Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Reel Talk: Spider-Man Brand New Day (2026) | A Movie Review and Analysis
1 Playsin 1 day
Another edition of Reel Talk is here — this time we're swinging back into the MCU and looking at the latest addition to the ever-expanding MCU, Spider-Man Brand New Day! My Peter is tingling... how about yours?
Follow us @aic_podcast on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube
Start creating a podcast today with Zencastr! Learn more.
Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
Proudly part of the Non-Productive Network
Recommended
Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready kids? Get your parents permission, check your mailbox and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric.
00:00:15
Speaker
And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting. Where we talk toy news, culture and hauls. Along with our journeys as collectors.
00:00:31
Speaker
Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat.
Recording from Las Vegas
00:00:42
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Real Talk. ah If you... notice the background, I am somewhere different. I am actually finishing up a business trip in Las Vegas and I realized that I'm not going have time to record this for Monday um when I get back home. So real talk coming to you from ah from the Cosmopolitan here in Las Vegas. Before
August Giveaway Announcement
00:01:09
Speaker
we jump into the episode here and start talking about Spider-Man Brand New Day, a little bit of housekeeping. So it is August.
00:01:21
Speaker
Somehow the end of the summer is here. We are almost in spooky season and our August giveaway is live. So we have collaborated, partnered up um with Friend of the Pod, Friend of the Wrestling Community, Alex West at Alex West Collects to give away a ring a pair of ringside exclusives the coliseum collection demolition wwe ultimate edition figures we are giving those away this month you can head over to instagram.com slash at aic underscore podcast or of course just follow us at at AIC underscore podcast. Look for the pinned post, follow the instructions on the post and enter yourself to win, um, two of the best wrestling figures of the year.
00:02:07
Speaker
Um, and, and maybe even two of like the best ultimate figures. They're great. They're, they're, they're fantastic. Um, if you scroll a little bit on Instagram too, you can see ah a post that, a you know, picture that we took of them. They, they look fantastic, but, um, We're super excited to collaborate not only with Alex West on this, but demolition themselves. So shouts to Axe and Smash.
00:02:29
Speaker
And, ah you know, thanks for for for collabing with us on this to to give away these really, really great wrestling figures. So, again, you have the entire month to enter for that. You can find it at AIC underscore podcast and post on that good stuff.
00:02:43
Speaker
um So yeah, so real talk. We are here not to talk about toys today, um though we might mention them, sort of, or I might mention them, sort of. I am here to talk about my review for the latest installation in the MCU Spider-Verse.
Discussing Spider-Man: Brand New Day
00:03:02
Speaker
So Spider-Man, brand new day. breaking all sorts of records. Looks like it's on track to to maybe even beat ah Avengers Endgame as the highest grossing film of all time, which is awesome because it is totally deserved. So before I jump into my thoughts about the movie, and a little bit about the plot, a little bit about the story, things I liked, things I didn't like.
00:03:23
Speaker
um I will give the disclaimer that this will be filled with spoilers. So there is a particular redheaded actress that if you have not seen this film yet and you are trying to stay spoiler free on who that actress is playing, um please do not watch this video.
00:03:42
Speaker
um' um yeah I'm giving you that disclaimer out the gate because I am going to talk about her quite a bit. So yeah. This is your chance, last chance to get out. right, so Spider-Man Brand New Day, of course, takes place in the MCU after the events of a few things. So it looks like this takes place after the events of Daredevil Born Again.
00:04:04
Speaker
So there are old posters for Mayor Fisk that can be found in some of the shots. So to kind of place us in the in the timeline, we're we're pretty current, pretty pretty like now in terms of what's going on. um And then, i obviously, storyline-wise, right, this takes place, this is our next Spider-Man film in the in the the Spider-Man timeline, where Doctor Strange has made everybody forget who Peter Parker is, and that includes his best friend, MJ, or his best friend, Ned, and his girlfriend, MJ. So we kind of pick up right where that leaves off the the letter that he writes for MJ and and opts not to read it for her, you know, to do the hard thing to to protect her, protect Ned, protect their future.
