The splendid maturity of Spiderman, the hero who grows up

BarcelonaIn the still innocent Marvel of the early 70s, a phenomenon unprecedented in superhero comics occurred in the Spiderman series: the protagonist grew up. Scriptwriter Gerry Conway, who had joined the series at just 19 years old, confronted Peter Parker with the complexity of adult relationships and the tragedy of the death of his first great love, Gwen Stacy. Over time, the publisher decided that growing characters wasn't good for business and could alienate readers: it was better to keep superheroes frozen in an eternal present and exploit their iconicity without deep changes that altered their essence. Well, in the new cinematic installment of the superhero, which arrived in theaters on Wednesday, something similar has happened: Spiderman has ceased to be that inexperienced and excitable teenager that Tony Stark recruited as a substitute for the Avengers and has become a sad and lonely young adult, tormented by the sacrifice he made at the end of "Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), when everyone, including his girlfriend, magically forgot about Peter Parker's existence.

Spider-man: Brand New Day, the fourth installment of the Tom Holland era presents us with a Spider-Man without family or friends, dedicated 24 hours a day to fighting crime, a workaholic from a manual to whom even his trusted contact in the police (Liza Colón-Zayas, the Latina cook from The bear) recommends that he take a break and socialize a bit. But with whom? The closest thing to a friend he has is The Punisher (a magnificent Jon Bernthal, also a recurring supporting character in The bear), Marvel's quintessential sociopathic anti-hero. Isolation and frustration take their toll on the hero and his spider-like DNA begins to go haywire, but there's no time to go to the psychologist, because a mysterious telepath is puzzling the New York police and the only one who can stop him seems to be Spiderman.

Holland's initial great success was to recover the adolescent essence of Peter Parker. But after appearing in three Marvel ensemble films (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), and starring in four installments of the Spiderman saga, it was logical that the character would mature. After all, in the 10 years he has been running through the Marvel universe, he has seen his mentor (Tony Stark) and his Aunt May die, he himself has died and been resurrected, and he has had to give up love and friendship. In fact, the current Spiderman saga is proving to be a superheroic

Boyhood where the passage of time and life changes have a central role. And after so many cliché superhero films where the only thing at stake is the fate of the planet, it is refreshing to see a story about a character catching their breath and finding their place in the world. In this regard, Holland's performance is impeccable and nuanced, and definitively confirms him as the best possible Spiderman: as convincing in the dramatic register as he is when cracking jokes while grappling with the Hulk, the Punisher, or a ninja cult.

Another good piece of news from Spider-man: Brand New Day is the direction of Destin Daniel Cretton, who takes over from Jon Watts, director of the previous three films. With Cretton, the staging regains a momentum we haven't seen since the days of Sam Raimi, and the action scenes are more solid, with CGI far above the usual digital mess of the studio's films. Another usual complaint about Marvel is the excess of gratuitous appearances by other heroes from the house, but in the new Spiderman the cameos of Hulk and other characters – some surprising – do not detract, but rather – especially Bernthal's Punisher – add interest to the story. Perhaps because Spiderman has always been a character who lends himself to crossovers, and even had a series, Marvel Team-Up, where each issue he teamed up with a different hero. Be that as it may, in Marvel's 2026, a film is nothing more than another piece within a more complex and ensemble mechanism. The question is to achieve, as in Brand New Day, that this works in favor of the narrative, and not against it.

Less satisfying is the abuse of montages from previous installments, the excessive duration of the third act, and the expendable flashbacks to explain the origin and motivations of the film's enigmatic antagonist, with whom Spiderman ends up having more in common than it seems. Zendaya's MJ doesn't have a major role in this installment, but when she and Holland share the screen, amnesiac or not, sparks always fly. But Spider-man: Brand new day resists pushing the envelope to close its love story, because it knows there's still ground to cover in the Spiderman saga. And it's appreciated that a superhero blockbuster looks to the future and builds a relationship without rushing. Just as the gesture of using documentary images of New York in the final credits is also appreciated; one way as any other to apologize to the city of Spiderman for having shot a good part of the film in Glasgow.