If there’s one thing that the MCU has been repeatedly criticised for, it’s the overuse of CGI and visual effects. Thankfully, it looks as if 2026’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which stars Tom Holland, is bucking that trend.
The film is currently shooting on location in Glasgow, which has been transformed into the streets of New York City. Tom Holland has been spotted on set, filming various takes and having adorable interactions with younger fans of Peter Parker. But one clip has set the internet ablaze.
Minor spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day below
The video below shows that the film is going to include practical shots of Spider-Man swinging around the city. The man below is suspected to be Holland’s stunt double, and the scene he’s performing is incredible, with aerial acrobatics against the backdrop of an explosion.
So, why is this such a big deal? Well, Jon Watts, the director behind the first three MCU Spider-Man films, gave the following quote to Collider when asked about his opinion on practical web-swinging:
“It’s boring. It looks dumb. It looks like a monkey swinging on a vine when you put someone on just a rope. Don’t waste your time. That’s my advice to the next Spider-Man director.”
It’s no surprise that Watts took this stance, considering he was guilty of overusing after-effects. In No Way Home, Holland’s suit was basically CGI’d over the original in scenes in which he wore the more advanced Iron Spider suit. Commenters on Reddit suggest that this was partly done to smooth out wrinkles in the costume, but surely this detracts from the down-to-earth realism of Peter as a character?
There’s also the fact that CGI in a film tends to look worse over time as effects improve in the industry and audience expectations rise. There are rare exceptions to that rule (such as Davey Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, which still holds up today), but generally movies and TV series age much faster when they use visual effects over practical ones. That’s doubly true for anything that’s dodgy at the time – something that The Fantastic Four: First Steps fell victim to.
Thankfully, current director Destin Daniel Cretton saw Watts’s comments as a challenge, rather than advice. And it makes sense – after all, he’s the director behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which includes one of the best MCU fights ever, a tightly choreographed scene with some very impressive stunts. There’s still some CGI involved, but this isn’t the basis of the action in that scene.
It’s also a direction that we’ve seen in some other MCU content in recent months. The best example I can think of is Agatha All Along, which went to huge lengths to create practical sets, miniature models, and so much more, so that the cast were truly immersed, rather than doing their best to react to a green screen.
We’re moving away from every set piece being created on a PC, and back to old-school filmmaking. Arguably, it’s more expensive and time-consuming. Props, rigs and costumes all require many people working on them, while shooting on location typically burns through a budget way faster than a sound stage.
It’s also a much less controlled environment than a studio, as the public can capture footage easily. Though, as Andrew Garfield’s appearance in No Way Home proved, not even filming in a closed environment can stop spoilers from making their way around the internet.
However, the marketing that has been generated for this film within a span of a few days is insane, especially with these photos below, which almost make it look like Spider-Man has come to life.
This isn’t the first time that a Spider-Man film has featured practical web-swinging. The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb also shot footage in a similar way to what we’re seeing now, and fans still praise those efforts to this day.
You can find out more about how it was done in this piece on Popular Mechanics, in which stunt coordinator Andy Armstrong discussed how the final effect under a bridge in New York City was created:
“I was thinking if we could hang him off a truck and we could swing him while we’re driving forward, it would give the illusion of these giant swings at speed”.
That looks to be a similar technique to what’s being used in Glasgow, for Brand New Day. Of course, we don’t know how the final product will look on camera – and CGI will surely still play a role in touch-ups and adding extra flair.
However, it’s a breath of fresh air to see Marvel finally not relying on computers for every little thing. Just two years ago, the studio was being berated for its use of an AI-generated credits opening for Secret Invasion, something that took creative jobs from people in the industry and, quite frankly, looked crap.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s latest stunts are a love letter to filmmaking, which is overdue for Marvel. I’m counting down the days until I can see them with my own eyes.