00:04:52
Speaker
um That note becomes kind of a grounding object, ah a totem throughout the film for the audience to ah to kind of cling to and also kind of a guiding principle for for Peter. you know He keeps it in the coffee cup that he got that day at the donut shop. it It is a very emotional um item for him. But the really cool thing is right out the gate, we see Spider-Man doing Spider-Man stuff. So... um Yeah, we see his relationship with the police flourishing.
00:05:24
Speaker
um We see we see some some, I guess you could say B or C level ah Spider-Man rogues you know go down. We see you know a quick shot of Ramrod, of Tarantula, of of Tombstone, um of Boomerang. So recreating some really iconic moments from the Spider-Man comics was really cool to see those characters get thrown in there. I mean, the street level stuff is what makes Spider-Man, Spider-Man.
00:05:53
Speaker
You know, the fact that he's a kid, he's figuring it out, you know, even into kind of like adulthood, he he is the the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and that definitely comes across in this film. um overall like throughout the entire film i think this is this is just me guessing and kind of thinking about it but i would but i would go out on a limb to say that uh spider-man spends more time in the spider suit in this film than he probably does in any of the other films that he kind of stars in um which is really great because like especially if you're a spider-man fan right um
00:06:31
Speaker
You're used to seeing panels and and and and you know scenes from from animated sequences, right? Where Spider-Man's just rocking the Spidey suit and he's sitting in a police office or he's sitting you know interviewing, investigating, like he's doing the things in the suit. And to have an actor as high profile as Tom Holland, like just be all in on that is fantastic.
00:06:57
Speaker
um It's also back to being a suit, which is great. Like it's back to being a a fabric suit. This isn't nanotech or it doesn't have some sort of, um you know, it definitely has like some Star Tech influence. We see that in his lab, but this is this feels very Spider-Man. it Doesn't feel like something that was given to him, something that was fabricated by Stark Industries, definitely influenced by Stark Industries. you know He's got the the eyes that can you know emote and kind of he's got like a ah HUD that's built into them, which you know is is definitely a throwback to that mentorship provided to him by Tony. But the suit feels inherently Spider-Man, which is which is awesome.
00:07:39
Speaker
um it doesn't take long for us to get introduced to kind of our two main villains of the um of the movie. So Scorpion, Matt Gargum plays a huge role in the in this movie, which is great because you know he's obviously as a member of the Sinister six and whatnot um it's cool to see that that character come back from uh from homecoming and you know now have the the scorpion tail and like you know we we see references and shout outs again to other villains that we've seen so that the shocker gauntlets um come into play in this as well uh and uh and it's
00:08:18
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's ah it's a lot of fun to just see kind of all of those street level characters, all the interactions. um But we're introduced to Scorpion and we're introduced to our shadowy character that seems to have some sort of mind control or or you know telekinetic powers. This is, of course, I i don't think it was a spoiler to many, but it is Sadie Sink making her debut in the MCU as the mutant.
00:08:47
Speaker
the God Queen, as our ah our friends over at power act Power of X-Men like to say, but Jean Grey. So Sadie Sink is playing a Jean Grey who is, I would say, significantly younger right than we're used to seeing her in um you know in in Marvel media.
00:09:03
Speaker
um And there are some changes here. So, i you know, the the the the damage corporation, right, that's that's, you know, been doing cleanup in the Marvel movies for for a while now is... ah is back in the fray um and they are collecting items to help you know potentially control uh enhanced people um we see their their laboratory uh we see uh you know all of the things that they're collecting later on in the film we see that even though they've kind of befriended spider-man for the task that's you know that that's um
00:09:45
Speaker
I'm trying to trying to hold a little bit back.
Spider DNA and Peter's Powers
00:09:48
Speaker
The task that they're trying to complete, they become friendly with Spider-Man, but later on we see, of course, that they have developed technology that um can actually make his web, his... his um manufactured web shooters entered.
00:10:05
Speaker
So, ah you know, they're they're clearly the bad guys. You know, they're there's some hints at things ah that are that I think are is a really interesting direction, right? So um as is is kind of evident in the in the trailers, ah Peter is dealing with almost kind of like a second puberty as as the spider DNA is starting to... um um more homogenized with with his own DNA and hormone levels are spiking and like is the spider DNA potentially taking over?
