Tom Holland and Destin Daniel Cretton Took New York to Heart When Making ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

Call it ironic, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Spider-Man movie without “home” in the title happens to be the one that keeps him closest to Queens. At a press conference for Spider-Man: Brand New Day attended by multiple outlets, The Mary Sue’s Editor in Chief Rachel Leishman asked what makes New York City special to them and the new movie.

“I’d say the people,” says Tom Holland. “You know, New York is probably one of the best cities in the world to just sit down and people watch.  And for Spider-Man to be a part of that people, a part of that community, is such an amazing thing.”

By this point in the MCU and Hollywood in general, audiences have gotten used to other cities and/or studio lots standing in for the Big Apple. You learn how to suspend your disbelief when the cabs aren’t the right shade of yellow, the parks are a little too small, and the streets are a little too wide. But this is Peter Parker we’re talking about! The friendly neighborhood is important to his hero’s journey.

And as much as we love Holland’s Spidey and his role in the MCU, he is often out of town. New York City is always present and accounted for, and he’s hit a lot of the landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Coney Island, Times Square, Flushing Meadows, and the Staten Island Ferry. But both Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Far From Home whisked him off to Europe. Spider-Man: Homecoming has one of its biggest set pieces in Washington, DC. Avengers: Infinity War dusted him in outer space and Endgame brought him back upstate. Sure… Spider-Man: No Way Home technically didn’t leave the city, but the multi-versal elements still made the street-level hero feel less than grounded.

A return to the city

Spider-Man: Brand New Day returns Peter Parker to his Marvel comics roots in a lot of ways. He has a crappy apartment that he has to pay for himself. The bad guys are on the ground, not coming out of portals. And he has a secret identity again, unlike most of his former allies on the Avengers team. He’s also working with Frank Castle, a quintessential New York anti-hero in the Marvel canon. So, with this new movie, New York better really look and feel like New York.

“We had an amazing production designer, Charlie Wood, who I think did some of the best work that I’ve ever seen,” continues Holland. “We built four [New York City] blocks in Pinewood in London and you know, you would walk onto that set and you would forget where you were, and it gave Destin [Daniel Cretton] so much freedom to be able to bring New York to life in a way that you can really only do if you are here. And, you know, we owe a lot to Charlie for doing such a fantastic job. But shooting on those streets and having, you know, moving cars and fantastic background and these beautiful sets, it just gave us all of the imagination and all of that culture and all of that texture that only New York has to offer. And it really, really sings in the movie. New York is as big a character in this movie as any of us sat up here today.”

Can’t wait to find out what the city’s character arc is this time around. She’salready been through enough in the MCU. Anyway, are you excited to see Spidey be the New Yorker he always has been full time on screen? It’s weird that it kind of feels like a long time coming, right? Still, better late than never…

(featured image: Sony Pictures)

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