SPOILERS are ahead for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I saw Spider-Man: Brand New Day a few days ago, and it’s been sticking with me like the webs that (now) come straight from the wrists of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. It has all the things I’d want out of a Spider-Man movie, like cool team-ups and great surprises. But, there’s also a warmth to it I wasn’t necessarily expecting to feel four Spidey films in. Peter’s storyline has also led to some online chatter about how it connects to living with autism. Now, Peter Parker is not canonically thought of as a character on the autism spectrum. But the fact that enough people are having similar reactions to Brand New Day certainly makes it worthy of discussion. Let’s get into it. (Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios)People Are Making Brand New Day Connections To Autism Brand New Day has already soared to become the highest-grossing of 2026 movie releases with over $1 billion in box office returns in addition to being highly acclaimed. So, a lot of people have seen it and are talking about it. Check out this video about the connections one person made between Peter Parker and what it’s like to be in the autism community: A post shared by Azia Celestino (@aziacelestino)A photo posted by on There’s quite a few things to break down here. Azia Celestino, whose own brother has autism, mentions three moments in Brand New Day that made her think Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is an autism icon. For one, Peter Parker’s sudden mutation of his powers gives him sensory overload, which is often thought of as a common symptom of autism. Peter finds himself dealing with this, but it’s within the context of his arachnid hormones going through some changes. She also brings up the subject of “masking”, which is when someone with autism hides their natural traits to appear non-autistic. Again, Peter Parker is hiding his identity for a different reason, but it’s an interesting connection. Lastly, she brings up the scene between Aunt May and Jean Grey, where she says the following to the future X-Men character: You are a really special person. And I would hope that that will make you feel really great about yourself, but I know sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you'll be really lonely. And sometimes, because you're special, people can do dark and monstrous things to you. But this is what I want you to know: You're beautiful, and the people who love you, they love you not because you're special, we love you because you're you. Remember that even when it feels like you're totally alone. That's your deepest responsibility. Never forget that, no matter how powerful you become.Aunt May may be talking about what it’s like to have special powers in the context of the movie, but how sweet is it that it could be read as a message to people with autism? I also saw this video regarding the same topic: A post shared by Dr. Kerry Magro (@autisticprofessionalspeaker)A photo posted by on Autism is something that millions of people live with everyday, and there’s still a small amount of movies and TV shows that tackle how it really feels. I love knowing that the community is connecting to Spider-Man in the context of Brand New Day. (Image credit: Sony)How The Autism Community Is Reacting The comments to these videos really speak volumes, too. Check out what people are saying: “omg! I felt so deeply understood by this movie, especially during that overload scene I told my brother ‘this is essentially what feels like to be autistic!’ 😂🙌 like the whole movie was very coded and it also referred to the struggle of masking and unmasking in certain aspects. A VERY GREAT REPRESENTATION🔥🙌” - @angelic_depression “The sensory overload scenes in the new film are imo extremely accurate to how it feels for a ND person.” - @accccroowww“In the scene where Peter is talking to Aunt May and then Peter talking to Jean the message was something like”people who love you love you not because you’re special but because you’re you” That’s the reason why we mask because we don’t think we’re lovable unmasked. But I believe that people who love you will love you not despite your ND but because that’s what makes you you. For the first time ever I felt like I got a big comforting warm hug from a friend watching this movie like “you’re going to be okay”😢” - @shweta_nav1"It hit so hard when Jean was talking about how special people don’t get to have real connections or friends or family. They’re just alone. I cried because I see that with my son who loves people but they ignore him. Even some of his close family members. Just because he can’t verbalize a reciprocal conversation." - @sandisueperry"My son has autism and when I watched the movie all I could think was of him and was just crying for the rest of the movie ❤️." - @tutsieqWhile Spider-Man may not have autism specifically in the movie, it’s clearly making an impact on the community and their support systems. The late Stan Lee talked in the past about why Spider-Man is “easy for fans to relate to” and I love that it continues perhaps in a new way with Brand New Day. The emotional depth of the new Spider-Man flick is just one of many reasons why I really enjoyed Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and I can’t wait to see what themes fans see in the upcoming Marvel movies to come.