Superhero fatigue looks a whole lot less real after Spider-Man: Brand New Day – or, at least, that’s true for the top tier of superheroes. Insidious 6 may have snapped Brand New Day‘s box office streak, but Destin Daniel Cretton’s MCU masterpiece still looks set to break every record going. Brand New Day features stand-out performances, incredible fight choreography, and a thematic richness we’ve rarely seen in the MCU before. By the end of Brand New Day, we’ve swung through a spectacular character arc for Spider-Man himself.
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That richness comes from a tremendous script, one that’s unusually character-focused for the MCU. Yes, there’s still spectacle and adventure, but Brand New Day‘s script – credited to Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers – is remarkably cohesive. Every cameo serves as a thematic mirror to Spider-Man himself; Bruce Banner rejects his own duality, Jean Grey requires connection as surely as Spider-Man himself, and Punisher represents the loner hero Spider-Man should never be. But I think the true genius here – and the secret to Brand New Day‘s success – lies in a major “fix” in Jon Watts’ No Way Home.
Spider-Man’s “Ghost” is the Key to His Story
“Why are you doing this?” That was Tony Stark’s question in Captain America: Civil War, and Peter Parker’s answer skirted around a very familiar line. “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen… They happen because of you.” We never got a proper origin story for the MCU’s Spider-Man, but this alluded to everything we needed to know; Peter had stood by and chosen not to act, bad things had happened, and he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Something in Peter’s past “haunted” him.
I use that word “haunted” quite deliberately. When writers are crafting a character, they often design them with something called a “ghost” or “wound.” We are all products of our past, and the most compelling characters are ones who have been wounded by something that happened to them. Perhaps they lost their parents, meaning they’ve been raised by their aunt and uncle (Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter). Maybe they were experimented on, stripped of their humanity and turned into a weapon (Wolverine). The ghosts and wounds are often traumatic.
Spider-Man is often cited as one of the best of the lot. Modern films and comics have stressed that anybody can become Spider-Man; all they need is a spider-bite. But Peter Parker is different, unique, because his character is shaped by tragedy. In the comics, Peter initially misused those powers. His beloved Uncle Ben died as a result, and ever since, he’s lived to a simple code: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Peter will forever be haunted by the ghost of his past mistakes. He’s defined by them.
Spider-Man’s Origin Story Is More Than a Ghost… It’s Also a Lie
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
But the best writers go one step further. You see, the ghost or the wound tends to establish what writers call “the lie.” In their Negative Trait Thesaurus (a tool for writers), Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi explain it like this:
“Wounds are often kept secret from others because embedded within them is the lie – an untruth that the character believes about himself. He may think that he deserved what happened to him, or that he’s unworthy of affection, love or happiness, etc. Self-blame and feelings of shame are usually deeply embedded within the lie, generating fears that compel him to change his behavior in order to keep from being hurt again.”
You may be surprised to hear that, again, Spider-Man is the perfect example. “With great power comes great responsibility” contains the seeds of a lie; because you are powerful, you are responsible for everything that happens around you. Rather than responsibility, Peter often drifts towards guilt. Whenever tragedy strikes – as it inevitably will for any superhero – Peter takes it all on his own shoulders. At times, he’s taken it to ridiculous extremes; at one point, he swore that whenever Spider-Man was around, no-one would ever die. Needless to say, it was a promise to himself he couldn’t keep.
The MCU’s Spider-Man Didn’t Have a Ghost or a Lie… Until No Way Home
Image via Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures
Civil War suggested Peter Parker had a “ghost,” and his comment to Tony Stark even hinted at the lie. But, oddly, that was dropped. Marvel can be forgiven for not telling Spider-Man’s origin story; we have seen it before, after all. More surprising, though, was the fact it was never even alluded to again. There’s no trace of a ghost or lie in Spider-Man: Homecoming. In Far From Home, Peter is haunted by Tony Stark’s death. Uncle Ben? Well, he probably doesn’t even exist in the MCU (notice that May has a solitary grace, not one next to a husband).
All that changed with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Aunt May died, not Uncle Ben, and she uttered those famous words – words of wisdom that nonetheless placed such a great burden on her nephew. At the same time, Peter chose to erase all memory of his existence from the MCU; people remembered Spider-Man, but not Peter Parker. He committed himself to the lie, dismissing his personal happiness as unimportant. He committed to the lie, keeping other people at a distance rather than choosing connection. He feared being hurt again.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a Complete Character Arc
Image via Marvel studios/sony pictures
In the best stories, the ghost and the lie serve as setup for an incredible character arc where the hero must confront them both and move beyond them. That, fundamentally, is what’s going on in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Spider-Man has slipped into a new status quo, one where he barely lives as Peter Parker at all, disinterested in human connection because he doesn’t dare get close to someone and get hurt again. Despite this, he still grieves for what he’s lost. He still cyber-stalks Ned and MJ, watching over them from afar.
Brand New Day is all about the importance of connection. Peter has become all Spider, and no Man, meaning he is diminished; his powers even begin evolving, stripping him of his humanity on a biological level. Worse still, he’s up against an enemy who weaponizes connection against him. Over the course of the film, Spider-Man has to learn how to navigate this; he’s forced to confront the lie. Even better, his triumph becomes the secret to saving the day – because he offers the same gift of connection to Jean Grey.
In narrative terms, Brand New Day gives something Spider-Man hasn’t really had before in the MCU; a sophisticated, cohesive and complete character arc. Everything in the story – every character arc, every spectacular feat, every interaction – points to this narrative. Yes, the plot’s pretty basic, but… people remember characters, not plots, and this is Spider-Man at his best. Little wonder Brand New Day is going from strength to strength.
Marvel Fans Still Have a Major Question About Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Biggest MCU Cameo
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