The audience who went to see Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) came out shaken by a devastating ending. In exchange for saving the world from collapse – and after receiving help from the Peter Parkers of other universes – the protagonist (Tom Holland) was willing to pay a high price: thanks to a spell by Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), no one remembers him anymore.
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That decision means he has completely disappeared from the memory of MJ (Zendaya), his girlfriend, and Ned (Jacob Batalon), his best friend. He, on the other hand, remembers them perfectly and misses them dearly. He also vividly feels the pain caused by the death of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), who died at the hands of a lethal attack by the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).
Even several years after putting the collective good before personal good, Peter must deal with the consequences of that decision and, as we can imagine, it is no easy task. These elements form the basis of Spider-Man: A New Day, the fourth solo film of the character played by Holland, which has just arrived in Chilean cinemas.
Separated from his closest circle, Spider-Man has focused on fighting crime, achieving great successes. New York idolizes him and figures like Detective DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) respect him. The problem is that no one has the same kind of feelings for Peter Parker.
The young man behind the mask and the superhero must face the appearance of a mysterious enemy who attacks a government organization responsible for disasters caused by superheroes and supervillains. As shown with the Scorpion (Michael Mando), he is capable of jumping from body to body and doing and undoing at will.
Under the direction of Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and with a script written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers – the screenwriters of the previous three installments – the film revolves around a protagonist facing maturity and the weight of his decisions. Therefore, it is a darker feature film than the previous three, which were directed by Jon Watts and had a healthy balance between humor and action.
Now available in national theaters, it has achieved excellent box office results in Chile: according to information shared by its distributor with Culto, during its first day in theaters, this Wednesday the 29th, it gathered nearly 120,000 viewers, consolidating itself as the best opening of 2026 in the local circuit. All forecasts point to it becoming one of the most impactful premieres of all time.
And that same effect should be reflected in the global summary. If a few days ago experts estimated it could gross between US$450 million and US$550 million during its first weekend, now figures as high as US$900 million are being discussed. If expectations are met, it would become the second most overwhelming release in history, only behind Avengers: Endgame (2019).
The bet of Spider-Man: A New Day has generally convinced critics, earning a level of acceptance similar to its predecessors. A reception that, in the context of the superhero blockbuster landscape – less stable than before the pandemic – is no small news.
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“Cretton integrates identity, grief, responsibility, community, and the burden of being special into a coherent and deeply human story, understanding that identity is built through relationships and the people who shape us,” said The Playlist in one of the most praising reviews.
“Dark, realistic, vulnerable, and unexpectedly moving, it finds the heart and soul of Peter Parker and understands that his humanity – his compassion, decency, empathy, and instinct to help others – is as essential to his heroism as anything the mask or his powers can grant him,” the outlet added, highlighting that the film “is honest enough to acknowledge that doing the right thing can still hurt a lot.”
Sharing a similar enthusiasm, The Wrap argued that “it is a fantastic film about Peter Parker and his constant, though often disastrous, attempts to be a good person, no matter how much it personally harms him. It is even a fantastic film about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), in which other superheroes and supervillains appear, contribute to the story, and relate meaningfully to its themes, but without being excessive or stealing the spotlight.”
It even stated: “We don’t have many great MCU movies anymore. That this is one of the best in the entire franchise is amazing. And spectacular. And sensational.”
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter expressed that it is “directed with adrenaline and feeling, though not always with an ideal pace, by Destin Daniel Cretton.” It also highlighted that the filmmaker’s greatest success in balancing emotion and tenderness lies in “the excellent score by Michael Giacchino, which intersperses melancholic passages reflecting the characters’ inner unrest with more energetic action accompaniment.”
“You can appreciate that the filmmakers tried to offer something more than the typical multiverse-connecting adventure. But Spider-Man: A New Day is entertaining without ever being a mind-shaking experience,” Variety noted in a somewhat more lukewarm analysis.
And more distant, Time magazine lamented that “the film’s pace doesn’t give us time to absorb any emotion or event” and stated that “there is perfectly enjoyable summer entertainment hidden in this Spider-Man, if only the excessive complexity of the mechanics didn’t hinder it.”
That said, it admitted that “it is superior to most” Marvel movies and highlighted Tom Holland’s effort, whom it called “a smart and sensitive actor who, with or without a stretchy suit, takes his character’s emotional struggles seriously.”
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