This article contains spoilers for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Unsurprisingly, the new “Spider-Man” movie is packed full of Easter eggs and nods. Like any proper superhero movie, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” includes plenty of cameos from other Marvel characters and references events from other movies you might not have seen (or, in the case of a “Thunderbolts*” nod, definitely haven’t seen, judging by its box office failure).
The film’s biggest achievement, in addition to delivering a phenomenal Peter Parker story worthy of Sam Raimi, is making it all work. Whether it’s giving Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk a supporting role, or Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova making a delightfully funny appearance, or Jon Bernthal’s Punisher being a surprising breakout role — the movie truly feels like part of a lived-in superhero universe where every reference to other Marvel characters and stories feels organic and adds to the main plot.
But it’s not exclusive to the Marvel Cinematic Universe; it also draws on other pieces of pop culture. Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker are still huge “Star Wars” LEGO fans, for instance, but Ned also comes out as a big anime fan in the movie, sporting a “Naruto” poster in his room.
Sure, this is just part of anime becoming more mainstream in the last decade and a half, with many huge films now acknowledging or referencing anime, like “Superman” doing the Yamcha death pose to the third act of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” being an “Attack on Titan” reference. It makes sense that Ned would be into anime, but it’s more than that — it is also a nod to the fact that “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” director Destin Daniel Cretton is making a “Naruto” movie next.
Destin Daniel Cretton has the sauce to make Naruto work
Yes, the super popular manga and anime series “Naruto” is the latest franchise to get the live-action treatment — or at least get announced as getting the live-action treatment. The last 10 years have seen Hollywood obsessively announce anime live-action adaptations after anime live-action adaptation, with every franchise from “One Piece” and “Attack on Titan” to “My Hero Academia” and even “Your Name” all being announced as getting live-action adaptations. Out of all of these, only “One Piece” actually got made into a live-action series, and a really good one at that! The “Your Name” adaptation with “Minari” director Lee Isaac Chung? Stuck in development hell. “One Punch Man” from Justin Lin? Not a single word since its initial announcement. “My Hero Academia” is supposedly being worked on at Netflix, but who knows if that will ever happen.
As of now, it seems “Naruto” is moving ahead, with Lionsgate launching a worldwide casting search for the film’s three leads . That still doesn’t guarantee the movie will make it to theaters or even get to production, but it’s a good start
After watching “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” however, the idea of Destin Daniel Cretton being in charge does at least feel a bit reassuring for the live-action “Naruto.” If we have to get a live-action “Naruto,” then the guy who managed to give us the best webslinging action and a really great marriage of VFX and virtual sets with practical stunts and on-location shooting feels like the best possible person to be in charge of the project.
And if “Naruto” never really gets made, well, at least it will live on as a poster in Ned’s room in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
