“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” Review : What critics and fans are saying

What the critics are saying

Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer settled at 91% once the review embargo lifted, according to Forbes. The score moved between 89% and 92% through the week as more notices arrived. That’s still the lowest of Holland’s four Spider-Man films with critics — just behind Spider-Man: No Way Home’s 93%, Spider-Man: Homecoming’s 92% and Spider-Man: Far From Home’s 91%.

Metacritic tells a similar story: Brand New Day holds a 70 out of 100 on the site’s critic-reviews page, roughly in line with the three previous Holland-led films, which scored between 69 and 73.

Most reviews single out Destin Daniel Cretton‘s direction and Holland’s performance. Rotten Tomatoes’ own roundup of early notices called it one of the highlights of the whole franchise, a line from William Bibbiani of The Wrap.

“One of the highlights of the whole franchise.” William Bibbiani, The Wrap — via Rotten Tomatoes

Hoai-Tran Bui of Inverse called it an emotionally stirring, dynamically directed Spider-Man movie. Allison Rose of FlickDirect said it lived up to its billing as one of the year’s most anticipated releases.

A Forbes round-up of the reviews found similar warmth. Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence called it a remarkably coherent, often joyful film. USA Today’s Brian Truitt found it a little more thoughtful than the average Marvel entry, even if not the most rambunctious of Holland’s four outings.

The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw enjoyed the spectacle but missed the novelty of the more experimental Spider-Verse animated films. One Metacritic-aggregated review likened its tone to a comic-book Empire Strikes Back — less breezy than No Way Home, but carrying more emotional weight. Not every trade was won over: Variety’s notice was the most skeptical of the majors, describing the film as overstuffed and straining for effect in places. Ruffalo’s Hulk cameo is widely read as connective tissue for December’s Avengers: Doomsday, which BriefLedger covered from Shanghai’s Marvel expo.

What fans and audiences think

Audiences have responded even more warmly than critics did. Rotten Tomatoes’ verified audience score sits at 98%, tying Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for the highest in MCU history. CinemaScore’s opening-night exit polls gave the film an A, and it holds 8.2 out of 10 on IMDb — the best mark of any Holland-led Spider-Man film.

Fans posting reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have been just as effusive. One, going by Antwone, called it spectacular or maybe even sensational. Another, mongo, praised Jon Bernthal’s Punisher storyline and said the swinging and action were the best of any Spider-Man film yet.

Metacritic’s official account on X confirmed the Metascore of 70 on 28 July, shortly after the first 26 critic reviews were logged (Metacritic, @metacritic, X, 28 July 2026). Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes draw on different pools of critics, so the exact figures never quite match — but the overall pattern holds across every platform: audiences are rating Brand New Day higher than professional critics did.

A record-breaking opening weekend

Sony’s US preview screenings brought in $72 million, beating the $60 million record Avengers: Endgame set in 2019, according to Deadline. Friday ticket sales, previews included, were tracking toward $167 million to $173 million — again ahead of Endgame’s previous first-day mark.

Analysts expect the domestic opening weekend to land between $260 million and $330 million, well above Sony’s own conservative estimate of $195 million, per Variety. A global opening near $465 million would make it Sony’s second-biggest debut ever, behind only 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Final figures are due Monday.

The result caps a big few weeks for Holland and Zendaya, who also topped the box office together this summer in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey — BriefLedger’s review is here.

The UK angle: two days early, rated 12A

UK and Irish cinemas got Brand New Day on 29 July, two days ahead of the US. The British Board of Film Classification rated it 12A, meaning under-12s can attend only with an adult; in the US, it carries the equivalent PG-13 rating from the MPA.

Cinema advertising firm Pearl & Dean forecast a UK and Ireland opening weekend of £14 million to £18 million, with a full theatrical run worth £40 million to £55 million, according to Boxoffice Pro. That would land above Holland’s first two solo outings — Homecoming’s £30.8 million and Far From Home’s £37.4 million total UK and Irish grosses — but below Spider-Man: No Way Home’s record £97.3 million.

Holland remains the UK’s biggest stake in the franchise. The Kingston-upon-Thames-born actor now has more solo outings as Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield, having played Peter Parker across four films since 2017.

Behind Brand New Day: cast and crew

Destin Daniel Cretton directs from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers — his second Marvel film after 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, Avi Arad and Rachel O’Connor produced, with the film shot partly on location in Glasgow.

Holland and Zendaya lead the cast as Peter Parker and MJ, alongside Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds and Marisa Tomei as May Parker. New arrivals include Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Jon Bernthal as the Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and Michael Mando as Scorpion.

The story picks up after No Way Home’s memory-wiping finale, with Peter fighting crime full time in a city that no longer remembers him. BriefLedger’s earlier coverage of the film’s poster reveal and practical stunt work has more on the production.