Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal stand in rare air in 2026 as actors with not one but two gargantuan blockbusters that are all but guaranteed to push past a billion bucks at the box office: The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, respectively.
In fact, in Zendaya’s case, she may very well end up landing three titles this year that ultimately carry the billions club distinction, as Dune: Part Three is set to arrive in December and certainly stands a chance at similar glory. But first, we have the matter of Brand New Day reviews to address.
Leading into the embargo lift on Wednesday (July 28), Holland, who handily meets the moment as Odysseus’s son Telemachus in Nolan’s Odyssey adaptation, spoke with remarkable candor when comparing his current promo requirements to those in support of past projects. In short, he’s enjoying his current press tour thanks to a deep-rooted sense of pride he feels about his work on The Odyssey and the latest Spidey title.
“I think when you're doing press for movies that you're really proud of, it's really easy because when they ask you questions about why should people go and watch this movie, you're not lying to anyone,” the actor said on a recent episode of the Dish podcast. “You really feel like people should go and see it. I’ve had experiences before when people say, like, ‘Why should you see this movie?’ And in the back of your mind, you're like, ‘You shouldn’t, ‘cause it's shit.’”
As for the reviews, critics aren’t quite as aligned as they were for Odyssey, but Holland should feel good about how things are shaking out for him ahead of Brand New Day’s theatrical drop.
Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com, commended Holland for being “more than up to the dramatic challenge” of the shift at the heart of the new film. Tallerico, however, was less glowing in his assessment of the film itself.
Similarly, David Ehrlich, writing for IndieWire, highlighted Holland for delivering “his most nuanced and mature Spider-Man performance to date,” though he too had quite a few issues with Brand New Day in general.
You’ll find bigger fans of what director Destin Daniel Cretton has cooked up in Deadline’s Pete Hammond, The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney, and USA Today’s Brian Truitt. The latter, for example, notes that Brand New Day, though not “the most rambunctious or exciting” of the Holland Spidey films, “aims to be a little deeper than the average MCU installment.”
Below, see a selection of additional assessments of Spidey’s latest web-slung tale ahead of its July 31 theatrical release.
