Web of billions: how Spider-Man became the most heroic franchise in Hollywood
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- Spider-Man: Brand New Day shattered the all-time North American opening weekend record with $360M, surpassing Avengers: Endgame and approaching $1B worldwide within four days of release.
- Tom Holland told press that his experience making Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey inspired him to push for a more disciplined approach on Brand New Day, while co-star Zendaya brought in Challengers screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes to punch up character work (credited as "additional literary material").
- Sony has retained Spider-Man film rights since the 2002 original, forcing the studio to keep producing films to maintain the license — the structural reason three different actors (Maguire, Garfield, Holland) have played the role in 25 years, and why tertiary Spider-verse films like Madame Web exist.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day stars Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal alongside The Odyssey — the summer's second-biggest film — with shared promotion between the two releases potentially amplifying the opening weekend haul.
- The original Spider-Man (2002), directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, was the first film ever to open above $100M in North America, launching the modern superhero-movie craze more than two years before X-Men proved the model could work.
- Even The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — the worst-performing entry in the franchise — still earned $700M worldwide, outgrossing solo films for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, and Captain America.
Why it matters: Spider-Man: Brand New Day's record debut, powered by the character himself rather than cameos or ensemble spectacle, lands at a moment when Marvel's 2025 slate underperformed and DC's Supergirl bombed — the source argues superhero fatigue was overstated, and that Sony's forced production cadence has kept the character perpetually fresh on screen. The franchise's floor ($700M for its worst entry) exceeds nearly every rival solo superhero film's ceiling.