00:10:37
Speaker
um We actually get a really, really hilarious moment where um the DNA does take over to the point where he can no longer use his manufactured web shooters because he now like, um you know, Peter 1, I guess you could say, right? So Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man, he now has natural web shooters.
00:10:56
Speaker
um which grosses him out. ah And they do, again, like playing kind of like the the puberty aspect of it up. um You know, he has some issues with controlling them. He has some issues with, i you know, just kind of like the body horror of it, right? Like it's happening to him. um And it's something that he struggles with.
00:11:19
Speaker
And it starts taking to him to dark places. So again, as yeah as you probably saw in the trailer, there are moments in the film where his eyes go black and he kind of like loses control.
00:11:30
Speaker
um This isn't a symbiote situation. This is the DNA of of the spider kind of taking control of him, which I think is is a fascinating turn. It's something that we've seen in the comics before.
00:11:42
Speaker
i think the symbiote thing was was probably what people expected. It's something that um you know we've seen multiple times now in the movie universe. I'm kind of glad they stayed away from cosmic influence in this and kept it very ground level. um It really is a human story.
00:12:00
Speaker
And Spider-Man always has been, right? like you know With that guiding principle of... of ah with great power comes great responsibility. This is no different, right? This is a guy that's struggling to go through this immense pressure to be Spider-Man and he's he's struggling to get through it. He's visiting his aunt's grave every day and and leaving flowers and you know, trying to stay away from MJ and Ned, but he's like following them on social media.
00:12:31
Speaker
And now he's got this DNA takeover thing. He has, he has nobody. He has nobody. And no, and the people that are alive, he can't even go to because they don't know who he is. They have no reason to help him. And he doesn't want to go to them as Spider-Man. Right. So, uh, you know, this is a Peter problem. Um,
00:12:49
Speaker
and he struggles to deal with it, and he finds a friend in a very um unlikely place. We still don't know um what the incident they refer to as, but clearly something happened on Staten Island, and the Punisher and Spider-Man have become friends. And I i say that the way that I say that on purpose. um He doesn't know that ah that it's Peter, you know that it's a ah boy. he He remains anonymous with Punisher, so even their friendship is very guarded.
00:13:17
Speaker
but um you know things continue to escalate with uh with peter and the in these powers and he realizes that um the uh the entity um well we already revealed who it is but gene gray is searching for something called vmax and uh and and and damage i keep wanting to call them damage control and I don't know if I'm if i'm mixing metaphors with the w WWE and the MCU. I'm a little jet lagged so you're gonna have to forgive me so I'm just gonna call them damage just to be safe.
00:13:50
Speaker
um But but ah she wants something that damage has is and then and has and they are not willing to give it to her. um And yeah, so what she's doing, her her power, her capability, it's already becoming a meme on social media. So I'm sure you've seen some TikToks and everything, but it's this very physical, um almost like full body experience when she jumps.
00:14:16
Speaker
from person to person to kind of move along. And what you discover is that she needs to be a certain distance away from the first person. But then as long as though there are people within kind of ah the vicinity of that next person, she can jump and jump and jump and jump and jump and jump and be miles away. and still be controlling people. So um Spider-Man, of course, gets in her way and ah you know she reroutes the Scorpion so that way she can kind of take control of him and you know kind of use him to get into the building to find whatever this VMAX thing is
00:14:51
Speaker
And um now Spider-Man has another problem to deal with because now ah you know he has an enhanced entity that's trying to get into effectively a government organization that he is trying to help protect.
00:15:04
Speaker
and And he's going through this kind of like body horror thing. So ah his computer systems, you know, he he relies on his technology. This is very definitely a very Peter science heavy story. You know, this isn't the guy that's shooting pictures of the Daily Bugle. It's the guy that's like inventing things in a lab. So if you watch the spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, which I thought was fabulous, you're getting a um a lot more of that like science tech Peter, which I think is is really cool. But um he starts to realize that he needs to learn more about kind of DNA therapy and how to maybe potentially suppress what's happening in his body so that way he can focus and kind of save things.
