“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” Marvel Studios’ newest entry into the adventures of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and at large Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), has surpassed James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022) to become the third highest-grossing movie in history at $2.45 billion, according to Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro.

But, does it deserve the acclaim and fame after only a month and a half of being in theaters?

Moneywise, yes; it has earned the title of third highest-grossing movie of all time, but it still can make headways in more financial ways. The movie is currently at $937 million domestically, meaning money made in the United States. With this achievement, it has surpassed “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to become the highest-grossing domestic movie ever.  No movie has ever passed $1 billion domestically, and “Spider-Man” keeps finding legs to run on even well into its theatrical run. As of Sept. 15, 3,303 theaters are still showing the film with at least three showings a day, according to Box Office Mojo statistics. The film started theatrically with 4,487 theaters domestically, which is only a 1,184 theater drop off. 

Compared to other popular films of 2026, such as “The Odyssey” directed by Christopher Nolan and also starring Tom Holland, it began with 3,919 theaters domestically and is now at 1,983. Almost half of theaters dropped the highest grossing R-Rated film of all time in just two months. The biopic of the famed Michael Jackson, “Michael,” in the same time frame, lost 80% of its theater slots in two months as well. Both of these movies have made over $1 billion in the box office this year and have put themselves within the top 100 highest-grossing movies of all time, but they lost traction as quickly as they gained it.

“Spider-Man” is quite different in many ways. This is the first time that a Spider-Man actor has received a fourth movie as the menacing web-head. The first Peter Parker on screen, Tobey Maguire, had three web-slinging movies and a fourth was in the works and even announced. The film release was scheduled for May 6, 2011, four years after the release of “Spider-Man 3.” Andrew Garfield replaced Maguire as the New York crime fighter in 2010, and his first movie, “The Amazing Spider-Man,” released in 2012. Garfield received a sequel in 2014, but was quickly cut off in favor of the MCU, and Tom Holland was cast in 2015 to debut in “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. Generations of “Spider-Man” fans have been waiting for the chance to continue to grow with this character, but it has been cut off every time by production companies and the large executives making the moves.

Not only is this movie bringing the character back for the fourth time in the same franchise, it is the only MCU movie release this year that leads up to “Avengers: Doomsday,” releasing in December 2026. The fifth Avengers installment brings the return of once thought to be retired legends from the MCU; Chris Evans as Steve Rogers and Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Evans continues his character, but Downey plays an entirely new character, which brings questioning to the MCU, the timeline and what exactly is going to happen in the film. The film also has the Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe, returning to direct their third Avengers movie and fifth MCU film. “Spider-Man” at the current moment has not been confirmed to appear in Doomsday. Speculation from fans also drove viewership to this movie to see if there would be any hint as to what would happen with Peter Parker in the future or for the future of the MCU.

In reality, the movie is genuinely amazing. I went and watched the movie three times in theaters because of how much I enjoyed it. Among the other three Holland, three Maguire, two Garfield and the two animated Spider-Verse movies, I have “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” ranked as third out of 11. Ahead of it is “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” at one and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” at two, which makes “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” what I believe to be the best life-action “Spider-Man” movie to date. 

From the quips between Spider-Man and Frank Castle, or the Punisher, the feeling of New York and Peter’s connections from his time being Spider-Man and especially the weight of believing in yourself and your ability is what makes this movie so entertaining and deserving to me. When Peter accepts the fact he cannot change what has happened in his life and what was happening to him in the story, unlocking a new power for him, it makes me reflect on myself and the things I need to accept in life. Not only did it make me think to myself after watching, but the humor, choreography of action and heartfelt care all add to how special the web head is.