SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY Isn’t Repeating SPIDER-MAN 3’s Biggest Mistake, Despite the Early Complaints
With Spider-Man: Brand New Day finally arriving this week, early reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, calling it another strong chapter in the MCU's Spider-Man saga.
Alongside that praise, though, one complaint has started making the rounds. Some people believe the movie makes the same mistake as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 by packing in too many villains.
I don't buy that criticism. On the surface, it's easy to understand why people are making the comparison. There are a lot of characters in Brand New Day, and the cast is packed with heroes, supporting players, and Spider-Man rogues.
But simply having a large ensemble doesn't automatically make a movie overcrowded. What matters is how those characters serve the story. That's where Brand New Day succeeds.
The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously brought the MCU Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to life. Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, with Zendaya and Jacob Batalon also back alongside newcomers Sadie Sink, Liza Colón-Zayas, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, and others.
Some early reactions have suggested Marvel Studios didn't learn from the problems that held back Raimi's 2007 Spider-Man 3. That movie has remained one of the most divisive Spider-Man films because it tried to balance several major villains at once.
The story revolved around Eddie Brock becoming Venom, played by Topher Grace, while also giving major attention to Thomas Haden Church's Sandman and James Franco's Harry Osborn as New Goblin, continuing his quest to avenge his father, Norman Osborn, played by Willem Dafoe.
Instead of building toward one central conflict, the movie often bounced from one villain confrontation to another, making everything feel more fragmented than focused.
That's the comparison people are making with Brand New Day. The difference is that this movie doesn't actually have the same storytelling problem.
Yes, there are plenty of recognizable villains and familiar faces. Yes, Hulk even enters the picture at one point. But those characters aren't all competing to be the main antagonist. They all connect back to one central force driving the story.
Without getting into spoilers, Sadie Sink's character serves as the movie's true villain. The other villains are largely pieces being moved around the board as she works toward uncovering the answers she's searching for.
They're part of the larger conflict, but they aren't all demanding equal attention or pulling the story in different directions. That's a huge distinction.
A movie can feature a dozen recognizable characters and still tell a focused story if everyone has a clear purpose. Brand New Day understands that. Rather than feeling like several different movies stitched together, everything feeds into the same core narrative surrounding Peter Parker and the mystery unfolding around him.
That's why the comparisons to Spider-Man 3 don't really hold up.
It's also worth remembering that comic book movies have evolved quite a bit since 2007. Audiences have become accustomed to ensemble storytelling, and Marvel has shown plenty of times that multiple major characters can coexist without overwhelming the narrative when they're handled correctly.
That's exactly what happens here. Every returning character and every villain has a reason to be part of the story. Nobody feels like they're simply checking a box because they're a recognizable Spider-Man character. Even with a crowded cast, Peter Parker remains the emotional center of the movie from beginning to end.
In the end, Spider-Man: Brand New Day doesn't repeat Spider-Man 3's biggest mistake. It may feature a large roster of characters, but it tells a focused story with one primary villain pulling the strings. That's a very different approach than throwing several unrelated antagonists at Spider-Man and hoping everything sticks.
Sometimes a movie looks crowded from the outside. Once the full story comes together, though, it's clear that having a lot of characters isn't the same thing as having too many. Brand New Day proves there's a big difference.