00:15:43
Speaker
And, um, he turns to Dr. Bruce Banner, who is, who is teaching, uh, at a, at a college in, um, in in New York, and we get a fun little cameo, a little deep cut cameo, but Silk makes appearance. The young lady that eventually becomes Silk by getting bit by the same spider that bit Peter is in Dr. Banner's classroom. So we've seen her a couple times, but she's she's popped up again here, which I think is awesome. Silk's great character.
00:16:14
Speaker
i like that they're planting these seeds. ah But he pretends to be one of Dr. Banner's students, Peter, that is, and um basically i tries to get out of him how how his Hulk gauntlet or anti-Hulk gauntlet is suppressing that part of his gamma radiation influence genes.
00:16:36
Speaker
And In their kind of questioning, you know, Banner realizes this isn't a typical student, doesn't really know who the person is, but is willing to kind of go a little bit more in depth. And they have a very philosophical question about evolution and mutation, um you know, where Peter wants to develop technology for himself that can suppress selective parts of genes, right? Like he he wants to be Spider-Man, but he doesn't want to be this version of Spider-Man, this darker, more powerful, kind of loses control version. He wants to be... a normal version. and um
00:17:09
Speaker
and And yeah, so ah we see our first kind of hint at the mutant color because what he's developing is basically like a spinal implant to be universally, i that that could universally suppress any mutation within your body, um which would render an enhanced person's superpowers inert.
00:17:31
Speaker
And this concept kind of scares Bruce a little bit. Peter's not really, he's thinking about it the way that a young young man or a teenager would think about it. Like, I have a problem that I need to solve and I need to solve it in this kind of moment.
00:17:44
Speaker
I'm not really worried about the ripple effects right now. um Because what's happening is kind of at the same time, his worlds are starting to recollide. So he ends up bumping into Ned um in person.
00:17:58
Speaker
And, ah you know, they're now out of college, you know, trying to land on their feet in New York City. You know years have passed since now that Doctor Strange magic has happened. So Peter's been been living with this for a while.
Ned and MJ's Quest for Identity
00:18:09
Speaker
um and ah and And yeah, they want to know who Spider-Man is too, because they've forgotten who Peter is. But you have to remember, everything that they've done with Spider-Man still exists. So you know Spider-Man saved them from the Washington Monument.
00:18:24
Speaker
you know He saved them in New York. He saved them in Prague and, you know, he was in Berlin on a plane. So like all of these things about Spider-Man still, you know, interest them. And in fact, interest them to the point where they're like, there's got to be something that happened with us because Spider-Man keeps saving us. Like it's of all the people in the world keeps being like where we are. Does he know us? Did he go to school with us? They have one of those like um conspiracy boards set up in Ned's bedroom in their apartment.
00:18:56
Speaker
Um, Ned and MJ of course are roommates because that was the pact that they made they just forgot that they made it with Peter which is really sad so they live together in New York City but um Yeah, they they also want to know who who ah who who Spider-Man is. And you know you have these kind of worlds, again, these worlds converging. Jean can't really get into Spider-Man's head. She tries and you know he he blocks her.
00:19:22
Speaker
But she does follow him. She does case him out. She does realize that he's you know where he lives, gets into his apartment, finds the letter that he's been keeping for MJ. and realizes that that MJ is now a coward on a string for him and and you know she can go and you know take MJ and use her as as bait.
00:19:42
Speaker
And now, a word from our sponsors.
00:19:51
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:20:07
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at chubzywubzy.com.
00:20:19
Speaker
That's
00:20:25
Speaker
And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:20:32
Speaker
And now, back to the show. And i there is a constant push and pull between between Spider-Man and Jean Grey at this point.
00:20:42
Speaker
um And it all comes to a head when you know she finally breaks in using the Hulk because she gets into his head and we actually get to see like all three versions of Banner in this, which I love.
