Five Ways Spider-Man: Brand New Day Differs From The Comics
Five Ways Spider-Man: Brand New Day Differs From The Comics
Brand New Day in name only?
Tom Holland’s first appearance as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man happened a decade ago in Captain America: Civil War, a movie which took its name and general premise straight from a storyline published in Marvel’s comics. Likewise, Spider-Man’s appearance in Avengers: Infinity War (a loose adaptation of the Infinity Gauntlet comics event from the late ’80s) owed a lot to print as well.
But his first three solo Spider-Man movies largely told original stories, working harder to engage with the larger MCU than adapting anything particular from the comics. That’s changed now that the larger MCU is in a bit of a slump. Spider-Man isn’t riding the wave of the superhero movie craze anymore. Instead, he’s doing his best to keep it alive. To do that, Brand New Day needed to be an easy jumping on-point for new fans who aren’t already invested in the MCU, or even Holland’s other Spider-Man films (which are now half a decade old).
And so, the filmmakers took inspiration from a 2008 comics storyline called “Brand New Day,” which was also designed as a soft reboot for our favorite web-head. But if you enjoyed the movie and want to read more of it, don’t expect the comics to offer an even remotely similar experience. The list of differences between the comics version of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the movie is much larger than the list of their similarities. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the biggest discrepancies between the two—with minimal spoilers for the film.
#1: In the comic, Peter and MJ both forgot their old relationship
The trailers for Brand New Day showed Peter Parker as an a sweet, harmless yet angsty young man who misses his girlfriend. That’s not Peter in the comics. In the movie, everyone forgets that Peter Parker ever existed. In the comics, the world just forgot that he was Spider-Man, so most of his old social life remains intact. Also in the comics, in a confusing side-by-side case of magical amnesia and mystical history erasing, Peter’s longtime marriage to MJ suddenly never happened. As such, he’s not all that bummed that they aren’t together anymore, because in his and everyone else’s minds, they dated and broke up a while ago. Instead of semi-stalking his ex, comics Peter is focused on figuring out who to date next, which brings us to the next big difference.
#2: The comic’s story is just as much about Peter as it is Spider-Man
You can also probably glean from the trailers that Peter Parker doesn’t have much of a life in the film. And while we can assume that he must make money somewhere and talk to other human beings face-to-unmasked face at some point or another, the movie doesn’t spend much time on any of that. The classic Peter Parker persona is essentially an empty space in the big screen version, while the comic reveled in the opportunity to take a better explore Peter as a person. This includes beats about living with Aunt May, trying to get work at the Daily Bugle, and downplaying his spider-activities to anyone who asks what he does in his off time. Sure, he’s stressed in the comic, but that’s because his unlike workaholic movie counterpart, comics Peter has a very full life. He’s not conflicted about having a dual identity, he’s just struggling to lead two full lives simultaneously.
#3: There's not a lot of Hulk or Punisher in the comic
Brand New Day movie Peter doesn’t have a lot of friends, but when he becomes Spider-Man, he becomes a gosh-darned social butterfly. In an effort to not spoil all of the surprise friendships he forms, we’ll keep the focus here on just two of them – Frank “The Punisher” Castle and Bruce “The Hulk” Banner. Their inclusion here feels a little off at times, since Peter probably wouldn’t pal around with a mass murderer in the comics. That said, Brand New Day is a PG-13 movie, unlike the recent Punisher: One Last Kill special, which features him slaughtering about a hundred strangers before walking onto the set of this family friendly feature.
It’s hard to say whether MCU Peter would be so quick to pal around with the headshot-loving antihero if he had been around to witness those deaths. But either way, Frank ends up being a key part of the Brand New Day film’s narrative. And regardless, he’s just a lot of fun to watch grunt, gulp, and quip. Bruce, on the other hand, is almost pure window dressing. A Hulk-free cut of the movie would tell essentially the same story, just with one or two less cool boss fights. As such, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that the Brand New Day comic, which promised to give people Spider-Man stories like they’d never seen before, leaned on new characters like Mr. Negative and Jackpot more than old faces like Frank and Bruce.
#4: The comic isn’t about self-imposed isolation or fearing yourself for being different
From a story perspective, Punisher and Hulk feature in the Brand New Day movie to work as narrative metaphors for the protagonist’s biggest emotional issues. Both are used in the film to keep the spotlight on Spider-Man’s two big internal conflicts in the film, which don’t have much to do with one another. Like the Punisher, Peter is grieving the loss of his former life and family, blaming himself on some level for their deaths and diving headfirst into work in order to cope. And, like Bruce, Peter has mutated DNA, causing him to question if his “Spider Hormones” make him a monster that needs to be suppressed.
These two threads could have woven into a tidy web of psychological conflict if, let’s say, Peter’s aunt had died in the prior film due to Peter losing control of his powers. But since Peter’s tragic losses and his developing powers don’t have a ton to do with each other, they stand in Brand New Day as relatively separate issues. In the comics, they aren’t issues at all. If anything, the Brand New Day comics are succeeding in keeping your family from dying and having a great time with your powers despite real life being a constant challenge. So, in that respect, the comics and film couldn’t be more different.
#5: In the comics, the MJ relationship is really, truly over
We promised not to spoil too much here, but if you thought for one second that Marvel wasn’t going to give Zendaya some big emotional scenes with her real-life husband Tom Holland in Brand New Day, then you must not know how parasocial obsessions with Hollywood power couples work. The MCU may not be as popular as it once was, but Zendaya and Holland’s relationship is hotter than ever. Millions of people all over the world who couldn’t give a hoot about superheroes have been champing at the bit for years to see the two in the same movie again.
We won’t tell you if they end up in a romantic relationship again in the movie, but it’s probably safe at this point to let you know that in the comics, they do not. In the current comics continuity, they acknowledge that they dated in the past, and are still close friends, but still don’t want to get back together. Some readers are mad about that, and have been for almost 20 years, but the fact of the matter is, as soon as Peter and MJ get together again, the entire “love life” side of Peter and MJs respective stories stops asking “Will they every find love?” and starts asking “who’s turn is it to wash the dishes this month?” In a movie, which only needs to update you on your heroes’ relationship status every few years, that may work just fine. But in a monthly comic, the predictability of a healthy marriage doesn’t make for much of a page turner.
Bonus: Tom Holland spends a lot more time shirtless in the movie than Peter does in the comics
Sorry, comics Peter, but your shiftlessness doesn’t necessarily sell books, while Holland in his underwear is the stuff of dreams for many a lovelorn fan who’d do anything for their demure, unthreatening Short King.