Spider-Man: Brand New Day Beat Sheet Analysis
Cory Milles
Why we chose to do a Save the Cat!® beat sheet analysis of Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Spider-Man: A Brand New Day had the biggest domestic (US) opening of all time and is the highest-grossing domestic release ever.
Aside from box-office records, the film is a captivating story that hits the Save the Cat! beats.
Written By: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers
Directed By: Destin Daniel Cretton
Genre
Rites of Passage
A hero suffering through a relatable life problem (divorce, growing up, death, mid-life crisis, etc.) tries to solve it by avoidance instead of tackling it head-on. Like most heroes, they choose the wrong path and ultimately need to learn the hard way, for only the experience can offer a solution. The end point of these stories is acceptance of our humanity.
The 3 elements of a Rites of Passage story
- A life problem: from puberty to midlife to death—these are the universal passages we all understand.
- A wrong way to attack the mysterious problem, usually a diversion from confronting the pain.
- A solution that involves acceptance of a hard truth the hero has been fighting, and the knowledge it’s the hero that must change, not the world around them.
Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Analysis for Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Opening Image/Teaser
As the Marvel Studios logo emerges, it displays portions of the previous film’s script, dialogue that reminds the audience that a magic spell was cast to cause everyone to forget about Peter, including his friends. Now, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) sits in his Spidey suit, scrolling through his phone, completely alone in the sprawling metropolis of New York City.
Set-Up
Even though his friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) no longer remember him, Peter remembers them, and he follows them on social media. Continually reminded of the life he’s missing out on, he watches their videos as they go off to college together to live their dreams.
He soon finds the letter he wrote MJ but never gave her, one that would have explained their relationship and why she can’t remember him.
His sorrow is short-lived, as Peter must swing off to stop a crime in progress. A montage shows the years as they pass, with Spider-Man taking down villains as MJ and Ned ultimately graduate from college.
The city is safer than it’s ever been, and the citizens love Spider-Man. Even so, it’s stasis=death for Peter. With Aunt May gone, he’s all alone in his thesis world with no mentor or friend to turn to.
Theme Stated
Peter’s contact on the police force is Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón Zayas), who is essentially the only other person he confides in. Even though she doesn’t know his true identity, she knows he needs to slow down.
She tells him that being married to the job never ends well, revealing the thematic premise.
Peter needs others in his life to make him whole, and he will soon meet other characters who reveal what could happen to him if he doesn’t find balance.
Catalyst
A hero’s work is never done, and reports come in that a police chase is en route with an armored vehicle speeding toward the Department of Damage Control as the villain Scorpion (Michael Mando) is about to be transferred via helicopter.
As Spider-Man swings through the streets, saving innocent civilians while trying to catch the perpetrators, Frank Castle, The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), shows up brandishing firearms and his own method of justice. He and Spider-Man have a history together, and Spider-Man tries to keep Frank from hurting people during a chase across town, disabling his vehicle.
After Spider-Man catches up to the armored vehicle and stops it, he opens the hatch door to reveal the mastermind behind the wheel: an elderly woman.
Debate
Soon, the woman jerks her body as if possessed, and she seems confused as to where she is. Spider-Man notices other people doing the same jerky movement, almost like something is transferring from one person to another.
When a soldier seems to be possessed, Spider-Man follows him onto the roof where Scorpion is boarding the helicopter. Just then, whatever is controlling the soldier tries to enter Spider-Man’s mind but is repelled.
As Scorpion is taken to a new location, Spider-Man finds Detective DeWolff, and the two agree to help each other get to the bottom of what is happening.
Spider-Man meets with Yelena (Florence Pugh), leader of the New Avengers. She tells him that her sources have discovered that someone has been hitting other Damage Control sites looking for something called V-Max.
Spidey heads to Damage Control headquarters to meet with Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman) to gather more information. He learns that Metzger has been trying to utilize villains’ abilities for good, including the ninjas of The Hand. Metzger denies knowing anything about V-Max, and he asks for Spider-Man’s help in stopping this telepath who is attacking their sites.
Break into Two
While stopping at a convenience store, Peter sees his former best friend, Ned, and follows him to his apartment.
Fun and Games
There’s a party at Ned and MJ’s apartment, and Peter goes in, longing to reconnect with his old friends. He introduces himself to Ned and MJ, but he soon learns that MJ has a boyfriend.
