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| Giacchino |
Spider-Man: Brand New Day: (Michael Giacchino) One
has to wonder if multiverse fatigue had set into audiences by the time
2026's
Spider-Man: Brand New Day resurrected the Tom Holland
generation of the concept with a remarkably focused concentration on
character development over outright shock and action. Out of the studio
wrangling over the rights to the franchise, the filmmakers managed to
make a movie about Peter Parker rather than Spider-Man, a refreshingly
personal take that rejected most of the glitz from the larger Marvel
Cinematic Universe in favor of a simple tale of friendship. With Doctor
Strange having erased the public's knowledge of Peter Parker being the
titular character, he finds himself protecting his former girlfriend,
MJ, and best friend, Ned, by withholding his true identity from them.
(You can at least take some solace knowing that the Parker and MJ actors
are copulating in real life.) He also experiences his own maturation
issues affecting his abilities, which are poorly timed given the arrival
of a mutant from the X-Men concept to cause trouble in the city. The
exploits of Jean Grey cause possessed villains to yield their expected
action sequences, but even that character has a familial issue at the
center of her arch. The relatively somber storyline is a distinct change
for a Marvel film, but it struck exactly the right chord with audiences
and critics, the film launching to billions of dollars of grosses as the
definite champion of the summer 2026 season. Returning for his fourth
Spider-Man film is composer Michael Giacchino, who saw the assignment as
his own opportunity to hit the reset button for the character and his
music. Most of the prior scores' identities are dumped, only one section
from main theme returning. While this new direction may seem alarming on
the surface, the lack of multiverse components to the music (and thus
endless guest themes) is almost a refreshing change in and of itself.
The conscious decision to make this a "sad" superhero score is admirable
conceptually as well.
While Giacchino certainly succeeds in steering his
franchise music in an eyebrow-raising direction, the result in
Spider-Man: Brand New Day isn't always emotionally satisfying.
The composer's thematic execution does not always compelling in these
movies, though the suffering felt by Parker connects decently here. For
some listeners, the sheer distinction of the new sound will suffice to
retain interest, and there are certainly a number of very pretty
moments, especially with Giacchino's piano ("Quick as Flashback" is a
particularly engaging passage in this regard), so listeners disappointed
with the prior two scores may find more merit in this entry. A solo
piano remains the heart of Parker from the prior scores, something of a
James Horner holdover from the prior iteration of the franchise. The
symphonic usage is about the same, conventional for Giacchino and taking
few chances. A little more Danny Elfman personality lurks in this score
with an increasingly modern, hip electric bass presence. Electric
guitars seem to subtly contribute strummed lines beyond action, too.
This attitude had existed in
Spider-Man: No Way Home but was not
as pronounced. Synthetics are used generally for a dreamier environment,
especially in the final resolution cues, and the outright retro stylings
of the end credits suite pushes this sound to potentially uncomfortable
places. A lack of choir throughout the work is the most interesting
change, the fantasy tone restrained in this story. While Giacchino
attempts some humor with plucked orchestrations, the result is only
moderately successful. The outright action is decent but not great,
relying upon the villain theme for its best moments. Some wasted
opportunities for motific connections in "Always Hulking About" also
hinder parts of "Damage Control to Major Bomb" that are a bit
non-descript, the second half of "I Spider with My Little Eye" losing
focus, too. The composer's thematic handling remains unsatisfying at
times, extending the problem in
Spider-Man: No Way Home of
anonymous secondary identities. An intentional fragmentation of the main
theme doesn't really help this issue despite being intellectually
keen.
Giacchino only returns one theme in
Spider-Man: Brand
New Day, and even so, he references only a third of its phrases.
Only the primary section from the original
Spider-Man: Homecoming
idea is utilized, the chord progressions of the secondary sequences
existing twice but the melodies gone. Even that reprised phrasing is
altered here for the dazed stupor of the main character. Though the
harmonies remain the same, one-third of the primary phrases' notes are
dropped during much of the score. It's Giacchino's way of suggesting
that Parker is incomplete since the memory erasures, and it's a
technically smart decision because it allows the identity to continue to
exist but sound battered. A solemn piano, string, and horn rendition in
"Web Letter Days" is a distinct change of pace for the idea, the
underlying shifts of the secondary sequences stewing in the cue's latter
half. The resulting two-note fragments are provided standard action
bravado in "A Good Day to Dive," though the fuller, six-note version
does make a few cameos during the height of the cue's ambitions. The
idea gains some momentum for a passage at the end of "The Speed of
Thought," struggles to get its phrasing straight in "Damage Control to
Major Bomb," and beefs up its fragments in "A Brave Neural World." It
then takes the spotlight from the Grey material in "I Spider with My
Little Eye," reprising its fuller, original phrasing in an agonized
action stance. The main theme eventually takes the place of the score's
friendship theme in "Say Hero to My Little Friend" before the two-note
fragments return on piano in their original "Web Letter Days" form in
"Better Off Ned," a warmer cello rendition of the full theme suggesting
a glimpse of better times. The full theme is slowed considerably on
piano and vintage synth tones in "Suite New Day," mingling with the
friendship motif liberally and leading to a rock-inspired rendition. The
interplay between the two related identities is nice, but the composer's
retro tone in this cue is awkward. As the cue sputters out, the
secondary phrases of the theme again provide only their chords at 5:13,
the identity dying back to its sparsest, fragmentary form to close the
suite. Expect no truly heroic statements for this franchise theme.
