With Brand New Day, Spider-Man is finally back in theaters. Although MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes was initially skeptical, the film convinced him. This is partly due to the Hulk, who is better than ever.
On July 29, Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiered in Germany, and I was skeptical. Contrary to the opinion of many fans, I do not like No Way Home at all, and Tom Holland has not completely convinced me so far. But the new film surprised me.
Brand New Day is not only incredibly fun, but an old hero finally makes a worthy appearance after 18 years: the Hulk.
Marvel finally understands
In 2024, I mourned the Hulk in the MCU. Marvel has not been able to extract anything satisfying from the incredibly interesting and tragic character so far – the huge potential has not been properly utilized. When it became known that the Hulk would appear in Brand New Day, I was actually annoyed again.
I was sure he would only serve as a plot point to provide a cool opponent
for Spider-Man, while ignoring another series. And, without wanting to spoil anything for you, it kind of leads to that. But in detail, I was impressed and emotionally moved by Bruce Banner, who is again excellently played by Mark Ruffalo.
As the trailers already reveal, the film also deals with a transformation of Peter into a possible monster, a parallel that Bruce Banner has been struggling with for a long time. When Bruce talks about it, he sounds almost sorrowful. He has a device to control it, but you can sense his fear, a fear of smashing everything and hurting people.
The Hulk is no longer a secret weapon against supervillains in Brand New Day; he is a guy who just wants to live a normal life, but cannot due to his burden. There is no gift within him with which to save others. A monster is trapped inside him that hardly anyone can stop.
This creates a tragic example as a contrast to Spider-Man, who struggles with his burdens.
What happens after being a hero
In Brand New Day, Peter no longer has to find out what it means to be a hero. Right from the start, it is clear that the crime-fighting is working really well. He works with the police, and the crime rate has dropped significantly.
But what lies beyond that? He misses his friends, a life away from the mask. Here, the Hulk is a nice contrast because Bruce Banner shows in just small moments that he will probably never have such a life again. Although he is a lecturer at a university, everyone knows he is the Hulk. Not only physically can he not detach himself from him; publicly, he belongs to him as well.
Here, the Punisher as another guest character fits quite well, as he also cannot lead a life outside of his (anti-)heroism. Too much has happened, and he has lost too much.
Brand New Day not only manages to satisfyingly portray the tragedy of the Hulk, at least for me; the film wonderfully integrates him into Spider-Man’s character development, something I did not expect from the MCU anymore.
Have you seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day yet? What did you think of the film? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. The next film in the MCU is Avengers: Doomsday, but Thor has a big problem: The next villain of the Avengers is so powerful that the other Marvel heroes look like losers – with one exception
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