Torn and heartbroken, he swings back home while not wearing his Spider-Man suit, realizing all he has given up.
Entering his apartment, Peter feels pain shoot through his wrists and is overcome by dizziness as his eyes turn black. Moments later, he collapses onto the floor.
B Story
When Peter wakes up, he finds himself wrapped in a cocoon, dangling outside his window. Something is happening to him. Could it be his isolation is having an effect on his well-being?
Fun and Games (cont.)
Peter wakes in an upside-down world… literally.
Falling from his cocoon, Peter discovers that he can shoot organic webs from his wrists. Back in his apartment, he tries to attach his mechanical web shooters, but they pop right off; the two web methods can’t coexist (symbolic of his need for others while isolating himself).
His senses are heightened, and he learns from his AI companion E.V. (Naomi Watts) that his arachnid DNA is taking over, possibly due to some stressful event in his life.
The promise of the premise is delivered as Spider-Man grapples with this new metamorphosis while seeking out the villain who is attacking Damage Control. Spider-Man’s aggressive arachnid nature takes over when he locates Scorpion, causing him to violently beat the villain until he discovers Scorpion was possessed by whoever—or whatever—was looking for V-Max.
Spider-Man learns that during the confrontation, he almost killed a police officer as he lost control.
Hoping to find a way to control this side of himself, Peter seeks out Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who wears an inhibitor to prevent his Hulk persona from going on a rampage. Peter wants to create a universal inhibitor, one that would work on anybody’s DNA, an idea that Dr. Banner finds unsettling.
Peter is unsuccessful in his initial attempts to create an inhibitor, and as Spider-Man, he soon encounters the telepath speaking through ordinary citizens on the street. Worse yet, the telepath knows his secret identity, as they are in his apartment, going through his things. Their next move is to go after MJ to keep Spider-Man from getting in their way.
As the telepath leaps from body to body across the city streets, Peter uses E.V. to calculate the telepath’s jump limits. As the telepath takes over a helicopter pilot, Spider-Man strands the aircraft in webs, thinking he has trapped the telepath far from other citizens.
He races to MJ’s apartment and convinces her to go with him.
Midpoint
High above the city, Peter has found a safe place for MJ. She begins to question him, insisting that she knows him somehow. Unmasking him, she kisses him. Peter cries, holding her, thinking he has found a way out of his loneliness.
But it’s a false victory. A moment later, he realizes he isn’t holding MJ—the telepath has taken control of her in a cruel joke before making MJ fall off the building.
Peter saves her just in time, at street level, and the telepath uses a man to approach Peter, tossing him the letter written to MJ. Peter surrenders, but through his mask, he catches a glimpse of a teen girl in the back of the car as she orders the driver to take her to Empire State University.
The stakes are raised now. Someone needs to stop her!
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Bad Guys Close In
As Spider-Man, Peter takes MJ to the safest place he knows: Frank Castle’s boat safe house. Frank symbolizes what Peter could become if he allows himself to continue being lonely and withdrawn, echoing the thematic premise.
As Peter convinces Frank to help, E.V. runs an analysis on the girl from the car. They learn that her name is Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), and Peter tries to fix his inhibitor so that he can nullify Jean’s abilities.
With MJ’s help, he figures it out, but meanwhile, his internal bad guys resurface. He desperately wants to be with MJ, but he knows his chance might be gone forever.
Soon, facial recognition scans reveal that Jean has entered the Department of Damage Control headquarters. While Spider-Man insists on going alone, MJ encourages Frank to follow.
At Damage Control, Metzger and his staff hide inside a secure room, a loud banging noise shaking its walls. As Spider-Man arrives, he learns that Jean is not alone: the Hulk is with her, the inhibitor broken. Jean is controlling him telepathically, unleashing him on Spider-Man.
As Hulk pummels Spidey, Frank comes to the rescue, his bullets enraging the Hulk and pushing Jean out of his mind. Now, unhindered, Hulk evolves to his most dangerous state. Spider-Man struggles to stop him while Frank goes after Jean.
The Hulk’s savage anger is a reminder for Peter of what he could become if he doesn’t find a way to stop his arachnid DNA from taking over.
Jean soon telepathically takes over Frank and uses him to get to Metzger, destroying the reinforced door with specialized explosives. Spider-Man does his best to tangle with the Hulk, webbing him with broken pieces of the building that ultimately pull him into a freefall.
