At this point, there’s little doubt that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will go on to be seen as one of the best MCU movies of all time. Already, fans of the movie have been saying it is one of the best if not the single best Spider-Man movie of all time, even compared to the prior two installments, which is particularly notable considering that Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 2 is largely considered the best Spider-Man movie overall and has been for quite some time. Nevertheless, Brand New Day has been having an absolutely staggering run so far, shattering box office records and surpassing $1 billion at the box office in just a few days.
Yet, the movie is still not perfect, as is always going to be true of any movie. In fact, just recently, it was reported that Rosario Dawson’s cameo as Claire Temple had been cut, and many fans were disappointed by this news, particularly because Claire’s role as a night nurse may have helped to explain how Peter Parker’s identity was kept secret in the hospital. Now, yet another cut from Brand New Day is being reported, and fans are once again wishing a different decision had been made.
Marvel fans were thrilled when trailers for Brand New Day revealed that Spider-Man would be taking on The Hand, a creation of legendary comic book creator Frank Miller who has himself praised Brand New Day. The group actually had a few appearances in the movie, but in one in particular, Spidey took them on in a fight that was both well choreographed and visually stunning. It is, in part, for that reason that audiences were so pleased with the scene, but it is unfortunately also why they are now disappointed to learn that this was almost longer—how much longer, we don’t currently know.
According to CBR, Brand New Day stunt coordinator Peng Zhang said, “You know, people saying that the ninja fight, everybody really likes it, and they wish they saw more. There is a little more,” suggesting that parts of this fight were removed in the final cut of the movie. Although it’s possible that the cuts were minimal, as Zhang’s comments arguably even suggest, many viewers are frustrated by the news. Under one X post about the cut, the comments are full of such feelings, ranging from a bit bummed by the news to (seemingly) downright outraged.
One comment reads, “If that’s true, I hope we get an extended cut someday. Spider-Man vs. the Hand was one of the movie’s best action sequences, and a longer version would’ve made it even better.” Another says, “Marvel really said, ‘Give fans an incredible Spider-Man fight… then quietly remove the best parts.’ Release the extended cut already.” Yet another comment reads, “It was embarrassingly short.” While many viewers might not go that far, as this largely hasn’t been a major grievance until the cut was revealed, it’s evident that many would like to see the full length of this fight—and, as some are suggesting, maybe someday we will.
