Warning! This post contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been in theaters for weeks now, but there is still so much that we are learning about this massive $2 billion box office smash hit. From ongoing fan debates about Yelena’s true role in the MCU following her Brand New Day cameo (in which she was referred to as Black Widow) to questions about how Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey will fit into the MCU’s X-Men lineup and so much more, Brand New Day has given audiences plenty to talk about. Among those conversations have also been discussions about some notable changes to Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Brand New Day. Of course, on the one hand, that includes the at times shocking transformations he physically underwent, as a significant aspect of this narrative was Peter’s increasing spider DNA.
Even outside of his increased strength, brand-new abilities, and occasionally black eyes, though, Peter/Spider-Man underwent a host of changes—in fact, arguably, his emotional changes were almost as significant as the physical ones, due in large part to the solitude he had experienced for the last several years. Yet another change was Spider-Man’s suit, and while some aspects of that alteration were more obvious than others, one new detail stood out in particular. Now, we know that this particular detail was changed very intentionally and was supported by none other than Tom Holland himself.
Among the things that audiences quickly noticed about Spider-Man’s new suit in Brand New Day was the way that his mask now showed off certain details. For example, the outline of Peter’s ears were suddenly much more visible beneath the mask, and there were even times when his facial expression felt easier to imagine. Evidently, that was a change made for a specific purpose—a purpose that Holland himself felt strongly about.
Speaking exclusively with ComicBook, Brand New Day costume designer Sanja Milkovic Hays explained, “In the movies, you kind of want to make sure that you see the faces. I mean, that was a big challenge with Tom because Tom was wearing a suit probably 80% of the time. And that’s why one of the things we changed was the soft hood or cowl on him so that you can see him moving the face and moving the ears and all of this so that you can see that there is a face underneath that, you want to see the reactions.”
Hays continued, “That was the big, big thing that we wanted to see. Tom was very clear about that, mostly because he was wearing the whole hood so much that we needed to see that there’s a face underneath and movement and kind of even you can see that he breathes.” Although some fans had disliked the seemingly thinner fabric and the fact that these facial details could be seen, at least in terms of their outlines, in the new mask, Holland’s stance makes sense. In fact, as Hays said, this movie in particular makes this stance a logical one, as viewers were getting so much of Peter in the suit, which is a change from other MCU movies.
In addition to this insight into Spider-Man’s Brand New Day suit, Hays shared, “Tarantula, the concept art was very much based on the comics, and when we made the costume, it looked a little bit like a Halloween costume. So, I had to change it and make it much more interesting and with much more detail, almost three-dimensional. Just much more interesting so that it doesn’t look like it’s [cheap], because I hate that look, obviously. Everybody does. For some reason, yeah, it looked like a Halloween costume.” Yet again, this certainly seems like the right call, as Hays is correct—audiences are quick to call out cheap-looking superhero costumes, and that would have been seriously disappointing in a movie that is otherwise so stellar.