00:20:56
Speaker
You know, we see Mark Ruffalo as Banner, who has been excellent the whole time. We get Smart Hulk being possessed by Jean. So like she gets into his head, breaks the bracelet off and, you know, ah turns him into a Hulk powerful enough to control. And then, of course, um you know, the fact that Hulk's been suppressed for so long when when he actually gets out into Banner's body and Banner manages to kind of like calm him down again.
00:21:21
Speaker
um Just that little taste of being kind of out in the public in smart Hulk form. We finally get to see like ah a savage, brutal Hulk for the first time in a while. And it is... chef's kiss. as ah As a Hulk fan, to see Spider-Man hat and Hulk have that moment, you know, where they're fighting and then you realize that Hulk is truly a different entity from Bruce Banner because they have this very tender moment when the Hulk is is about to crush Spider-Man, like finally gets him, is about to crush him.
00:21:53
Speaker
And, you know, Peter says like, Dr. Banner, Hulk... it's Spider-Man, I'm your friend. And you see the Hulk's demeanor change because Hulk seemingly remembers, you know, that that they are they are in fact friends.
00:22:10
Speaker
And he lets go and, you know, Spider-Man is able to continue to pursue Jean Grey and ah with a little help from the Punisher manages to get the the mutant chip on her and damage takes her away.
00:22:23
Speaker
And this is where kind of the big twist happens, right? So we then learn what she was actually looking for was her sister, who in a very kind of like Stranger Things way, which is funny, right? Because like Stranger Things was sort of based on the X-Men.
00:22:38
Speaker
And we've now come full circle where we have some X-Men things, mutant things happening that feel very Stranger Things, you know, testing facility in a glass box with like you know retro decor and um basically as they have been doing with the other um enhanced technology damages is trying to um harness the power of telekinesis and they're trying to brain map her and this technology that they're trying the the reason why um they know how to use this on gene is because in this version of gene's backstory um
00:23:12
Speaker
Her and her sister Sarah are twins, or are telekinetic twins. So they're not maternal or paternal twins, but, um or identical twins. her Her older sister is also telekinetic, and their mother abandoned them And they kind of went through like the whole orphan thing and now ah you know made their way to New York where Sarah was captured by damage and basically hopped into Jean's mind and made her run away so that way she didn't also get captured. So Jean is...
00:23:45
Speaker
has now been you know basically captured by Spider-Man you know and thwarted by Spider-Man and handed right to the people who set out to harm her. And
Jean Grey's Awakening
00:23:54
Speaker
the reason why she's ah you know ah she's she's being tested on is that the initial tests killed her sister.
00:24:03
Speaker
So Sarah, Sarah Gray is still dead like she is in the comics and original origin story and whatnot. But um she she is they is dead because you know they were there were ah experimenting on her.
00:24:18
Speaker
And this, of course, makes her go absolutely nuclear when she finds out, unlocks kind of like the full potential of her, ah full-ish potential of her power, I guess you could say, and ends up putting like, you know, a significant, significant part of New York City under her kind of like telekinetic bubble. And they're all frozen in place.
00:24:41
Speaker
um Punisher happens to be like just on the outside of it. So like he's trying to figure out and, you know, reach out to Peter, who is immune to it, um that, you know, something something's going on.
00:24:52
Speaker
And i after an an incredible fight sequence with the hand ninjas who are under Jean's control, um he finally gets to her. And ah he unlocks his full potential. Like he has his kind of like coming to Jesus moment where, you know, she's like, you're trying to protect, you know, the people you love. You can't be Spider-Man or Peter Parker. So like, who are you?
00:25:16
Speaker
And he has that sequence where like he busts off his um his web shooters and, you know, has his his big kind of I'm both moment.
00:25:27
Speaker
um What's really interesting, I think you can kind of figure out where the story goes from there. I'm i'm not going to continue to just kind of regurgitate the story here, and we'll get into so a little bit more of you know some quick analysis.
00:25:41
Speaker
um This story is really interesting. i think's I think there are things that people absolutely will love about it. like I think all of the Spider-Man Punisher stuff, they are absolutely magnetic together.
