From the (Sub) stacks: 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Review
Don’t worry. They’re married in real life.
Let that thought comfort you as the Marvel Cinematic Universe gives us one of its more humanistic depictions of superhero life in some time with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Ever since the MCU remembered that Spider-Man, not Ant-Man, is the one who has traditionally been Marvel’s relatable working class underdog and wiped all memory of Peter Parker from the on-screen world in No Way Home, he’s been left to pick up the pieces as best as he could.
Complete isolation is never a realistic end game, so as Zendaya’s MJ and Tom Holland’s Spidey circle each other and fumble through reconnecting in Brand New Day, it actually is quite comforting (to a surprising degree) to remember that the media darlings are married in real life. As sad as Peter’s self-imposed separation is, he’s also the superhero we recognize for maybe the first time, mostly cut off from his wealthy and well-connected benefactors and mentors as he swings through New York City trying to do good and hustle to make the bare minimum to eke out his relatively meager living conditions.
That’s not to say that his former superpowered circle doesn’t come in handy when a powerful new threat emerges (after a quick montage of the rogues’ gallery he’s helped put a stop to), and this one is striking right at the heart. And it’s not only MJ who’s at risk, but his former bestie Ned (Jacob Batalon), both of whom he’s been keeping up with via social media. Having kept his distance from them, ostensibly for their safety, this proves to be the perfect excuse to actually stop being a well-meaning idiot and put himself in their vicinity again.
