Warning! This post contains mild SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters, and one of its most prominent available viewing formats is ScreenX. Featuring a full 270-degree viewing experience across three screens, ScreenX has gradually become a key competitor with other premium formats like IMAX, Dolby Cinema, D-Box, and 4DX. However, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has just made history with ScreenX in particular.
Overall, ScreenX is an ambitious concept touted as a means of enhancing immersion, though its harshest critics have called it a distracting gimmick. It’s a big reason why Spider-Man: Brand New Day is such an important milestone for the format, having been filmed with ScreenX cameras on the set of the MCU movie for the very first time. As such, I felt like it was well worth checking it out.
After seeing the film in ScreenX myself, here are my thoughts on whether the experience was worth it, and whether I’ll be seeing more movies in the premium format going forward.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Is The First Movie In History Shot Specifically With SCREENX Cameras
In the past, ScreenX (the company) has worked with studios during post-production, using a mix of CGI and second-unit angles to create footage for the two large screens on either side of the main central screen. This provides a full 270-degree view, often for a movie’s biggest action scenes where a greater view can really shine and enhance the visual spectacle on screen. However, this additional footage isn’t always the most detailed compared to what was primarily filmed during principal photography.
For the first time, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures brought dedicated ScreenX cameras onto the set during production, allowing scenes to be filmed with all three screens in mind from the very beginning. Rather than extending shots in post like normal, the expanded image is part of the movie’s original cinematography, the idea being that it will help expanded scenes feel more normal and seamless (rather than being stretched just for the sake of the format).
While all that sounds really great on paper, does the actual viewing experience live up to the hype?
Was My Spider-Man SCREENX Experience Worth It? Absolutely
The biggest compliment I can give to my Spider-Man: Brand New Day ScreenX experience is that I truly did become immersed whenever the expanded view was used.
The 270-degree view is used primarily during the biggest action scenes (where it naturally has the greatest impact), particularly during Spider-Man’s web-swinging scenes and especially the handful of moments where we get Spider-Man’s POV as he swings through the streets of New York. I’ve never felt the sensation of web-swinging on the big screen more. However, the expanded view was also used during some key emotional scenes, giving unique scale to some of the biggest character moments in the new MCU movie.
Friendly Neighborhood Assessment · MCU Era Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Trivia
🏠Homecoming2017
✈️Far From Home2019
🌌No Way Home2021
😈VillainsSinister…
🤖MCUAvengers
01
Before getting his own solo film, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut by being recruited by Tony Stark to help in a massive superhero conflict. In which MCU film did Holland first appear as Spider-Man?
✓ Correct! Tom Holland first appeared as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (2016), where Tony Stark visits Peter in Queens and recruits him for the airport battle against Team Cap. His quippy, starstruck portrayal instantly won over audiences.
✗ Web miss! The answer is Captain America: Civil War. Holland debuted in the 2016 film before Homecoming (2017). He was recruited by Tony Stark for the iconic airport fight scene, stealing Captain America’s shield with his webs in one of the film’s most memorable moments.
02
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter faces a blue-collar salvage contractor who turned to arms dealing after being shut out of the Chitauri cleanup by Damage Control. Using an alien-tech wingsuit, he becomes one of Spider-Man’s most grounded villains. Who is he?
✓ Correct! Adrian Toomes, played brilliantly by Michael Keaton, is the Vulture — a working-class father who builds a criminal empire selling alien-derived weapons. The twist that he’s the father of Peter’s date Liz is one of the MCU’s best surprises.
✗ Web miss! The answer is The Vulture (Adrian Toomes). The Shocker and Tinkerer are his henchmen in the film, and Scorpion (Mac Gargan) only briefly appears. Toomes is the main antagonist who personally confronts Peter in the unforgettable car ride scene.
03
Tony Stark built Peter a high-tech suit loaded with features Peter didn’t even know about, including an AI assistant that helps him in combat, provides tactical analysis, and even gives dating advice. What name does Peter give this AI?
✓ Correct! Peter names his suit’s AI “Karen,” voiced by Jennifer Connelly. She assists him with web shooter modes, reconnaissance, and even his love life. Friday is Tony Stark’s AI, and E.D.I.T.H. is the Stark satellite system that appears in Far From Home.
✗ Web miss! The answer is Karen. Friday is Tony Stark’s personal AI, E.D.I.T.H. is the Stark defense satellite Peter inherits in Far From Home, and Jocasta is an AI from the comics. Karen, voiced by Jennifer Connelly, is Peter’s suit assistant throughout Homecoming.
04
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter encounters a seemingly heroic figure who claims to be from an alternate Earth, battling elemental creatures across Europe. In reality, he’s a disgruntled former Stark Industries employee using advanced holographic drones. What is his real name?