00:25:53
Speaker
Bernthal and Tom Holland are... like Felix and Oscar good. Watch them on Hot Ones if you haven't, if you really want to see that in real life, like not not a a pre-written narrative of it. Like the the two of them clearly you know get along really well.
00:26:13
Speaker
um you continue to have great performances from from the actors, actors and a you know, Zendaya and Ned, and um and I think the thing, and and Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, of course, I think the thing that's going to be divisive for a lot of people is how we're treating how they're treating Jean Grey's story.
00:26:32
Speaker
So, um you know, I'm not a massive X-Men purist, to be perfectly honest with you and transparent, ah but even me like I felt a little like icked by it. I think it on the surface, it does cheapen Jean Grey's origin story. And if this is going to be kind of the 616 universe, like this is going to be the main timeline. These are going to be the characters that we kind of live with for a while here. And the reason why we're starting Jean so young um is is that way you can have kind of core X-Men movies and character these characters appear in movies for for a considerable amount of time.
00:27:10
Speaker
I think ah that part's okay. It's the origin story kind of, for me, cheapens it, right? I think the fact that her sister's death is what, you know, is the catalyst for her power. I think that element is effectively still there, right? She knew she was telekinetic, obviously, but like finding out her sister died and the way that it happened, she had that like,
00:27:33
Speaker
you know um super mutant moment where like her power went from being scary to terrifying so i still think they managed to get that moment in which is important um you know seeing her like shove an old man in front of traffic and like do all these horrible things like throughout the movie is a hard pill to swallow i mean she causes I would say a, not an inconsistent, not an insignificant amount of death. There's definitely some, some death, um, or like really awful physical harm at minimum. But, uh, so there's that, right. And like, we're used to seeing her as, um, you know, our matronly mother of the X-Men. Right. Um, but, uh, think that, um,
00:28:20
Speaker
it's ah There are some twisting and snaking pathways to get her to moments where she falls into what her character should be, right? So like that that mega mutant birthing moment, you know, when she finds out her sister dies. It's not the way that we want to get there, the way that we naturally think of getting there, but we get there.
00:28:39
Speaker
the you know shift from being like you know petulant to like i can help people and i you know i i can nurse people and i can you know she has kind of like a matronly moment you know getting inside peter's head and talking to aunt may gets her there you know so like it's not her parents that make like a selfless sacrifice to professor x in that relationship right it's it's more of a um you know, ah a sideways moment. And the way that I reconcile with this is kind of the way that I reconciled about Peter and Spider-Man in general, because this movie also, these series of movies, the thing you have to remember is even Peter's origin story is a little funny, right? Like we never actually see him get bitten by the spider. We we know that's just what happened. He tells us, but like, we we don't really know what version of his parents are in the story you know is it like the ones that were scientists and were like you know killed on a on a secret mission you know does it matter uh where's uncle ben right like aunt may is the one that gives him the with great power comes great responsibility you know he's the only spider-man that has that really has like a ned he's the only spider-man um i shouldn't say the only spider-man that has an eddy's an only spider-man that has this version of the net
00:29:54
Speaker
ned this version of Ned could still very much so become Hobgoblin in the future, which who knows. But you know like you you have an atypical version of MJ, both in the way that she looks and the way that she acts.
00:30:08
Speaker
And like as hardcore as Spider-Man fans are, like we've kind of been like, oh, well, you know he's had a bunch of origin stories, whatever. But you have to think about even this being the main timeline and where it exists in the MCU,
00:30:23
Speaker
You have to reconcile that with the fact that these movies now treat those other branched out movies, the Fox X-Men movies, the other Sony Spider-Man films, right? Like even stuff like, you know, Toei Spider-Man, like Japanese Spider-Man, and animated stuff. and It's all connected now. whether you Whether you like it to be or or not, it it is. um they They all exist in the same multiverse.
00:30:47
Speaker
So what I find interesting about this is, again, that same relin reconciliation where it's like, okay, you know, this version of the the first attempt at a Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire, that was the, like, traditional storyline down to, like, the wrestling match and Uncle Ben, and that exists. That happened.
