Spider-Man can swing between skyscrapers, dodge explosions and battle some of Marvel's most dangerous villains. Yet the secret behind his extraordinary popularity may have less to do with his superpowers than with the very human pain hiding underneath his mask.
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland's Peter Parker is not merely fighting another threat to New York. He is still grieving Aunt May, the woman who raised him and died during the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. He is also mourning the loss of MJ and Ned, who remain alive but no longer remember him.
That combination of spectacular action and painfully recognizable loss may explain why Spider-Man continues to connect with audiences more deeply than almost any other superhero.
Peter Parker saves strangers while repeatedly failing to preserve his own happiness. He is powerful, but he is also lonely, exhausted and emotionally wounded. Even when he is surrounded by crowds, he remains cut off from the people who once knew him best.
The ending of No Way Home left Peter with almost nothing. His friends had forgotten him, his only remaining family member was dead and he was living alone in a tiny apartment. Brand New Day reportedly refuses to erase those consequences, allowing audiences to see how grief continues shaping his choices.
Instead of restoring Peter's former life through another convenient spell, the movie forces him to live with what has happened. MJ and Ned continue pursuing the future they once imagined with him, while Peter watches from the outside and chooses not to reveal the truth.
That is not the kind of loss typically solved by defeating a villain.
It is the grief of remembering a relationship that the other person no longer shares. It resembles the pain of watching friendships fade, families separate or people move forward without us. Nobody has died, but something real has still been lost.
The film also depicts Peter imagining conversations with Aunt May. These scenes suggest he has not "gotten over" her death-and that he may never do so. Instead, he is learning to live while continuing to carry her memory.
Grief researchers sometimes describe this as a "continuing bond." People may preserve a connection with someone who has died through photographs, personal belongings, memories or imagined conversations. Such bonds do not necessarily prevent healing. They can become part of how a grieving person finds comfort, identity and strength.
For Peter, May's remembered voice does not trap him in the past. It reminds him of the compassion and responsibility that continue guiding him.
That distinction matters because popular culture often presents grief as a problem that must be resolved before a character can move forward. Brand New Day offers something more honest: Peter moves forward with his grief rather than leaving it behind.
Sadie Sink's Jean Grey reportedly provides another expression of bereavement. After learning of her sister's death, Jean experiences an overwhelming emotional reaction that contributes to the explosive emergence of her powers.
Her grief is raw, angry and potentially destructive. Peter's grief is quieter and more internalized, but both characters are isolated by what they have experienced.
Their eventual connection becomes one of the movie's most meaningful lessons. Peter reaches Jean not simply by overpowering her, but by entering her pain and assuring her that she is not alone.
That may be Spider-Man's real superpower.
He knows what it means to lose people, blame himself and continue living with unanswered questions. He cannot remove Jean's grief, just as nobody can erase his. What he can offer is presence, understanding and companionship.
This is one reason Spider-Man remains so successful across comics, films and generations. Superman may appear nearly invincible, Batman may possess unlimited resources and other Marvel heroes may command gods, armies or advanced technology. Peter Parker usually has unpaid bills, damaged relationships and another personal crisis waiting at home.
His struggles remain recognizably ordinary: loneliness, guilt, financial pressure, responsibility and the fear of losing the people he loves. As one review observed, Spider-Man takes ordinary human problems and places them inside extraordinary costumes.
Audiences do not merely admire Spider-Man. They recognize themselves in him.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day suggests that strength does not mean forgetting the people we have lost or pretending their absence no longer hurts. Strength can mean carrying their memory, accepting support and continuing to love even when that love has become painful.
Spider-Man's success, then, is not simply that he gives audiences someone powerful to cheer for. He gives grieving people someone who understands.
Behind the mask, Peter Parker is still hurting. He still misses Aunt May. He still longs for the friends who no longer know his name. He still wonders whether his sacrifices were worth the loneliness they created.
And yet he keeps swinging.
Perhaps that is why audiences keep returning to Spider-Man. He does not show us how to defeat grief. He shows us how to live with it.
