Spider-Man is never truly out of the spotlight, with shows like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Spider-Noir, as well as the Spider-Verse movies exploring different facets and variants of the iconic web-slinger. As far as the MCU goes, though, it’s been nearly half a decade since Peter Parker has shown his face in a proper live-action capacity. Spider-Man: No Way Home completely upended the wall-crawler’s life, ending with Peter making a heavy sacrifice by having Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell to erase everyone’s memory of his identity. At long last, though, it’s time for him to re-emerge from the shadows for what promises to be one of his darkest and most emotional adventures yet in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. As part of Collider’s Exclusive Summer Preview series, Spidey himself, Tom Holland, was able to give us a tease of what to expect from his return this summer.

As the name implies, Brand New Day is a new beginning of sorts for Peter, picking up four years after his selfless decision. He’s since kept up his duties as Spider-Man anonymously, distancing himself from his loved ones like his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), who have no memory of their relationships. Yet seeing them go on with their lives and find happiness without him weighs heavily on the hero, even though he knows he did it for the greater good. He has bigger problems to deal with, though, when he starts losing control of his powers. A new threat emerges that further puts Peter to the test while undergoing this period of transformation. Ultimately, it’ll take the help of others for Spidey to come out on the other end, reborn stronger than ever.

Among the most intriguing allies Peter will get an assist from in his fourth cinematic outing is a character who’s making his first MCU theatrical appearance — The Punisher. Fresh off reprising his role as Frank Castle in the special presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill, Emmy winner Jon Bernthal joins the big leagues this time around, making for an entertaining, gritty, and surprisingly comic-appropriate foil to the wisecracking web-slinger that the official trailer teases. Holland went as far as telling Collider that their relationship was one of his favorite parts of Brand New Day, and not just because of his personal love for Bernthal. He gave credit to director Destin Daniel Cretton for letting them both use their knowledge of their respective characters to make some natural magic together.

“I think one of my favourite aspects of this new film is the relationship between The Punisher and Spider-Man. It’s no secret that I absolutely love Jon Bernthal, and sharing the screen with him and building this new onscreen relationship was so fun. What is in the film is very different to what was on the page, and I’m so grateful to Destin for giving us the freedom to play with it and create something really special. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spidey and the Punisher become a recurring duo.”

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‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Features a More Mature Peter Parker

Frank’s presence adds to the feeling that this is a darker Spider-Man that hasn’t been seen in the MCU. There are years of weight on top of Peter’s latest story, as he’s had to live with the personal consequences of his sacrifice. Footage shown at CinemaCon last month emphasized the level of heartbreak he’s going through when he drops into a party with his old friends, only to see Ned keeping close tabs on Spidey’s efforts and MJ finding happiness in a new relationship. For as big as Brand New Day is, the film will be as heavily defined by the grounded, deeply personal side.

Yet, this heaviness won’t weigh down Spider-Man’s usual humor entirely. When asked about how the team balanced the character’s typical energy with the tone of the film, Holland admitted it wasn’t easy. Again, he credited Cretton, bringing a fresh view of Spidey after previously helming Shang-Chi, for pushing all the right buttons at the right times and leaning more on situational comedy. Most of all, though, the goal was to respect what No Way Home accomplished and the gravity of Peter’s situation.

“It was tricky to find the balance. We really didn’t want to take the sacrifice in No Way Home for granted, so it presented some challenges when trying to tackle the humor. But thankfully, Destin Daniel Cretton had such a clear view of what the film was going to be and knew exactly when to push the humor and when not to. I think a lot of our humor in this movie is less about jokes and more situational comedy. The scenarios that Peter finds himself in are just hilarious by nature, so we could use that in all its glory.”

Brand New Day also acknowledges that it’s been a while since viewers have met up with Peter. According to Holland, the goal was to make that gap in time felt through how the hero behaves. “For me, it was allowing the character to mature so when we meet him, he feels like he has grown up and been through a lot post the events of No Way Home,” he said. This character growth is exactly what he hoped for after such an impactful prior chapter to his story, and it ties directly into his own gap in playing the character, in which he’s branched outward to projects like Uncharted and The Crowded Room. “I really wanted to take a break from the character for that exact reason. There are traits of Peter that will be forever present, but it does feel like an evolution of the character.”

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Carries an Important Message in Its Relationships

Images via Sony Pictures Releasing

As the trailer showed, Spider-Man’s big MCU comeback will be juggling a lot, from The Punisher to a reunion with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), the return of Michael Mando‘s Scorpion, and, in his live-action debut after appearing in Sony’s Spider-Verse films, Marvin Jones III‘s Tombstone, and even The Hand for some fights with the wall-crawler. That’s without accounting for MCU newcomers Sadie Sink, Tramell Tillman, and Liza Colón-Zayas, who are still relatively shrouded in mystery. As always, though, it’s Spidey’s closest relationships that make up the heart and soul of the film, even if they’re explored in an entirely new way this time in the fallout of No Way Home.

In exploring how Spider-Man is functioning separate from the bonds that define him, Holland believes Brand New Day sends a very important message to viewers, particularly younger audience members, in this increasingly digital era. Peter thinks he has to go through his world alone now that everyone has forgotten him, but he’ll soon come to realize that it’s impossible, and he can’t stay in the shadows forever. He may have matured a lot since his first solo movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, but he still has to remember the importance of having a community and people he can rely on. There’s a reason he’s “your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.” At the end of the day, despite his abilities, he’s still a human with wants, needs, and limits, who is only at his most powerful with the support and care of others.

“I think what I am most proud of when thinking about this movie is the message. I really hope young people everywhere will watch this film and appreciate the importance of community and that you don’t have to do this alone. In the digital age, it is so easy to sit in your room and waste hours just scrolling, but nothing is better than getting out of the house and socializing with friends. That is just one of the many lessons Peter learns in this movie.”

Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing on July 31. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Holland’s return, and stick around for more from our summer preview series as we close out a week of new looks at some of the most exciting upcoming cinematic events.