Just as Jean is about to attack Metzger, Spider-Man attaches the inhibitor to her, nullifying her powers. As she’s shot with a tranquilizer dart, she utters her last word: “Sara.”
Metzger tells Spider-Man that while Jean controlled him briefly, he was thinking of a friend named Sara who had recently died.
All Is Lost
Crisis averted, Peter hurries back to Frank’s place to see MJ, only to discover that she has found and read the note he wrote her years ago. Peter takes off his mask and MJ reveals that while her former self might have loved him, she feels nothing toward him. Peter’s heart is once again crushed, the whiff of death all around him.
Dark Night of the Soul
After Peter takes MJ home to her apartment, she invites him in to see his former best friend Ned, who is a huge fan of Spider-Man. Mask on, Peter spends time with Ned, and for a short time, it feels like things used to be. The thematic premise of not being alone is demonstrated in how happy he is.
As Peter and Ned work on Legos together, MJ sketches them, only in her drawing Peter doesn’t have his mask on. As Ned leaves the room for a moment, MJ tells Peter he should tell Ned the truth. Peter agrees, and he also confesses to kissing MJ while she was under Jean’s control.
When MJ says she couldn’t remember anything during the possession, Peter realizes that Metzger lied to him about Jean’s last words.
Break into Three
Contacting Yelena, Peter learns that Sara was Jean’s sister. Peter goes to rescue Jean Grey. She’s alone and scared, and he can identify with what she might do if she allows her emotions to overcome her.
Finale
A flashback shows Jean with her older sister Sara (Olivia Booth-Ford) on the day Sara was abducted by the Department of Damage Control. Before the van arrives, Sara teaches Jean how to control her abilities and promises that they will grow stronger some day.
In the present day, Jean is strapped to a chair in a facility decorated to look like a room. Sara’s things are there, and for a moment, Jean holds out hope of finding Sara. From a safe distance away, Metzger and other employees remove Jean’s inhibitor and trigger her telepathic abilities, mapping her brain scans as she uses her powers.
Spider-Man gathers the team, going to save Jean as Frank heads out, too. Just as Spidey arrives and executes the plan, fighting his way past the guards, Jean is exhausted and collapses in her chair. She looks up at the ceiling, noting a peeling label on the ventilation that says one thing: “V-Max.”
Realizing this was the last thing her sister saw and sent to her telepathically, Jean’s emotions spiral out of control. Her powers evolve, growing more intense. Now, her reach extends across a larger part of the city, freezing citizens in their tracks in a high-tower surprise.
Jean prevents Spidey from reaching her, controlling the ninjas of The Hand to fight him. His web shooters are destroyed in the battle, and his arachnid nature begins to take over.
Jean telepathically asks him if he is Peter Parker or Spider-Man. Digging, deep down, Peter realizes that with others in his life, he can have balance, and that he is both. He removes his inhibitor, a symbol of him fully embracing his synthesis world.
Executing the new plan, he fights his way to Jean and finds her with Metzger at her mercy. Jean represents all Peter could become if he allows revenge and loneliness to cloud his mind. He allows her to enter his mind, accessing his memories.
Jean finds herself in a memory where Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) consoled Peter about having new powers and being frightened for being different. It’s almost as if Aunt May were talking to Jean, comforting her.
Peter reinforces what he’s learned, telling her, “Just because we’ve lost someone… It doesn’t mean we have to do this alone. I mean, we can’t. Trust me, I’ve been trying. It doesn’t work.” Jean replies, “Even if that’s true, I have no one.” Peter tells her, “You have me.”
At that moment, Frank fires a sniper shot, and Peter’s spider-sense causes him to jump in front of Jean and take the bullet meant for her. Frank rushes him to the hospital, Jean using her powers to keep Peter medically stable.
The next day, Peter wakes to find Frank holding vigil as citizens wait outside. As Peter sneaks out with Franks’s help as a distraction, he sees the gathered crowd and realizes that he’s truly not alone.
Final Image
After recovering, Peter visits his neighborhood coffee shop. There, he sees Ned and introduces himself. Reaching out to shake Ned’s hand, he begins performing their secret handshake.
With a sudden sense of realization, Ned looks up and says one word: “Peter?” He’s not alone anymore.
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