A timid boy with an accidental spider bite caught everyone’s on-screen attention at the turn of the century. Slinging across the high-rises of New York, the boy’s steady descent into a masked vigilante donning a vibrant red and blue suit became an epitome of morality for a new generation. Spider-Man transformed the boy, Peter Parker, into a version he never imagined. It was a clever mix of fantasy and realism; Parker’s ordinariness was easy to identify with, but it was Spider-Man’s enhanced abilities that teased the limits of imagination. The web-slinger’s first on-screen appearance in 2002 enthused all, including Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of the upcoming, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

“It was quite an experience to feel the rush of what it would be like to have those powers,” Cretton tells The Hindu over a virtual call as he recalls being filled with joy watching Toby Maguire turn into Spider-Man. “He is a superhero who is dealing with problems in high school with his classmates bullying him. I could relate to him a lot. So, being able to make a Spider-Man film for a new generation of young people is like a dream for me,” he says.

There is a tint of that warm orange from the 2002 film in Brand New Day, which adds a reviving sense of nostalgia even as the world it inhabits is far more advanced. Being the fourth part in the franchise in which Tom Holland portrays the superhero, the film is virtually a reset of the story as Parker loses his identity and walks like a stranger in his home city, with many familiar faces but none that recognise him. This leads to moments of vulnerability that balance the over-the-top action. Even for Cretton, his love for the character stems from the humanity that lies inside the superhero.

“What fascinates me are his imperfections and how he continues to make big mistakes but never stops trying to be better. This time, Peter has no one to lean on, not even Tony Stark. To watch him learn the importance of connection and community appealed to me a lot,” says the filmmaker.

Cretton’s attraction to the human condition is not coincidental. Before he turned to Marvel films with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), the director’s work was steeped in stirring realities, whether it was exploring the life of troubled teenagers in his independent feature, Short Term 12, or his adaptation of American author Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, in 2017. From these emotive human dramas to the superhero spectacle, the genre shift is apparent. Cretton says that the experience was “different but not that different at the same time”.

“In Shang-Chi and Spider-Man, there were way more people working on set and the scale was huge. The emphasis on action was new to me. But it also felt familiar because in these big action movies, it becomes more important to capture the heart, drama and comedy that happens between the action.”

Working on Shang-Chi was a learning experience in that direction for him. “What makes the big spectacle work is making sure that you keep the audience focused on the characters and their personal journeys. If that journey feels intimate and grounded, then the spectacle works even better,” he adds.

There is a conscious emphasis on the hero’s journey in Brand New Day as Parker tackles his inner emotions in a major shift in the franchise where his loneliness gets a thorough release. That way, a similarity could be drawn between Shang-Chi and Spider-Man in how both navigate their powers as young superheroes carrying extraordinary responsibilities. Interestingly, Cretton will also be helming a live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese manga series, Naruto, where again a similar thematic strain runs through. In that case, what are Cretton’s thoughts on hero’s journey?

“I try not to overthink it even though I studied it in school. What I constantly chase are characters that I relate to and with whom I can go on a journey from start to end,” he says. The filmmaker tries to understand these characters through the lens of his own personal life, elaborating how some things inside him make him feel different from other people, whether it is anxiety, shyness and social awkwardness — all of which embarrasses him on occasions.

“But when I allow myself to accept, embrace and celebrate them, they are the things that then help me connect with other people. They make my art my better too,” he says and concludes, “That’s the journey that Shang-Chi was on and that’s what Peter Parker is on. They learn eventually that things that they potentially see as weaknesses are the exact things that become their strength.”

Spiderman: Brand New Day will be released in theatres on July 30

Published - July 28, 2026 04:04 pm IST