culmination, Avengers: Endgame.

Thanks to MCU Peter Parker’s relationship with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Holland is also able to assume the role of a mentor. This becomes crucial as Brand New Day evolves, and the addition of Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) needs help and guidance the most. This seems to be a big reason why Brand New Day doesn’t escalate to a grandiose CGI battle in its final act, but leans into the mature, emotional connections forged between two significant characters. Which is another trick Holland likely picked up working on Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame.

“There are so many really big emotional scenes in this movie. Trying to find something that felt relatable all the way through, even in the third act… it’s kind of a big swing to have a third-act climax with two people sitting on a bed having a conversation,” Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton told Deadline. “Until we had that scene, I was up all night. I was like, ‘I don’t want to have this movie that feels so powerful emotionally and then suddenly end with just a typical climax of Spider-Man versus ninjas.’”

It’s clear to me that Tom Holland needs to play a significant role in Marvel’s cinematic future. The end credits do promise that Spider-Man will return, and we expect the hero to show up in one of massive productions Joe and Anthony Russo have planned: Avengers: Doomsday in December, and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.

But by looking ahead, it’s wild to me how many MCU threads carrying the narrative forward can be traced back a decade to the success of the decisions made in Captain America: Civil War.

Spidey And Black Panther Share Their Debut

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the fourth MCU Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland in the lead. But at the same time, it’s the ninth chapter in the ongoing Spider-Man saga that also traces back through Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s films. And it’s the 38th Marvel Cinematic Universe film – which blows my mind – and very much the product of the stories that came before it.

This Peter Parker has been through some painful experiences in the past 10 years. And audiences won’t fully appreciate the emotional journey that Holland’s Peter Parker is going through on screen in Brand New Day unless they have been following along with the steps that first started in Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: Civil War.

Which is amusing because the Russo brothers told CBR that they initially cast Holland so that he’d bring the opposite vibe to the MCU.

As Joe Russo explained:

“Holland's bringing this lightness and outsider perspective (to Civil War). Like the rookie who can't believe he’s playing with the ‘96 Chicago Bulls. So you get that ‘Aw Shucks’ kind of wonder from him, and then Chadwick (Boseman) is ratcheting up that third act, and you're not sure that Bucky's going to make it out of the movie alive.”

Yes, Captain America: Civil War also marked the cinematic introduction of Chadwick Boseman’s interpretation of Black Panther. And what an introduction it was. The 42 star brought an immediate sense of power and gravitas to the part of T’Challa, a member of Wakandan royalty who’s thrust into a vengeance mission when an explosion kills his father.

“We loved working with him,” Joe Russo told CBR. “We did 21 Bridges with him after this movie. He brought such an elegance to the role. It’s an iconic portrayal of the character.”

And one that also will play a major part in the MCU’s future. As was revealed during Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic Con panel in Hall H, one of the movies slated to open after Avengers: Secret Wars will be Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 3. And in that sequel, The Long Walk standout David Jonsson will assume the role of T’Challa’s son as he takes on the daunting challenge of becoming the new Black Panther.

The next phase of MCU storytelling might be called The Mutant Saga. But it also will rely heavily on Spider-Man and Black Panther, two characters who shared their cinematic debut 10 years ago in Captain America: Civil War.

The Maturity That Brand New Day Needed

It struck me on a second viewing, however, the shared DNA that Spider-Man: Brand New Day has with a movie like Captain America: Civil War… and again, I have to credit Tom Holland for lessons the star appears to have learned.

It has been reported that Holland was unhappy with several early versions of the treatment for a planned Spider-Man 4. Some rumors suggest that the movie could have been a larger multiversal story, while others point to the introduction of the alien symbiote, putting Holland on the fast track to wearing that signature black-and-white Spidey suit.

It was during CBR’s conversation with the Russo brothers that I realized this emotional construction was something they held in high regard when building Civil War. I brought up the moment in Civil War when Cap and Iron Man, during their third-act confrontation, recreate the famous cover image from the Marvel Comics – the moment where Cap and Iron Man strike each other and create an explosive flair.

But, as Joe Russo points out, that scene only impacts the audience because they have bought into the characters. As Russo told CBR:

You were either going to get that moment – which is really powerful, and we're still talking about now – or you would have got them fighting five Super Soldiers in a nuclear bomb set piece. It's incalculable how different (those scenarios) are, and the fuel and the energy that they gave to the stories moving forward after them.

Which brings me back around to Spider-Man. The new Brand New Day ends on a note of hope, as Ned and Peter share their signature handshake, and the former suggests he finally remembers the latter. But there are so many character-driven building blocks established in Brand New Day that are basically begging to be explored in future Spider-Man movies – and in the MCU, as a whole.

Did Spider-Man create the technology that will allow Damage Control, or other powerful organizations, to negate mutant power? Where was Jean going at the end of Brand New Day? What happened to The Hulk, and what impact will Jean’s manipulations have on Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo)? Like Ned, does MJ remember Peter now? This is indicated by the tear MJ sheds while she is under Jean’s spell, as well as her return to the rooftop where she and Peter would spend time.

And where, off planet, did Spider-Man go?

I think that Spider-Man: Brand New Day calls back to important narrative lessons that Holland has learned from his time in the MCU. I think that fans received the type of movie that can topple Avengers: Endgame BECAUSE Holland was part of those larger MCU movies, and a contributor to the universe, in general.

And I think that, in Holland’s hands, the MCU will thrive for years to come.