✓ Correct! Quentin Beck, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is Mysterio — a master of illusion who uses Stark Industries’ B.A.R.F. holographic technology and weaponized drones to fabricate the Elementals and pose as a hero. His final act of revenge shapes the entire third film.
✗ Web miss! The answer is Quentin Beck. William Ginter Riva is one of Beck’s team members, Aldrich Killian is the villain of Iron Man 3, and Justin Hammer is from Iron Man 2. Beck is Mysterio, the illusionist who manipulated Peter’s trust across Europe.
05
In one of the MCU’s most shocking mid-credits scenes, J. Jonah Jameson broadcasts doctored footage from Mysterio’s final moments that completely upends Peter Parker’s life. What does this broadcast reveal to the entire world?
✓ Correct! Mysterio’s doctored footage, broadcast by J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons reprising his iconic role), exposes Spider-Man’s identity as Peter Parker to the entire world. This revelation drives the entire plot of No Way Home as Peter desperately seeks to undo the damage.
✗ Web miss! The answer is that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. While the footage also frames Spider-Man for the London drone attack, the earth-shattering reveal is Peter’s unmasked identity being broadcast globally by The Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson.
06
With his identity exposed and his loved ones under threat, Peter seeks help from a powerful sorcerer to cast a spell that would make the world forget he is Spider-Man. Peter’s constant modifications to the spell cause it to fracture the multiverse. Which sorcerer casts this spell?
✓ Correct! Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) casts the memory-wiping spell at Peter’s request, but Peter keeps asking for exceptions — for MJ, Ned, May, and Happy to still remember him. These constant changes corrupt the spell and tear open the multiverse, pulling in villains from other Spider-Man universes.
✗ Web miss! The answer is Doctor Strange. While Wong is the Sorcerer Supreme and actually warns Strange against it, it is Stephen Strange who agrees to cast the spell. Wanda’s multiverse interference occurs in Multiverse of Madness, not here.
07
Throughout all three films, Peter’s loyal best friend serves as his “guy in the chair,” helping with tech support and keeping his secret. In No Way Home, this character even discovers he can open magical portals using a Sling Ring. Who is Peter’s best friend?
✓ Correct! Ned Leeds, played by Jacob Batalon, is Peter’s best friend and self-proclaimed “guy in the chair.” He discovers Peter’s secret identity in Homecoming, supports him across all three films, and in No Way Home he accidentally uses Doctor Strange’s Sling Ring to open portals to other Spider-Men.
✗ Web miss! The answer is Ned Leeds. Flash Thompson is Peter’s rival and bully who ironically idolizes Spider-Man. Harry Osborn is Peter’s friend in the Raimi and Webb films but doesn’t appear in Holland’s trilogy. Miles Morales is only hinted at. Ned is the irreplaceable “guy in the chair.”
08
At the emotional climax of No Way Home, Peter makes an enormous personal sacrifice to save the multiverse. Doctor Strange completes the spell, and when it takes effect, Peter is left completely alone. What does the final spell do?
✓ Correct! The final spell makes every person in every universe forget that Peter Parker exists. MJ, Ned, Happy, the Avengers — everyone. Peter visits MJ at the coffee shop afterward but decides not to re-introduce himself, choosing to protect them. He starts over completely alone, sewing his own suit in a small apartment.
✗ Web miss! The answer is that everyone forgets who Peter Parker is. The spell doesn’t erase Spider-Man — people still know the hero exists — but nobody remembers Peter Parker the person. This devastating sacrifice means MJ, Ned, and even Happy Hogan have no memory of him at all.
Assessment Complete Your Spider-Sense Rating
/ 8
Are you an Avenger — or just a friendly neighborhood bystander?
That said, perhaps my favorite use of the expanded ScreenX view was when Peter Parker’s spider-sense was triggered, and the few scenes where the screen on the sides zoomed in and shifted, a very cool way to help cue in audiences. It reminded me of the unique editing featured in Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Againseries, which highlighted Matt Murdock’s own enhanced senses.
My own small complaint was my own doing. Were I to see it again, I likely would have chosen a set a few rows higher rather than being in the direct middle, which no doubt would have made my ability to see all three scenes somewhat easier without having to turn my head as much.
Even so, I was genuinely impressed. Having seen a few other films in ScreenX before Spider-Man: Brand New Day, I can honestly say that having ScreenX cameras during principal production does make a noticeably improved difference. Hopefully, Marvel Studios, Sony, and other major studios will continue to embrace the format and invite ScreenX on set going forward.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.
Release Date
July 31, 2026
Runtime
145 Minutes
Producers
Amy Pascal, Kevin Feige, Rachel O’Connor, Avi Arad
