MCU class is back in session.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters tomorrow, July 31, becoming the official 38th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It marks Tom Holland‘s fourth time leading a movie as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, but his seventh overall MCU appearance.
Holland won’t be the only familiar MCU face, though; Mark Ruffalo returns for his 11th outing as Bruce Banner / The Hulk, and Jon Bernthal makes his big-screen debut as Frank Castle / The Punisher after playing the character across various Marvel TV series over the past 10 years.
The cast also includes Zendaya and Jacob Batalon reprising their roles as MJ and Ned Leeds, respectively, from the previous Spider-Man trilogy.
Consider this your Spider-Man syllabus with every MCU title worth revisiting ahead of Brand New Day listed alphabetically. However, it’s still a choose your own adventure.
You can watch everything including the optional titles or you can watch just the titles that are not considered optional, but if you’re really pressed for time before heading to the theater, the only one of these that we consider absolutely vital is 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)Arguably the most momentous Marvel film to date, this ambitious drama pits Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against…each other. The ensuing fray also introduces us to some key players for Marvel’s Infinity War: Black Panther and Spider-Man. [Where to Stream Captain America: Civil War] Everett Collection
The MCU introduction of Spider-Man a.k.a. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) comes as he’s called in for backup by Tony Stark in the teamwide clash between Captain America and Iron Man. It’s an amusing first look at a new iteration of the beloved character as he both meets new heroes and fights them.
©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Though our first introduction to a new Peter Parker happened in Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming is Tom Holland’s first MCU movie as the lead, marking our first real introduction to Holland’s Spidey.
The movie follows Peter in the aftermath of Civil War as he begins to take on more responsibility as a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man while balancing high school, having a crush and academic decathlon.
Photo: Everett Collection
While Spider-Man does appear in the Infinity War and Endgame duology, the films also mark the last on-screen appearance of Bruce Banner / Hulk ahead of his return in Brand New Day and it could be useful to see where he last was within the MCU.
Photo: Everett Collection
Set about eight months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter, Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) go international! Still mourning the death of his mentor Tony Stark, Peter is gearing up for a school trip to Europe and ignoring phone calls from Nick Fury.
Turns out, the world is in danger as four massive elemental creatures emerge from a hole torn in the universe. Even though Peter tries to leave the Spider-Man suit at home, he reluctantly suits up to help Fury and fellow superhero Mysterio stop the evil entities from wreaking havoc across the continent.
Photo: ©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Three live-action Spider-Man universes collide in Holland’s most recent theatrical outing as Peter Parker. Now that the whole world knows that Peter is Spider-Man, he desperately tries to undo it by having Dr. Strange cast a spell. It goes wrong, opening up the MCU’s Earth-616 to new multiversal villains from Spider-Man movies past, and even a few familiar heroes.
Photo: Disney+
Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) will make his MCU film debut in Brand New Day, so we recommend getting caught up on Castle’s MCU arc so far. The best way to do this on a time crunch would be to watch the 51-minute Marvel Television Special Presentation, The Punisher: One Last Kill, which Bernthal wrote the screenplay for.
As Frank Castle begins to search for meaning in life beyond his need for revenge, he’s pulled back into the fight. It’s the most recent MCU release, and will catch viewers up to what Frank has been doing leading into the events of Brand New Day.
For extra credit and to see more of Frank Castle’s story, we’d also recommend checking out The Punisher series, which ran for two seasons, plus the following Daredevil episodes — all of which are streaming on Disney+:
Daredevil Season 2, Episode 3: “New York’s Finest”
Daredevil Season 2, Episode 4: “Penny and Dime”
Daredevil Season 2, Episode 7: “Semper Fidelis”
Daredevil Season 2, Episode 8: “Guilty as Sin”
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Episode 4: “Sic Semper Systema”
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Episode 9: “Straight to Hell”
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
Our final optional viewing (at least, chronologically — this one is probably higher priority than something like Civil War) is one of last year’s MCU releases, Thunderbolts*, which introduced the New Avengers team.
Earlier this month, MCU boss Kevin Feige hinted that New Avenger Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) would make an appearance in a Marvel film before Avengers: Doomsday in December. It’s pretty easy to figure out he meant Spider-Man: Brand New Day, considering that Doomsday is the next film. We’re not confirming or denying anything!
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