Technically, Spider-Man Brand New Day is a restart of sorts where Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is debating if he should reconnect with what’s lost following the events of the last film. He knows he should move on, but when MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) aren’t there and he longs to reconnect, to watch from afar is genuinely creepy!
When he’s not looking in on their lives, he’s affecting others, mostly random New Yorkers getting mugged or some brand new villain. After dealing with Scorpion and Hammerhead, I think the rogue’s gallery is getting thinned out! But when there’s a new player he can’t figure out, that’s when things go from bad to worse.
As the trailers have teased, it seems Parker is losing control. His arachnid DNA is asserting itself and early speculation hinted at him becoming the man-spider. It’s an arc I loved from the comics and animated series, and that can still happen. But as for when, that’s hard to say.
Making a live-action film takes up to two or three years; in animation, where the story has been told during the 90s animated series run, his “mutant” run was short-lived, and with this latest take, there may be other consequences. From the same said series, Petey had anger management issues because of it. And perhaps that’s why we see this lad go find Doctor Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and get his advice.
Continue reading “In Spider-Man Brand New Day, Even Spidey Has To Ask, “Won’t You Be My Neighbour?””
Fantastic Four First Steps is a visually striking and thematically ambitious take on Marvel’s “First Family.” Having read the early comics, I appreciated how the film evokes the optimistic worldview of a time when humankind stood on the brink of 
Spoiler Alert
When the original 60s animated Spider-Man series does not age well, that’s because the presentation is vastly outdated when compared to newer material. Interestingly, the latest take, Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, takes the best little bits from that series and mixes it up! I like the new score. Adding a touch of artistic nostalgia from the early comic books creates a winning formula and is part of this list.
As part of a united, animated universe, this series had its charm by offering animated takes of story arcs published in this century than prior. It makes for a good way to get “caught up” in more recent lore without having to read the original takes. The highlight is the Goblin War story-arc; what makes this series good is that it looks at trying to balance the life of Peter Parker, scientific genius, rather than just a hero.
Most regular film previews can last up to two minutes, but that’s provided you’re seeing them in theatres. Unfortunately, all of the Super Bowl Sunday movie trailers satisfies this criteria. The Flash is its own independent entry than make the list because I thought, “Didn’t I see this before?”