00:31:09
Speaker
It wasn't in 616 like it is, you know, typically, but it it did happen. That version happened. um which is why the other versions are all like slightly different, right? um Cool. So I think the same needs to be said with Jean Grey, right? So like if all of this is connected,
00:31:29
Speaker
We have multiple versions of Jean Grey that have had the traditional Jean Grey origin story. And you know it's tough, right? Because the MCU and and you know kind of like the MCU version of the 616 has some things that are very typical to Marvel. Like Captain America's backstory is like literally ripped out of the pages that were originally wrote.
00:31:52
Speaker
Iron Man's pretty damn close um with maybe some visual changes. ah you know War Machine, again, pretty pretty damn close. Thor, Very traditional. Black Widow, super traditional. Hawkeye, you know, you've got an entire series that's basically like a section of the Matt for Fraction run. So Daredevil, Wilson Fisk, like they these guys all have the pretty much traditional backstories because for the most part, the MCU is really the first canonical, you know, swing
00:32:27
Speaker
at their stories the same way that you know the first sony spider-man movie was the first canonical swing into ah a spider-man universe and you know uh so i think it's only fair that certain things need to be adjusted to again reconcile with that now that being said did they have to go as like off the rails as they did and do the whole stranger things thing You know, i have to I have to sometimes take a step back and think about it as a general audience, right? Like, i'm I would say I'm an atypical fan.
00:32:59
Speaker
You know, i one, I'm kind of overly positive about everything, but two, like,
00:33:07
Speaker
I'm capable of seeing it with both sets of eyes, I guess you could say. And to say that the Jean Grey, Sarah Grey thing did not play well in the theater would be a lie. um My kids understood it. i You know, a general audience, that is a really great way to hook them in. It's ah it's a twist that hurts in an already, like, emotionally intense film.
00:33:27
Speaker
um You know, i i I think it works. I really, i do think it works. And the ultimate goal, though it might feel cheapened to some, the ultimate goal is for Jean Grey to be the character she needs to be in the X-Men group, right? And if you think about all of like the different versions of these characters that we've seen, ultimately that's the case.
00:33:50
Speaker
Regardless of the pathway they take, they still become the version of that character they need to be in that universe. So It's all fictional, obviously, like it's contrived. like anyone They can make it however the hell they want to make it, but this is the route that they chose to go. And after I sat with it for a little bit, I'm okay.
00:34:07
Speaker
Like i'm ah I'm okay with it. We got there. I'm excited. I love Sadie Cinkey or Sadie Sink, but i'm i'm I'm really excited to see as I'm recording this is before D23 has happened and I hear rumors that they're going to be announcing this like full X-Men cast. um which would be great. But i yeah, i'm i'm I'm hopeful for her um her return.
00:34:30
Speaker
um Again, spoilers, we didn't kill Spider-Man, which I'm thrilled about because Tom Holland is incredible and he's seemingly not really aging, which is great, or he's aging like...
00:34:42
Speaker
correctly with the character, which means that we'll have him as Spider-Man for hopefully a considerable amount of time. um Jon Bernthal's Punisher is perfect. He's perfect. He's perfect. He's perfect.
00:34:54
Speaker
Changed nothing. um It's cool to see kind of both versions of him too, like the like super gritty one-shot, you know, ah version that we got on Disney Plus earlier this year and a more kind of like guess you could say like generally acceptable version of Frank Castle while still being, while not losing any of the intensity, the like crassness, the coarseness, it's it's all there. Everything that needs to be there to make that character work is is firmly there. So it's great. And like I said, they they play off each other really, really, really well.
00:35:25
Speaker
um Moving to the the end end credit sequence, right, there's always a stinger at the end. One of the things that Ned has developed is it is a phone app, a Spidey tracker, and we see that a new Spider-Man has been found, but it's the dot slowly goes off into the distance out into outer space somewhere. So whatever the hell that means, we'll probably find out in Avengers Doomsday.
00:35:47
Speaker
um God, next year, later this year, later this year. Yeah, we're close, we're close, it's December, it's gonna come out in December, I'm i'm excited.
Is Little Caesars Pizza a Realistic Choice for Spider-Man?
