The last time audiences saw Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, he was teaming up with variants of himself to restore stability to the multiverse in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Spending time with Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s versions of the hero was a valuable experience for “Peter 1,” as he learned the true meaning of great responsibility. As Peter begins his next chapter in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the time he spent with his variants continues to inspire him. Spider-Man has a new costume in Brand New Day, and fans have noted it takes cues from the Maguire and Garfield iterations. That was very intentional.
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Speaking with Complex, Holland confirmed the idea behind the new suit in Brand New Day is to pay homage to the Spider-Men who came before him. “I’m really glad that people are picking up on the homage to Tobey and Andrew’s suit,” he said. “I think the third movie was very much about paying respects to those guys … I really like the idea that he’s trying to be like his big brothers, that he looks up to them and sees little details on their suits that he thinks are really cool, and now that he is making his own suit and isn’t part of this bigger team.”
Spider-Man’s New Suit Is a Key Part of Brand New Day‘s Story
It’s common practice for superhero movie sequels to update the titular character’s costume in some way — that can create valuable merchandising opportunities with various tie-in products. But sometimes, filmmakers find a practical, in-universe reason for giving the hero a new suit. There will certainly be a lot of toys and collectibles featuring Holland’s redesigned Brand New Day costume, but it’s encouraging to hear there’s an emotional component to it that feels organic. In many ways, what Peter went through in No Way Home was a life-changing experience, so it makes sense that he would try to emulate his “big brothers.”
The new costume in Brand New Day is an illustration of how much Peter has grown since his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. One of the common critiques of Holland’s Spider-Man is that he was too reliant on technology gifted to him by Tony Stark, which went against the idea of Spider-Man being a DIY hero who made the most with the resources he had available to him. Now Holland’s Peter is doing things on his own, bringing his portrayal closer to the classic iteration from the comics fans fell in love with. It’s very much in line with the promise that Brand New Day is scaling things back with a street-level story — ones similar to the movies starring Maguire and Garfield. Those two Peters dealt with their fair share of fantastical threats, but nothing like traveling to Titan to fight Thanos.
Holland’s comments shed some light on Peter’s mindset going into Brand New Day. Though he’s been through a lot emotionally, he’s persevering and continuing to stay active as a hero because that’s what his older brothers would do. Peter 1 isn’t just trying to copy the aesthetics of his variants, he’s trying to live up to them in spirit and follow the example they set. Knowing that there are others (literally) like him who have experienced immeasurable loss and pain and keep carrying on was an invaluable experience for Peter 1. We saw some of that growth at the end of No Way Home, where he sacrificed all of his personal relationships to save the world. It will be interesting to see how Holland’s Peter follows the footsteps of Maguire and Garfield in Brand New Day, doing all he can to keep New York safe.
Some rumors have posited that Sadie Sink is playing Mayday Parker, who would be the daughter of Maguire’s Peter. Even if that bit of speculation doesn’t come true, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now guaranteed to have a meaningful connection to the franchise’s past, honoring Maguire and Garfield as Holland begins a new era. It’s very nice to see the filmmakers went the extra mile with these details in the new costume, naturally building off from No Way Home. That was such a significant moment in Peter’s life that it would be strange if Brand New Day didn’t touch on it in some capacity. Between his wardrobe and his actions, Peter 1 will pay homage to the legacies of Peter 2 and Peter 3.
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