Spider-Man: Brand New Day: what the critics really think

This article contains no personal opinion. It was not written after a screening and will not tell you whether the film is any good. Its purpose is more verifiable: to gather what the aggregators display and what the critics have put their names to, attributing every claim to its author.

Precision is not a frill: on release day, scores move hour by hour and box-office projections are not box-office takings. Every figure is therefore dated. For the ending rather than the reception, our breakdown of the ending and the post-credits scene covers that question separately.

The aggregate scores as of 29 July 2026, and why they are still moving

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% and Certified Fresh status

As recorded on 29 July 2026, the film holds a 91% Tomatometer score and earns Certified Fresh status, from 163 counted reviews — a total that climbed through the day to 167 and then 168. The day before, the page still showed 90% from 135 reviews, and it had even dipped to around 88% when only a hundred or so reviews had been logged.

Three percentage points of difference in twenty-four hours, purely from the sample filling up: two articles published a day apart can quote two different figures without either being wrong. For reference, the character's previous instalments sit between 91% and 93%. Our pieces on Homecoming and Far From Home look at each of them.

Metacritic: 70 out of 100, and zero negative reviews

On Metacritic, which weights scores rather than sorting them into thumbs up or thumbs down, the film takes 70 out of 100 as of 29 July 2026, in the 'Generally Favorable' band. The score rests on 42 press reviews: 32 positive, 10 mixed, none negative. An update took the total to 43 reviews, 33 of them positive, still with no negative verdict.

The gap between the two platforms is no contradiction. The Tomatometer counts the proportion of favourable reviews: a lukewarm but positive write-up weighs as much as a rave, whereas the Metascore averages converted ratings. A film almost everyone finds good without finding it exceptional produces exactly this profile.

What the critics agree on, on the positive side

A 'grounded' Spider-Man, brought back down to street level

The word that comes up most often is 'grounded'. Rotten Tomatoes headlined its round-up of the first reviews 'The Most Grounded, Mature Spider-Man Story Yet'. The Playlist sums the film up as 'Dark, grounded, vulnerable, and unexpectedly moving', Looper welcomes the return to 'street-level stories', and the New York Post notes that there is more power in protecting your city than in saving the world. This is the broadest common ground in the critical reception.

In The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney describes 'a heavily burdened Spider-Man, rendered more vulnerable by his sense of loss' and praises a film that 'has the good sense to stop banging on about the damn multiverse'. The San Francisco Chronicle invokes 'the mature melancholy of "The Empire Strikes Back"'.

This shift was already visible in our breakdown of the final trailer; it follows on from the forgetting spell we took stock of in our analysis of what No Way Home changed.

Tom Holland, the broadest point of agreement

It is on Tom Holland's performance that the English-language critics converge most. David Rooney sums up his verdict in two words: 'Never better'. Mike Ryan, for The Hard Pass, calls it 'his best performance as Peter', and ComicBook.com headlines on 'Tom Holland's best performance yet'. Empire describes a Peter Parker who is less puppyish, hardened by grief and loneliness.

The most telling signal comes from the harshest voices. David Ehrlich gave the film only a C- in IndieWire and describes it as 'a dull and downbeat Marvel sequel'; he concedes nonetheless that Holland delivers his 'most nuanced and mature Spider-Man performance to date'. When an avowed detractor saves the actor, the agreement becomes hard to argue with — and you can read it in our Spider-Man figures.

Spider-Man Tom Holland Figure

Tom Holland's performance is the point on which the press agrees most widely, including among those who did not like the film. This figure takes up the silhouette of his version of the character, with a level of detail made for a display cabinet or an office shelf.

View the product — €79.90

Jon Bernthal and the Frank Castle / Peter Parker double act

A third widely cited strength: the return of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, and his combative pairing with Peter Parker. For Liz Shannon Miller (Consequence, B+), 'Bernthal might be the cast highlight', and it is 'pure pleasure to watch Frank and Peter yell at each other'. William Bibbiani, in TheWrap, describes him as 'a perfect foil for Tom Holland' and calls the duo 'comedy gold'.

Charlie Ridgely, who rates the film 8 out of 10 in Collider, writes that 'the biggest improvement belongs to Bernthal's Punisher'. John Nugent, for Empire, describes a Frank Castle who is a 'sometime frenemy'. Our profile of Frank Castle and his lethal methods and our history of their journey from enemies to unstable partners cover the background.

The reservations that come up most often

No review was classed as negative as of 29 July 2026: these are caveats expressed inside broadly favourable write-ups. Some of them do, however, recur across several independent authors.

