As Marvel superheroes go, Spider-Man has suffered a lot more than most. Aside from losing Tony Stark and Aunt May in the MCU, the death of Uncle Ben is often the catalyst that's used to kickstart Peter Parker's entire hero's journey. But through it all, Spider-Man has always remained true to himself, unwaveringly optimistic in the face of loss.
That's his whole schtick really, this resilience that helps carry Spidey through his darkest moments. But Spider-Man: Brand New Day pushes the limits of that more than ever before, not through the death of another loved one but because of an even crueller twist that our hero might never recover from.
At the end of the previous film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange made everyone forget who Peter Parker is. This spell was needed to help save the day, but that hasn't made it any easier for Peter, who's been forced to live the last four years in solitude.
By the time Brand New Day begins, MJ has moved on with a new boyfriend, still unable to remember that Peter was once the love of her life. Peter remembers, though, haunted by the knowledge that they can never be together again. Or can they?
When Jean Grey discovers Spider-Man's true identity, she threatens to take control of MJ's mind and use her against him, as she has so many other people already. Terrified for MJ's safety, Peter races across town and whisks her away somewhere safe.
Once it seems like the coast is clear, the pair discuss what's going on. Spider-Man tries to explain why MJ is being targeted without giving away who he really is, but talk inevitably turns to their history together. It's as if MJ is on the cusp of remembering, something Peter and we feel when she pulls up the bottom of his mask to take a closer look at him.
In a scene reminiscent of that iconic upside-down snog from 2002's Spider-Man, the pair smooch and embrace. True love's kiss seems to have broken the spell at last and Peter couldn't be happier. That is, until MJ starts describing herself in the third person as they embrace…
Web of deceit
Yep, it turns out Jean has been controlling MJ this entire time just to mess with him, even going so far as to kiss him knowing how much it will hurt.
It's one thing to possess the woman Peter loves, but it's another thing entirely to trick him in such a way. Realising that MJ doesn't remember him after all, that he's no better off than he was four years ago when the spell was first cast, is devastating for Peter in ways Marvel rarely attempts. And to top it all off, Jean then rubs salt in the wound by revealing Peter is never in MJ's thoughts at all.
The scene ends with Jean forcing MJ to jump off the roof, but it's the deceit that hurts most. Spider-Man was always going to catch her in time, but the impact of this cruel twist can't be undone in quite the same way.
The circumstances might be fantastical, but the feelings involved are rooted in feelings of loss and rejection that anyone watching can relate to.
During a brief moment of respite, MJ later finds a letter that Peter wrote but never gave to her, one which explains the spell's impact in full and his undying love for her. She quickly confronts him, upset that he didn't give the letter to her himself years earlier.
Peter explains that he was only trying to protect MJ before going on to admit that he still loves her, that she's still everything to him and always will be. But MJ is unable to say any of this back to Peter. She understands why the girl in the letter loved him so much, but she is no longer that girl.
"I don’t love you," says MJ, adding, "I don't even know you."
What Jean did earlier was incredibly sadistic, but the words that come out of MJ's mouth now are even more gut-wrenching – and that's because they're actually true. She really doesn't love him anymore. Sure, the spell's to blame, but the impact is very much the same. Peter is heartbroken beyond measure, experiencing a new kind of loss that tears him apart at the seams.
Poetry in emotion
Both of these scenes hit incredibly hard for us too. After watching this pair fall for each other these past nine years, seeing MJ reject Peter like this is really tough to see. Any breakup would be bad enough, but this is even worse because of how unfair it feels. They should be together, yet they can't be, all because Peter had to make a sacrifice for the greater good.
Such emotional storytelling is still a rarity in the MCU. Some moments have hit hard, of course, but most of them usually revolve around the concept of death. Yondu's funeral, Vision's love persevering, Spidey's own "death" at the end of Avengers: Infinity War… Death is par for the course when it comes to superheroes who risk their lives every day, so these recurring themes are to be expected. What isn't expected is just how gut-wrenching this film's emotional beats are with nary a death in sight.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day should be the blueprint for future MCU crossover movies
The circumstances might be fantastical, but the feelings involved are rooted in feelings of loss and rejection that anyone watching can relate to. It helps that Tom Holland has never been better as Spider-Man than he is in these moments, and Zendaya continues to be pitch-perfect too in her delivery, firm in her feeling with a hint of melancholy that comes with knowing the pain her words will cause.
Loss and how Peter keeps fighting despite it remains the driving force, but in unexpected ways that avoid recycling past stories in favour of something new. More than Aunt May's death, more even than Peter saying goodbye to MJ at the end of No Way Home, it's in the pain of these evolving relationship dynamics where Brand New Day sets itself apart as Spidey's most mature MCU outing yet.
What remains to be seen is whether Peter can weather the storm long enough for MJ to return to him. The end of the film hints that this might be possible, especially when we see her holding the same necklace Peter gifted her in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Still, true love might not be enough to break the spell, especially with Doomsday and Secret Wars looming on the horizon.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out now. For more, check out the breakdown of the Spider-Man: Brand New Day ending and our ranking of the best Spider-Man movies.