00:35:56
Speaker
um The one thing I will say that is absolutely incorrigible unforgivable even.
00:36:02
Speaker
Like, I can't reconcile it. Like, I genuinely, of all of the things, of all of the suspension of reality, suspension of disbelief, all of that, as somebody who is born and raised and in New Jersey and has spent probably weeks of his life, if not longer, in New York City,
00:36:23
Speaker
The fact that Spider-Man, who seemingly has the Tony Stark inheritance to have money, because he's living in an amazing apartment in New York, and he has all of this technology, and he's constantly 3D printing things, and you know where's he making his web fluid?
00:36:41
Speaker
He seemingly has an endless source of money. So money is not an issue for Peter Parker. Why? in in In God's name, did we do product placement for Little Caesars as the pizza that Peter orders?
00:36:56
Speaker
like And this isn't like I'm drunk and I made a mistake and I ordered pizza. New Yorkers do not eat Little Caesars. you want to You want to try to convince me that some New Yorkers eat Domino's?
00:37:09
Speaker
um I could buy it. I could i could buy it. I have never i've never in my life seen somebody who is born and raised in this area even even even express the remotest of interests in wanting to put Little Caesar's pizza on a p plate in front of them.
00:37:29
Speaker
Again, Little Caesar's, great. Like I'm absolutely blasted and this is the closest thing to pizza that's near me. It is a wonderful pizza place to make a mistake at.
00:37:43
Speaker
But it is not the pizza of Spider-Man. It is not the pizza of New York or New Jersey. um I do not believe that Peter Parker would be foolish enough to order Little Caesars. And that is like an absolutely unforgivable, i just, I, know no, no.
00:38:05
Speaker
No. To the to the the the entire creative team of this film. You have the opportunity to digitally change this before it gets on like Disney+. plus Do it. It's embarrassing. it is genuinely It is genuinely embarrassing to think that my Peter Parker is is willingly eating a Little Caesars pizza. so And that's not even like a weird...
00:38:33
Speaker
spider DNA hormone migraine mistake either. My guy's ordering Little Caesars like via Grubhub and that's not okay.
00:38:44
Speaker
It's not okay. So let's let's not let's do everything that we did throughout the movie and continue that forward. Let's not continue forward the Little Caesars thing. it's You guys are Disney and Marvel. You don't need Little Caesars product placement money.
00:38:59
Speaker
Just Joe's pizza, Frank's pizza, Mario's pizza. The place on the corner. He could be getting he could be getting a slice at at at like two brothers for all I care. if He's getting the $1.50 slice at midnight. i that you this I cannot put into words how much his pizza choice ripped me out of my seat.
00:39:23
Speaker
and almost launched me through the screen. that was That was uncalled for. All right, so with that, that is my ah Real Talk review of Spider-Man Brand New Day. I highly recommend you see it. It was fantastic.
00:39:35
Speaker
There were parts that made me sweat, made me laugh, made me almost throw up, almost cry. It was it was an awesome it was an awesome trip. Cannot recommend it enough. But I want to hear what you have to say about Spider-Man Brand New Day. So make sure you head, if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure you head down into the comments and and let us know. Did you like the movie? Did you hate it? What didn't you like? What did you like? ah let us know. We'd love to hear it. While you're down there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Again, if you are watching on YouTube, thank you so much for watching. If you are listening, please rate us, review us, share us with your friends.
00:40:10
Speaker
I cannot stress enough how much those ratings and reviews actually do help, even though they're really cringy and I hate asking for them. But um yeah, those reviews, especially on Apple Podcasts, they go a long way.
00:40:21
Speaker
So um With that, this has been Real Talk. And may your popcorn be hot. May your seat recline. And um happy watching.
00:40:36
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies.
00:40:50
Speaker
Find more about them both in our show notes. Follow us on social media at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Stop by and say hi. Show us your toy hauls and share your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it in a future episode.
00:41:08
Speaker
Don't try this at home. Voidware prohibited and some assembly required. Each sold separately. Not a flying toy. Consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours.
00:41:16
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Frank Hablaoui. This program and many others like it on the Non-Productive Network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.