Amy Pascal: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ won’t try to outdo ‘No Way Home’ — by design

Coming off the chaos of No Way Home’s multiverse finale, the new film narrows the lens. Producer Amy Pascal says the mandate on Spider- Man: Brand New Day was to make Peter’s world feel smaller and more personal — even down to the villain. Director Destin Daniel Cretton pitched a teenage antagonist who’s wrestling with the same loneliness as Peter, an idea Pascal says clicked with fellow producers Kevin Feige and Rachel O’Connor.

“We knew we couldn’t go bigger than three Spider-Mans, so we had to go deeper with Peter Parker,” Pascal told Deadline.

The pivot didn’t hurt at the box office. Brand New Day opened to $360 million domestic, topping the all-time record that Avengers: Endgame held until now. For Pascal, it ’s a full-circle moment: she was running Columbia Pictures when Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man became the first movie ever to cross $100 million in a single weekend, and she’s watched the web-slinger break his own marks multiple times since.

“I don’t think any of that [‘superhero fatigue’] is ever a real thing. If you make a good movie that people can relate to, I think they relate to it and they want to see it,” she told Deadline.

What’s next for Peter

Pascal is keeping specifics close for the next chapter, but she did single out the filmmaker who just steered this one. Asked if Cretton could return, she said:

“If we have our way, he certainly will be.”

As for Spidey himself, Tom Holland sounds game to suit up again, though nothing is signed. Pascal added that, despite the constant speculation, the Marvel- Sony team still works one movie at a time — not off a years-long master plan — and there’s no deal locked in yet.