How ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Defeated Superhero Fatigue

Spider-Man: Brand New Day just scored the highest-grossing domestic opening weekend ever.

The Sony-Marvel production grossed $360 million domestically and $572 million overseas, for a $932 million global launch.

It’s an extraordinary result, and it’s quite interesting that the previous domestic record holder was 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Because it was Endgame that marked the conclusion of the golden age of the MCU and, after the pandemic struck, comic book films at the box office were perceived as struggling with their own chronic ailment — superhero fatigue.

There have been post-Endgame successes, of course. DC had successful franchise reboots with The Batman in 2022 and Superman in 2025. For Marvel, there was 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and 2024’s blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine — the only non-Spider-Man Marvel title to cross the billion mark since Endgame).

The causes of superhero fatigue — which have recently arguably mutated into full-on franchise fatigue for many properties — have been endlessly discussed.

But let’s look at why Brand New Day broke through the superhero doldrums of recent years to deliver an opening weekend that some in the industry had begun to wonder would ever happen again.

1. Every movie featuring Tom Holland as Spider-Man leading up to Brand New Day has been fun and popular. This means there’s an impeccable “chain of custody” of Holland’s character leading into the new film. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) were all critical and audience favorites. Holland’s appearances in blockbusters Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Endgame were well handled. Marvel similarly spent a decade effectively building its stories and characters toward Infinity War and Endgame has since been criticized for floundering a bit — awkwardly trying and discarding various characters and stories. But the stewardship of the Spider-Man brand has been immaculate.

2. Brand New Day has a more grounded, street-level vibe compared to many recent superhero films. And feeling more grounded and realistic is something audiences seem to be responding to largely (from lo-fi hits like Obsession and Backrooms, to epics heavily leaning on practical storytelling like Project Hail Mary and The Odyssey). Words like “grounded” and “realistic” might seem like an overstatement — Brand New Day isn’t exactly Manchester by the Sea. But in terms of Marvel movies, even compared with other Spider-Man movies, the film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton has a refreshingly non-manic pace, and many scenes which feel like Actual Drama.

Whereas some weaker recent superhero movies, such as the space-based Supergirl and the Fantastic Four, relied heavily on otherworldly CG. Arguably, the weakest part of Brand New Day (mild spoiler) is the most Marvel-y — a lengthy boss fight between Spider-Man and the Hulk that could have been removed without affecting the story.

3. The lack of MacGuffin. This point comes courtesy of longtime Spider-Man comic book writer, J. Michael Straczynski who took to Substack to praise Brand New Day and suggest the story works because it’s character-driven rather than having its characters trying to obtain a magical object.

“The worst thing any film, in any genre, can do is to fail to surprise the audience, by virtue of showing them something they’ve already seen many times in various forms,” Straczynski wrote. “… a [MacGuffin] story is about the characters as a subset of a search for the stone, the orb, the tesseract, the godkiller sword, the spear of destiny … A character story, on the other hand, can start in a thousand different ways and resolve itself in just as many … in the end, the solution is character based, not based on what happens to an external, inanimate object.”

Straczynski goes on to suggest superhero fatigue might actually be MacGuffin fatigue because the structure has been used so often, and notes many of the best superhero films (such as the 1978 Superman movie, Iron Man, Logan and The Dark Knight) are not “MG” films.

4. Tom Holland and Zendaya. Stars still matter. Holland and Zendaya are at the top of their game, and at the height of their box-office power. Fans are enamored with the now-married couple’s real-life relationship, and that affinity bleeds over into the film, where Peter and MJ’s relationship — or lack-thereof in the wake of Doctor Strange’s spell causing the world to forget Peter Parker — is a central part of the film from the very beginning, and the two have several effective moments.

5. Simply put, Brand New Day is terrific. As many critics have pointed out, Brand New Day is arguably the strongest Spider-Man film of the Tom Holland era (the best of any of them, in my view). The film’s 98 percent Rotten Tomatoes audience score — though not its critics’ score — is the highest of any live-action Spider-Man film. Holland’s acting has never been better. There are cameos, twists and a fair amount of busywork setting up future films, but but the film’s focus remains squarely on Holland’s twin mission of defeating a mysterious new enemy and dealing with the aching loss of his girlfriend.
Brand New Day has moments were even the most causal fans will feel things — there’s a scene with Peter and MJ on a rooftop, in particular, that’s devastating, and brings both our hero and the audience to a point of emotional surrender. Where the franchise goes from here is a real question, however. Brand New Day has set a high bar, and will be very tough to top.