The running time and the sense of overload

The complaint that is genuinely shared concerns the running time. Owen Gleiberman, in Variety, judges the film 'half an hour too long', a view echoed by several colleagues describing a bloated narrative. The same critic concedes that after No Way Home the film 'can feel like a balm of contemplative drama', but his verdict stays guarded: 'watchable without ever being transporting'.

The links to the rest of the Marvel universe

A second recurring theme: the concessions made to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the reduced room left to the trio of Peter, MJ and Ned. Edward Douglas, of the Weekend Warrior, quoted by Rotten Tomatoes, writes that the scenes between Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are the best in the film, even though the three of them are brought together far less often than in the previous instalments. Rolling Stone sees in it a cynical set-up for future crossovers, IndieWire a film that mainly serves to keep audiences waiting.

The passage that follows refers to a casting element announced before release. Empire questions the point of Bruce Banner's appearance, and John Nugent, who nonetheless awards four stars out of five, writes that this intrusion smashes 'not only buildings but also the narrative pace'. The background is traced in our round-up of the fights between Spider-Man and Hulk.

The reservation is far from unanimous: Consequence, on the contrary, enjoys these connections and notes no sidelining of the trio, and Empire judges those same scenes among the most moving in the film.

The antagonist and the logic of the plot

A third caveat, far more isolated, targets the antagonist. William Bibbiani, one of the most enthusiastic voices (85 out of 100 on Metacritic), slips in that it is only on the way home that you realise the villain's plan does not stand up. David Ehrlich raises a separate grievance: he finds the backstory formulaic and reckons it breaks the rhythm. We went through the villains announced for the film.

Peter Bradshaw's verdict in The Guardian

Peter Bradshaw awards three stars out of five in The Guardian. He describes a film carried by Zendaya, who in his view saves it, but judges the whole thing too familiar, without the novelty of the animated Spider-Verse films, and concludes that 'a more radical reboot is needed'. That view commits its author, not the press as a whole: TheWrap and The Daily Beast are among the far more glowing reviews logged on Metacritic. The animated offerings he invokes have a universe of their own, carried on by our Spider-Verse and multiverse range.

How the French press saw it

On 29 July 2026, the day of its French release, the film held a press rating of 3.2 out of 5 on AlloCiné across 17 outlets logged, and an audience rating of 4.2 out of 5 from 268 ratings. These are dated readings, not a final tally: they shift continuously. Without a counter, the picture fits in a single sentence — a decent press reception without being rapturous, a warmer audience response at the first screenings.

The audience rating calls for one precaution: the few hundred votes gathered on the day itself come from the most eager fans. As for comparing the two worlds directly, it is better not to: an average across 17 outlets and a percentage across more than 160 reviews measure neither the same thing nor on the same basis.

Spider-Man No Way Home Compression T-Shirt

Every viewing guide published around the release agrees on a single prerequisite: rewatch No Way Home. This compression t-shirt takes up the suit from that pivotal chapter, with a close-fitting cut made for sport as much as for an evening screening.

View the product — €39.90

The commercial opening, figure by figure

The financial side calls for the same discipline: telling money taken from money projected. As of 29 July 2026, most of the amounts in circulation fall into the second category. The release also comes with a merchandise offering, gathered in our Brand New Day merch.

China, the first big market to open

Released in China on Wednesday 29 July 2026, two days ahead of North America, the film took 27 million yuan from the midnight screenings alone, a record across all releases for five years, with more than 430,000 admissions. The 100 million yuan mark was passed as early as 10.22am, and 200 million at 6.24pm, according to Maoyan and Lighthouse.

The rest is projection. Maoyan was forecasting more than 250 million yuan on the opening day, the best start for a superhero film in China since Far From Home. Across the full run, Maoyan puts the film at around 1.73 billion yuan, Dengta beyond 1.8 billion — the biggest Hollywood success in China since Avengers: Endgame, if that were borne out.

The first Paris screenings

In France, the only indicator available on the day comes from the first Paris screenings. According to the specialist site Zickma, which draws on the CBO Box Office panel, the film is said to have drawn 12,421 admissions across 26 prints, the best start of the year ahead of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (7,603 admissions). It beats No Way Home (9,775 across 28 prints), Far From Home (7,625) and Homecoming (4,224), but stays well short of the Sam Raimi era: 27,995 for Spider-Man 3.

A word of caution on their scope: they cover only the morning screenings in some twenty Paris cinemas, say nothing about the national result, and come from a single source. Nationally, the three previous instalments totalled 2,311,502 admissions for Homecoming, 3,226,105 for Far From Home and 7,319,651 for No Way Home, the most-watched superhero film in France.

