Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer Signals a Real Marvel Pivot

The new Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer dropped this week, and fans are losing their minds. But I don't want to do the frame-by-frame Easter egg autopsy that's already flooding the internet. I want to talk about why this thing looks so different, because that difference is the story.

Why the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer feels like a pivot

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Tom Holland has been Spider-Man for almost 10 years across six films, and none of them have quite felt like classic Spider-Man to me. In Homecoming, Peter was chasing Tony Stark's approval and basically playing sidekick. Far From Home didn't even take place in New York. No Way Home was a fantastic movie, but he was one of three Spider-Men in a giant multiverse event.

What we never got from this version was the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, street-level New York story. Brand New Day looks like Marvel and Sony finally handing that over.

The trailer is darker, literally and figuratively. Real contrast, real shadows, a color grade that feels closer to the early 2000s Raimi films than anything in the recent MCU. New York feels present, grimy, practical, textured. When a movie deliberately looks different, it's because the studio wants it to feel different, and every one of these choices is intentional.

Tom Holland has said this is the first time he was brought into the creative process before the script was even written, with the goal of making something that felt relatable, a Spider-Man who isn't saving the world so much as saving himself. That last line is the key. Brand New Day feels smaller in scale but bigger emotionally.

Who is making Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

Director Destin Daniel Cretton, who made Shang-Chi (some of the best action in recent Marvel memory) and the character-driven indie drama Short Term 12, confirmed the vibe: Peter is now in his mid-20s, about four years past high school, living in a city of millions and feeling completely alone. The script comes from Justin Kuritzkes, the writer behind Challengers and a couple of Luca Guadagnino films.

That combination of talent screams character piece, not world-ending spectacle. If Marvel genuinely wants to push back on superhero fatigue, Spider-Man is one of the smartest places to do it, and this trailer suggests it might be working.

Toy Story 5 posts the biggest opening of 2026

Pixar proved a related point at the box office this weekend. Give people a real reason to return to a familiar franchise and they show up in force.

Toy Story 5 opened to a franchise-best $160 million domestic and over $300 million worldwide, easily the biggest opening of 2026 so far. I saw it, had a great time, and I think it settles a debate I've been circling for a while. It was never about franchises being bad and originals being good. It's about story. The tech-versus-toys idea was compelling, so audiences turned out. I already flagged that I'd stopped doubting Toy Story 5, and the numbers backed it up.

Meanwhile, Obsession refuses to quit. Weeks into its run it's still holding at a level that stops making sense, and yes, I still haven't seen it, which gets more embarrassing every episode.

My real concern is Disclosure Day. Spielberg's original sci-fi film opened strong last week but fell over 60% in its second frame. I won't pin that entirely on the movie, which is solid, because Toy Story 5 is brutal competition. But with a $115 million budget, it cannot coast on one good weekend.

This week's box office top 10

#	Film
1	Toy Story 5
2	Disclosure Day
3	Obsession
4	Backrooms
5	Masters of the Universe
6	The Mandalorian and Grogu
7	The Death of Robin Hood
8	Michael
9	Girls Like Girls

Masters of the Universe keeps taking a massive L, and The Death of Robin Hood may end up a rare miss for A24, whose trailer we broke down last week. Not fun to see.

Shrek 5's new look is already dividing fans

Shrek 5 dropped its first trailer, and the reaction has been mixed at best. The original cast is back, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, with Zendaya joining as Felicia, Shrek and Fiona's daughter. We get Shrek and Donkey heading off on another adventure and, eventually, getting thrown in jail.

But the conversation isn't about the plot. It's about how it looks. The animation is smoother and more polished, and a lot of people hate that. Shrek was never a clean fairy-tale movie. It had that weirder, grittier, slightly jittery ugly charm that set it apart from everything Disney was doing. It knew it looked different and it leaned in.

The update didn't bother me as much as I feared, but I still prefer the rough-edged version I grew up with. The real question is whether this becomes another Sonic the Hedgehog situation where backlash forces a redesign.

Amazon shelves Luca Guadagnino's Artificial

Amazon MGM will not release Artificial, the Luca Guadagnino drama starring Andrew Garfield. The studio told Deadline it has enormous respect for Guadagnino and believes the film would be "better served" by a different studio, and that it's helping the team find a new home.

The timing is what raises eyebrows. Amazon now has a huge business relationship with OpenAI, and Artificial reportedly does not paint Sam Altman and company in a flattering light. I won't pretend to know exactly what happened behind closed doors, but it points at a real question: what happens when the giant companies that own studios are deeply invested in the very subjects those movies criticize? Worth watching.

On a much happier note, Obsession director Curry Barker just landed an eight-figure deal with Blumhouse, Atomic Monster and Universal. Jason Blum and James Wan praised him for making something wholly original that connected with a massive audience, the kind of feat only a handful of filmmakers pull off in a generation. It mirrors the YouTube-to-box-office pipeline we've been tracking all year, and I cannot wait to see what he does next.

Also: Raiders of the Lost Ark returned to theaters for Father's Day. If you went with your dad or took your kid, you won. Greatest action film ever made. No further questions.

What is opening next in theaters?

The big test this weekend is Supergirl, DC's chance to keep the momentum going after Superman. Milly Alcock stars, Jason Momoa looks great as Lobo, and David Corenswet's Superman turns up in some capacity. It's being sold as more cosmic and stranger than Superman, with a Guardians of the Galaxy flavor, and it's tracking between $45 and $55 million. Without Superman's built-in audience, solid word of mouth in that range would be a real win.

For counter-programming there's Jackass: Best in Last, reportedly a mix of new bits and greatest hits, and wild to think it's the finale. Lucky Strike brings World War II action thriller vibes with Scott Eastwood and Colin Hanks, and Kachori is the arthouse option, starring Angelina Jolie.

The thread running through this whole week is the same one Toy Story 5 just underlined in bold: audiences aren't allergic to sequels or hungry only for originals. They want a reason. Brand New Day looks like it finally has one.