Published Feb 7, 2026, 6:00 PM EST
Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is more exciting after the director’s work on Wonder Man. Wonder Man is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest release, and it might be the franchise’s best streaming show yet. That’s not saying much, since the MCU’s Disney+ content has been very hit-and-miss (with a lot more misses than hits), but Wonder Man is much more WandaVision than Secret Invasion.
Wonder Man takes us into the movie industry of the MCU, where Hollywood’s A-list stars are overshadowed by real-life superheroics, and superhumans are banned from being in the movies. We follow Simon Williams, an aspiring actor with dormant superpowers, who hopes to keep his abilities a secret long enough to land his breakout role.
A lot of people’s hard work went into making Wonder Man such a great show. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley’s oddball buddy dynamic carries the series, and showrunner Andrew Guest maintains a nice balance between quirky showbiz satire and genuinely compelling character drama. But it all started with Destin Daniel Cretton.
Wonder Man Co-Creator Destin Daniel Cretton Is Directing Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Cretton co-created Wonder Man with Guest, and directed the first two episodes to introduce the premise and establish the tone. Simon’s friendship with Trevor Slattery, self-deprecating guest stars like Joe Pantoliano, and the show’s unique portrait of Hollywood all originated with Cretton. And that makes the next Spider-Man movie even more exciting, because that’s Cretton’s next gig.
Tom Holland is about to become the first Spidey actor to reach a fourth solo movie, and after the overwhelmingly positive reaction to No Way Home, it has a lot to live up to. Spider-Man: Brand New Day will pick up after Peter Parker has been forgotten by the world, moved into a dingy little apartment, and restarted his crimefighting career.
It was already one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2026, because it’ll pair up Holland’s Spidey with Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. But the fact that Cretton is in the director’s chair makes it even more exciting. This is a filmmaker who knows his way around a Marvel story.
Cretton Has A Spotless Track Record At Marvel
Cretton has been at the helm of two projects for Marvel Studios now, and he has a spotless track record in the MCU. Before he co-created Wonder Man and gave the MCU one of its greatest TV shows, Cretton made his Marvel debut with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Shang-Chi is one of the best MCU movies of the post-Endgame era. Simu Liu’s title character arrived as one of Marvel’s most exciting new superheroes, with a relatable personality, a unique power set, and a ton of potential (and then, for some reason, Marvel decided to do absolutely nothing with him for half a decade).
Cretton’s direction of Shang-Chi nailed the MCU’s signature blend of heart, humor, and spectacle. It has a beautiful friendship and a complicated family drama at its core, but it’s also a rollicking action comedy with hilarious one-liners and thrilling set-pieces. The bus brawl and the scaffolding fight, in particular, stand out as iconic sequences.
All three of Holland’s previous Spider-Man films were directed by Jon Watts, so it was a big risk to hand the reins over to another filmmaker. But based on Shang-Chi and Wonder Man, it’s fair to say that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in very safe hands.
Wonder Man Is A Very Different Kind Of Marvel Project
While Shang-Chi is a fun, fresh, inventive spin on the familiar MCU formula, Wonder Man is an entirely different kind of Marvel project. In the comics, Wonder Man is a superhero who also happens to be an actor. But the TV show flips that and presents an aspiring actor who also happens to have superpowers, and considers those superpowers a hurdle in the way of his acting career.
Wonder Man feels more like The Studio or The Player than The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It’s more interested in satirizing the modern movie business — particularly the phenomenon of superhero fatigue that the MCU itself helped to create — than indulging in comic book action. Simon doesn’t use his powers to fight bad guys until more than halfway through the series’ run. This is not your average Marvel show.
Spider-Man 4 Can't Afford To Take As Many Risks As Wonder Man
As a smaller project about an obscure character, Wonder Man could afford to take risks and do things a little differently. But Spider-Man: Brand New Day can’t afford to take as many risks. It’s the MCU’s summer tentpole, starring its most iconic character. Spidey is one of the last safe bets that Marvel has, so his next movie has to work.
If Wonder Man had been a disaster, Disney still could’ve recovered from it. But if Spider-Man: Brand New Day crashes and burns, it could be the final nail in the MCU’s coffin. If Marvel can’t even get Spidey right, then the studio might have to finally call time of death on the franchise. At least, with Cretton, they’ve got a safe pair of hands steering the ship.
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