Sony Executive Explains How ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Resonated With Audiances

by Justin Hermes · September 7, 2026

As Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to dominate the box office, the film has entered rarefied air.

After a successful Labor Day weekend, the latest Marvel blockbuster has now grossed more than $2.4 billion at the global box office, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of all time.

Photo: Marvel

By the end of next weekend, Brand New Day is likely to surpass Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936 million) to become the highest-grossing movie of all time at the domestic box office.

A Shining Light For Marvel

Leading into 2026, the expectation was that Avengers: Doomsday would be Marvel’s return to form.

Photo: Marvel

Instead, it was Brand New Day that put Kevin Feige and his team atop the Hollywood hierarchy.

If there is a lesson to be learned from Spider-Man’s success, it is that superhero fatigue was overblown.

Photo: Marvel

Instead, audiences simply want good films that resonate on a human level.

Why Did ‘Brand New Day’ Resonate

In a recent interview with Variety, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Tom Rothman explained how Brand New Day was able to find historic success.

“For a result like that to happen, everything has to work perfectly,” adding that Brand New Day is “not so much a superhero film, but ‘super-person’ film. The reason that movie has resonated all around the world is because it’s about a lonely guy…It’s like, yeah, it’s about friendship. It’s very human. It’s very emotional.”

Photo: Disney

Rothman continued, “It’s got plenty of whiz-bang, but that’s not what the secret is. The secret is it’s a relatable story that almost everybody has related to.”

The Path Forward

After a couple of years lost in the multiverse with films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals, Marvel Studios has returned to more grounded storytelling.