A couple of thoughts and questions I had about Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Spoilers, obviously)

•There's been a lot of talk about superhero fatigue, and that Marvel Cinematic Universe having become less and less of a selling point in and of itself (and I agree the cross-movie mega-story has been completely unmoored and ponderous compared to the early days; the producers never bothered to replace the original hook of building The Avengers team and then building towards the Thanos conflict with the Infinity gems/stones, so there hasn't really been any narrative momentum since Endgame). Regardless, I think this particular film did a rather remarkable job of being a Spider-Man story while also being so firmly set within the/a Marvel Universe that it could pull characters and concepts from all over the publisher's works without too much strain.

I mean, in addition to all the expected Spider-Man supporting characters and some Spider-Man villains (whose roles vary from considerable, like that of The Scorpion, to barely-there, like Tombstone, Boomerang and The Tarantula), the film also makes substantial use of The Punisher (although, given his origins, maybe we could consider him a Spider-Man character too...?), The Hulk, The Avengers via Black Widow, Daredevil's The Hand, Damage Control (in a very different incarnation than that of the comics) and even a character from The X-Men. 

It's impossible to imagine a Spider-Man film with that much...Marvel Comics on the screen even a few years ago, you know...?

•I liked that I had no idea who the villain was and what their goal was through so much of the film. That's so unusual for a big superhero film like this, where the casting and marketing inevitably spoil that aspect and, even if it somehow doesn't, a passing familiarity with the comics or the franchise's previous iterations usually means you can guess such things pretty quickly while sitting in the theater. Instead, I found myself wondering if Spider-Man had any villains capable of mind-control or bodily possession as the character began to contend with an unusual threat that could hop from one person to the next and coming up empty.

•I probably should have guessed who the main antagonist was a bit earlier, of course, knowing that Sadie Sink was cast in the film, the role she was playing was being kept secret and there are only so many redheads in Marvel Comics she could be playing (And it wasn't likely she would be playing Spider-Man's Amazing Friend Firestar).

•So, um, what do we think Peter Parker did for a living here...? Like, how did he make rent...let alone afford all of those computers and gadgets...? Where did he get his flower money...?

•Did anyone call Frank "The Punisher" at any point in the movie...?

•I wish they would have given Scorpion a mask or cowl or headgear of some kind; he looked a little naked to me without it.

•Based on the trailer, I thought MJ's boyfriend, who is in one scene and has about as many lines as Tombstone, was meant to be a grown up, more dreamy Flash Thompson. I'm glad I was wrong about that (Tony Revolori's Flash appears only briefly, via a goofy photo on Ned's Spider-Man board, as a suspect for who Ned thinks it might be under the mask).

•I was kind of surprised to find that, given the involvement of a powerful telepath in the plot, the filmmakers didn't just use that character to "fix" Ned and MJ, restoring the memories of Peter Parker in their pasts that Doctor Strange's spell had erased in the previous film. (Although the ending was fairly cryptic and seemed to suggest that their memories of Peter still existed on some subconscious level...at least in the case of Ned, who had a sort of automatic, physical response to a memory related to Peter when he was prompted, even though MJ didn't seem to have a similar reaction at any point.)

•I suppose Marvel doesn't quite have all their shit together in terms of introducing the next generation of X-Men, but I was also a little surprised the end credit scene didn't involve even the suggestion of this universe's Charles Xavier or one of his agents reaching out to Jean, which would both give a future X-Men franchise a pretty big film for a launching point and tease a happy resolution to the character's lack of friends and family.  

•The end credits scene we got was actually quite lame and I regretted sitting so long in the theater waiting for it. I'm not clear if it was meant to refer to Avengers: Doomsday (Is Spidey even in that? He wasn't in the trailer at all), or to something in a fifth Spider-Man movie. Hell, maybe the next one will involve astronaut John Jameson/Man-Wolf/Stargod. Go on Marvel Studios; give us a space-set Spider-Man movie involving an alien symbiote and Jameson/Man-Wolf/Stargod...I dare you...