Pre-sales and American projections

In the United States, where the film opens on 31 July 2026, the firmest signal comes from pre-sales. Fandango announced that it had become its biggest first-day pre-seller of 2026, ahead of The Odyssey, and that it featured in its all-time top 10. Deadline referred to the best first-day pre-sales in five years, a record held until then by No Way Home, and put the figure at more than $80 million. Figures released by Fandango, not verified by a third party.

The opening projections divide analysts as rarely before: $180 to $195 million for Deadline on the basis of the National Research Group, $230 to $250 million for Box Office Pro, $228 to $274 million for Box Office Theory, $260 to $280 million for Variety. Even the most cautious hypothesis would beat the 2026 record held by Toy Story 5, $159,677,837 according to Box Office Mojo. We were already tracking this momentum in our article on the pre-sale records.

Worldwide, Deadline was aiming at around $465 million for the opening weekend, after first mentioning $425 million: that would be the second-biggest global opening in Sony's history, behind the $600.5 million of No Way Home. The definitive figures will not be known until 3 August 2026.

Cinemas and formats: a detail that changes the screening

The film opens in around 4,300 cinemas in North America according to Deadline, on an estimated net budget of $225 million. Above all, it is not showing in IMAX in most markets: Christopher Nolan has locked up the circuit with The Odyssey through an exclusivity of around three weeks, with China the exception. Brand New Day is still programmed in ScreenX, 4DX and PXL: check which format you are booking.

Marvel Spider-Man Poster

A release on this scale is rarely remembered for its figures. This Marvel poster lets you keep a trace of it on the wall, in a format that frames easily and sits just as well in a living room as in a teenager's bedroom.

View the product — €17.90

The campaign visuals feed our Spider-Man posters, and the suit motifs our Spider-Man t-shirts.

What to take away before you go and see it

Running time, certification and content advice

The film runs 2 hours 25 minutes, or 145 minutes — 144 minutes and 49 seconds exactly according to the British BBFC, credits included. It is the second-longest Spider-Man film, behind No Way Home (148 minutes) and ahead of Homecoming (133) and Far From Home (129). In France, it is rated Tous publics, with no legal restriction, under distribution visa number 167934 issued by the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée on 6 July 2026, with no content warning.

The bodies abroad are more cautious. The Motion Picture Association rates the film PG-13 for 'sequences of action/violence and some language'. The BBFC gives it a 12A with four descriptors: 'moderate violence, threat, injury detail, implied strong language'. Its entry describes frequent fights, bladed weapons and explosions, and flags bloodied characters, including a close-up of a bloodied face.

Common Sense Media recommends the film from age 11 and places the violence at the highest level on its scale: comic-book fights, bloody injuries, weapons, explosions and a torture scene. Parents who have left a review on the same site put it on average at age 8 and up. OSV News, the Catholic agency, gives it an A-III rating, for adults: John Mulderig judges the underlying values sound, but finds the excess of crude dialogue questionable even for older teenagers.

What you need to have seen, and how long to stay in your seat

If you only rewatch one film, every guide points to the same one: No Way Home. The spell cast by Doctor Strange is the direct starting point of this chapter, whose story picks up four years later. Most guides add the rest of the trilogy, and even Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame — reason enough for a detour via our Spider-Man DVDs and films and our guide to getting ready before the screening.

The pillar page on all the Spider-Man films in order covers every version of the character, and the complete MCU timeline places it within the saga. One practical point: there is no mid-credits scene. A single bonus sequence exists, right at the end, after the studio logos. Plenty of viewers leave believing there is nothing.

Who this film is for, based on the criteria reported

On the basis of the elements gathered above alone, a few profiles emerge without any judgement being passed. If what you want from a Spider-Man film is a grounded, urban story centred on personal rather than cosmic stakes, the critics' vocabulary describes what you are looking for. And if you are coming for Tom Holland, that is where the agreement is broadest too.

Conversely, if you were hoping for the formal daring of the animated Spider-Verse films, Peter Bradshaw's reservation applies to you; if long films are a chore for you, the 2-hour-25 running time is the most widely shared complaint. And if you have not kept up with the Marvel universe lately, Rolling Stone and IndieWire both describe heavy links to the franchise, while Consequence enjoys them — a disagreement our pillar page on the Spider-Man universe helps put in perspective.

For families, there are two levels to read. The French Tous publics rating imposes nothing, but the foreign assessments flag sustained violence, an age-11 threshold at Common Sense Media and an adults rating at OSV News — enough to decide according to each household. Our Spider-Man masks, our gift ideas and our costume guide carry on after the screening.

The essentials are still to be written: the real opening-weekend figures and the settling of the scores. Alongside that, our articles cover the design of the Fresh Start suit and Michael Giacchino's score. This film is also the last Marvel Studios feature before Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for 18 December 2026.