The aforementioned new friendship theme in
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is derived from the two-note phrasing
of the main theme but with different harmonics. It's a little more
hopeful in its personality, but it could just as well be a main theme
offshoot for most listeners. Perhaps influencing the second half of "Web
Letter Days" as well, this idea is optimistically cool at the end of
"What's Your Damage Control" and barely evident on piano over string
sustains in "Ned Man Walking." It's poignantly fleshed out by strings in
"Quick as Flashback" with nicely meandering piano rhythms, pretty and
compelling in the very brief "Come Fly With Me," and extending the
melancholy spirit at the opening of "Kiss of the Spider-Man." Giacchino
boils it down to the basics on piano and plucked strings in "Mask Me No
More Questions" and leads it back into the main theme in "Say Hero to My
Little Friend" over synthy pulses. It guides the duet with the main
theme formally using its altered progressions a minute into "Suite New
Day" and beyond. The Jean Gray character receives two new themes in this
score, the first a basic villain identity that is the most interesting
and prominent new identity in the work. Initially establishing its two
four-note phrases out of a string whine for the concept of possession,
the motif formally busts into the action on brass at 2:00 into
"Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Brawl." Just as impressively, it takes
a secondary line from the main theme to explode at start of "Settling
Old Scorpions;" the brass renditions in this cue are excellent,
especially at 2:16 onward. This material grows out of the atmospheric
and rhythmic parts of "The Speed of Thought" and shrieks in the middle
of "Kiss of the Spider-Man" to interrupt the romance before building to
an ominous pronouncement at the cue's end. Skittish right away in "To
the V-Max" with a high sense of anticipation, it guides the suspense
throughout the cue with significant gravity. The villain theme finally
underpins the action rhythmically half a minute into "Fight the Hand
That Bleeds You" but becomes subtle by the middle of "I Spider with My
Little Eye." Don't be surprised if you return to the performances of
this theme and the one for the guest-starring Frank Castle (more on that
below) the most often, as they drive the work's more tonally engaging
ensemble propulsion.
Grey's lighter theme, ostensibly for her sister, takes
the villain identity and twists it positively, though the result is not
emotionally deep. Anchored by cascading, three-note figures, it may be
previewed very carefully early in "The Metzger Set" and softly emerges
fully in the second half of "The Morning Aftermath." The idea slows the
central portion of "Big Sister Energy" for some lightly plucked
sentimentality and tinkers at the beginning of "Mi Cabeza Su Cabeza" on
sparse keyboarding. The aforementioned theme for Castle and his alter
ego, The Punisher, is a muscular, descending identity that doesn't
relate to the character's prior movie themes. It provides a nice change
of direction at 2:24 into "A Good Day to Dive" and reprises that same
level of force at 1:02 into "Always Hulking About." Giacchino offers it
an extended rhythmic intro at the beginning of "A Brave Neural World" as
well. There is seemingly no thematic representation of Bruce Banner and
The Hulk in this score, unfortunately. But you do receive a few
secondary motifs, including an anxiety identity for Parker that uses
rising figures from the main theme's chords but in a distinct new
motific direction. This material belches lightly on strings and low
woodwinds in "Peter's Walk of Shame" and lends almost tango-like humor
to the same ascending lines in "Strong First Expressions." For listeners
seeking a touch of the prior scores, a hint of Aunt May material cameos
late in "Mi Cabeza Su Cabeza" for a memory sequence. Otherwise,
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a remarkably distinct entry while
retaining enough of the franchise's past musical identity to keep it
connected. It's not a guilty pleasure score but rather a mature and
introspective examination of its predecessors. On album, the nuances in
deconstruction are more obvious but not overwhelmingly attractive. The
resulting experience is well balanced but does tend towards the
melancholy and occasionally drab ambience. The entire middle sequence
from "What's Your Damage Control" to "Peter's Walk of Shame" is
understated, and the finale doesn't really culminate in a satisfyingly
rousing action cue. The odd end credits suite isn't actually a suite,
either. (The credits song "Oh Yeah?" by Steve Lacy is not on the score
product.) Ultimately, Giacchino is still struggling to rediscover the
exciting footing he found in
Spider-Man: Homecoming, but there's
enough tender substance here to recommend this entry. Now, if only the
man would relieve us of his awful track name puns...
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.3
(in 56 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.06
(in 26,821 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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There exists no official packaging for the digital version of this album.
