Not that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scoring badly with critics, but there is at least something of a divide between them and fans, according to the review scores (and now box office) of the film.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has fallen out of the top 10 MCU movies ranked by critic Rotten Tomatoes score. The film was hovering around the bottom of that list, but after losing more percentage points with dozens more reviews in, it’s lost that placement. This is in sharp contrast to Brand New Day getting a 98% Rotten Tomatoes audience score from fans, tied with Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings at #1.
With an 89%, now dipping below a 90, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is behind:
1) Black Panther – 96%
2) Avengers: Endgame – 94%
3) Iron Man – 94%
4) Thor: Ragnarok – 93%
5) Spider-Man: No Way Home – 93%
6) Spider-Man: Homecoming – 92%
7) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – 92%
8) Spider-Man: Far From Home – 91%
9) Marvel’s The Avengers – 91%
10) Guardians of the Galaxy – 91%
11) Captain America: Civil War – 90%
12) Captain America: The Winter Soldier – 90%
13) Spider-Man: Brand New Day – 89% (tied with Doctor Strange)
Again, an 89% is not “bad,” though in the context of the MCU, being behind this many other films, many would argue are not better (audiences, clearly), is interesting to see. Of course, we know that this fan support and their high scores translated into a ridiculously enormous box office, setting the all-time opening weekend record with $360 million domestically, ahead of Avengers: Endgame. It will now be the second-fastest movie to cross a billion dollars at the box office when Monday numbers come in today.
It’s a strangely wide split, honestly. Of the movies ranked above Brand New Day, that 9% gap is larger than any outside of the 96%/79% critic-audience difference for Black Panther (that film came out in a review-bombing era before Rotten Tomatoes verified ticket purchases). This made me curious what some of the skeptical critics had to say:
- NPR – “Brand New Day is missing something essential; by spotlighting the fracturing of our core trio, the film makes us wallow in it. There’s so much heartbreak we lose the heart.”
- Wall Street Journal – “It wallows in angst and stress but has no psychological depth, sticking to bromides like “You’re special” and “Be yourself.” Being somber is a lot easier than being serious.”
I can’t say I agree with any of that, and it seems almost audiences would agree. While it stands to reason that Avengers: Doomsday will also make at least a billion at the box office at the end of the year, I would be stunned if audience scores were close to this high, even if Spidey does make a (somewhat now expected) cameo. We’ll find out this winter.
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