Spider-Man is back — and this time, it doesn’t feel safe.

The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day just dropped, and it’s equal parts heartbreaking, chaotic, and… a little unsettling. The kind of trailer that makes you pause halfway through and go, “Wait, what is happening to Peter?”

Because this isn’t just about swinging through New York anymore.

This is about what happens after Peter Parker chooses to disappear.

A lonelier Spider-Man

The trailer opens with Peter hanging upside down high above the city, quietly watching MJ and Ned Leeds celebrate their first day at MIT.

They’ve moved on. They’re happy. And Peter… doesn’t exist to them anymore.

That idea lingers through the next few scenes. He rehearses introductions like a stranger trying to fit in and washes his bloodied suit in a laundromat. He carries on as Spider-Man, even receiving a Key to the City — while Peter Parker fades into the background.

Things get violent, fast

Then the trailer flips.

We see a little moment between Frrank Castle (The Punisher) and Spidey. The exchange was lighthearted but also brutal. Spidey ends up immobilizing Frank and tells him to “Go home.” Could be a quick nod to Tom Holland’s “Home” trilogy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

And in the middle of it all, Scorpion finally emerges as a major threat, alongside a brute with mechanical gauntlets and a swarm of red-clad ninjas.

This isn’t your usual friendly neighborhood lineup.

Something is wrong with Peter

And then there’s the part that really sticks.

Peter starts deteriorating. He looks sick. Sweaty. Unstable. At one point, he collapses completely.

Then comes the reveal: Peter trapped inside a massive web cocoon — before violently breaking out of it.

He seeks out Bruce Banner, who seems to confirm what we’re all thinking — something is very wrong with Peter’s DNA. His warning? Mutation at this level is dangerous.

Paired with the narration about a spider’s life cycle and Banner’s warning, it really feels like the film is setting up a Man-Spider arc. A version of Peter where the mutation goes too far. Where the line between hero and something else starts to blur.

If that’s where this is headed, Brand New Day might be the most unsettling Spider-Man story we’ve seen on screen.

And still… MJ

The trailer closes things out with a quiet moment.

Peter shows up at MJ’s door with flowers, trying to reconnect in the simplest way he can.

She smiles. Introduces herself. Like they’ve never met. And Peter, of course, plays along. Just a friendly neighbor from across the hall.

It’s soft. It’s painful. And it lands harder than any punch in the trailer.

I’m all in

Between Frank Castle’s brutality, Bruce Banner’s warning, the arrival of Scorpion, and the possibility of a full-on Man-Spider transformation…

Yeah. This one feels different.

Can’t wait. I’m so hyped.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is coming to theaters on July 31.

Disney+ has significantly expanded its sports offerings on the streaming platform with the addition of the 2026 March Madness.

Both the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments — one of the most anticipated events in American collegiate sports — will be streamed live on Disney+. This marks the expansion of ESPN’s global NCAA rights agreement onto the platform.

Both tournaments feature high-stakes, single-elimination formats with 68 squads each, building suspense from the opening rounds to the iconic Final Four.

Entering the 2026 tournament, the University of Florida Gators and University of Connecticut Huskies return as defending men’s and women’s champions, respectively.

The March Madness integration leverages ESPN’s long-standing NCAA rights portfolio, which includes more than 40 championship events.

ESPN has been the exclusive broadcaster for Women’s March Madness for over three decades now, and the development marks a strategic shift to bring live collegiate sports to Disney+ audiences across several regions.

The development also comes after the recent global rebranding of Star to Hulu, as well as the integration of live NBA games.

With a unified interface, there’s even more sports content for subscribers to browse, ranging from live broadcasts to acclaimed sports documentaries.

There’s the 30 for 30 series, Bad Boys, D. Wade: Life Unexpected, Dream On, and even The Last Dance featuring Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 run.

To be honest, I didn’t expect to like Project Hail Mary. I assumed that the decision to reveal the book’s biggest plot twist in the trailer was a mistake. I thought that the two-and-a-half-hour runtime might be too long. I worried that a hard sci-fi story like this one would be hard to translate into a feature-length film. Thank goodness I was wrong.

Project Hail Mary adapts Andy Weir’s novel of the same name. Indeed, that’s the same Andy Weir who wrote The Martian. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a molecular biologist, wakes up in an interstellar ship without his memory. With everyone else on board dead, he must find the answers to two questions on his own: who he is, and why he’s far away from Earth.

Though a soul-searching mystery might be entertaining in its own right, it wouldn’t be an Andy Weir story if it didn’t have some MacGyvering in space. Grace’s mission is apparently one of global importance. When a spacefaring virus starts to feed on the Sun and other surrounding stars, Earth sends a mission — that is, Ryland Grace and his deceased crewmates — to Tau Ceti, a faraway star somehow immune to the so-called astrophages.

Less problem solving, more emotion wrangling

Despite Weir’s tendencies to throw his protagonists into problem after problem, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed the adaptation, offers a more emotional story. Now, make no mistake; the original novel is already a tearjerker, but the film ups this even further by masterfully adapting the story’s most iconic character, Rocky.

Upon reaching Tau Ceti’s orbit, Grace realizes that he’s not alone. He isn’t the first visitor to the mysterious star. An alien spaceship is already orbiting the star. However, far from visions of War of the Worlds, this particular alien has a single mission: to save their own star from the same astrophages.

Rocky, as Grace calls them, looks like a living rock. Initially unable to communicate with the alien, Grave eventually builds a friendship with Rocky by translating the latter’s chirps to human words.

In the book, Rocky communicates with Grace (and the reader) through the broken English from a translating software. Naturally, the film adaptation offers more creative freedom. Instead of just text, Rocky gets a voice, thanks to James Ortiz, who offers a friendly-but-snarky character to the alien. As a result, Rocky feels more like a sidekick than just a (literally) alien entity.

Though it comes at the cost of some science-filled problem solving, Rocky’s slight change is more cinematic and can tug tighter at the heartstrings.

A healthy dose of humor

Rocky’s voice isn’t the only change. Despite the long runtime, the adaptation already prunes or shortens plot beats from the novel.

To be fair, all these changes don’t detract from the essence of the novel. Sometimes, they simplify. Other times, Lord and Miller infuse their trademark humor, which can be jarring for those expecting a more technical sci-fi story. But again, the novel’s spirit is still intact.

If anything, the added humor keeps the film entertaining throughout two-and-a-half hours. Now, if you’re tired of the so-called “Marvel humor,” there are moments of slapstick and snark sarcasm that pushes the limits of typical movie tropes. It’s just the price that an adaptation like this has to pay. Project Hail Mary’s plot is too complex to condense into the archetypal 90-minute window.

As someone who read and loved the original novel, it was difficult to see stitches between the book’s story and the screenplay’s changes. And I think that’s what makes the adaptation work so well.

Should you watch Project Hail Mary?

Project Hail Mary is as faithful as an adaptation can be. It doesn’t change the story for the sake of Hollywood. All the changes you’ll see are just ways to keep audiences engaged because of the long story. If you loved the book, there’s no way you wouldn’t love the adaptation, too.

Now, if you haven’t read the book, firstly, you’ll still love this movie. It’s a highly compelling story with high stakes and an emotional rollercoaster. Secondly, read the damn book. It’s a masterpiece of science fiction.