Spider-Man: Brand New Day has debuted to an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score, winning over critics with its first reviews. The MCU movie is currently sitting at 92% on the website, making it the best-rated MCU movie in five years.
The last movie to hit over 90% on the website was Spider-Man: No Way Home, which landed 93% back in 2021. Since then, it's been a mixed bag for the MCU. Some have come close, like Thunderbolts and Guardians of the Galaxy 3. However, others have really fallen short, including Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World.
Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive so far for Brand New Day. Our own four-star verdict called the movie the best MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame. "Taking Spidey back to web-slinging basics, Tom Holland’s fourth solo outing as Spider-Man is a blast, with personal stakes to match its evolved spectacle," reads Jordan Farley's Spider-Man: Brand New Day review.
The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey calls it the best Spider-Man movie in more than 20 years. "Tom Holland’s web-slinger – finally New York-based and fighting on a street level – has never been more authentic to the source material than in his fourth solo go-round, and the entire franchise is better for it," she writes in her four-star review.
David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter also enjoyed the fourth outing in the franchise, praising the emotion of the film. "The dynamic of these three together – and of Holland, Zendaya and Batalon in the roles – has been lovingly nurtured over four films and pays off here with genuinely affecting moments that will have some fans getting misty-eyed," they wrote.
"We don’t get many great MCU movies anymore," writes William Bibbiani of The Wrap in another glowing review. "That this is one of the highlights of the whole franchise feels amazing."
Some reviews have been a bit more negative. Variety's Owen Gleiberman said the film is "trying too hard," concluding the Marvel Phase 6 film "is watchable without ever being transporting". Meanwhile Indie Wire's David Ehrlich calls it "dull and downbeat," adding that the story lets it down by being "absolutely clueless about how to push forward".
Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian gave it three stars, writing that "a more radical reboot is needed." He writes: "It's an entertaining spectacle, but really without the novelty of movie-iterations like the more experimental Spider-Verse animations."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out in theaters on July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US. For more, read our guide to upcoming Marvel movies and shows and our breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
