Adaptation is a tricky thing. One need only look at the current controversy around The Odyssey to see that. Homer and Emily Wilson occupy decidedly different literary spaces than Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and the hundreds of creators who have penned and drawn Spider-Man since. Yet they all share a commonality. Their visions of these characters and stories often do not arrive on-screen exactly as everyone would like.

Tom Holland’s interpretation of Peter Parker and his masked alter ego has piled stacks on stacks in the past decade. Nevertheless, a sect of fans found plenty to object to. They argue the MCU reduced the Wall-crawler to Iron Man’s teen sidekick, ignored his long-running issues with money, and failed to “get” the character in numerous other ways. Given the ending of the previous film, many were hopeful Spider-Man: Brand New Day would finally make Holland that Webslinger.

However, rather than check off that list of demands, Director Destin Daniel Cretton, working from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, does something more complex. And, arguably, more interesting. He shifts Spider-Man to the moral and emotional center of the MCU—with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) as a kind of patron saint—a place not unlike the one he’s held in Marvel Comics for decades. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker lives life almost entirely as Spider-Man. The one exception is regular visits to Aunt May’s grave. The commitment has paid off. The public’s animosity has turned into appreciation. He even shares a close (for him) professional relationship with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas). None of that helps the increasingly intense headaches that he largely ignores, though.

Unfortunately, the return of MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), paired with the arrival of a new body-jumping villain (Sadie Sink) with a grudge against Damage Control sends his stess levels through the roof. In response, his body begins a further metamorphosis. Can he address all these issues? Plus new frenemy The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), a newly savage Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and a bunch of supervillains including The Scorpion (Michael Mando)?

On the page, that’s a whole lot of plot. Nonetheless, Spider-Man: Brand New Day somehow keeps things moving at a swift pace. By the time credits roll, it doesn’t feel like 145 minutes have passed. At times, Cretton and Cinematographer Brett Pawlak recreate their characters in classic Spider-Man covers and panels. That’s a treat for fans, but can quickly give the action a stilted, frozen feeling. To balance it, the filmmakers bring a new creativity and fluidity to the superheroic escapades. This is best illustrated by the body-jumping effect overseen by choreographer Josh Lamb. It pops on-screen, giving those moments a mix of disturbing elegance.

Still, the emphasis lands firmly on the emotional stakes, particularly the lengths Spider-Man will go to both protect MJ without revealing their previous connection. When the film slows down to capture their sometimes funny, sometimes painful interactions, they feel like what the action is building to rather than a distraction marking time before the next dustup. While the film’s use of close-ups and two-shots in tight spaces facilitates the results, the praise lands firmly on Zendaya and Holland. They’ve both deepened their work as these characters. A third-act confrontation between Sink and Holland enters clichéd territory, treading well-trod “don’t let your grief make you like them” moralizing. However, both performers commit, pushing the moment above predictability with legible pain.

Some fans of both Punisher and Sink’s character will likely object to their presentation. The choices made do align with comics’ approach to crossovers, though. While certain traits travel across books, the Spider-Man readers encounter in his own titles is often different from the one that might show up in the pages of X-Men or Daredevil. So, it is here. Bernthal is still recognizably Frank Castle, but he’s a more PG-13, human version of the character. Despite the mountains of personal tragedy, Spidey’s world is a lighter one than, say, Born Again and the characters are filtered through that worldview accordingly.

Eighteen years after Iron Man hit screens, the MCU has reached a point where every film is not only judged as a discrete work but as yet another installment in that sprawling saga. For those who have vocally longed for discrete films, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will provide much grain for the grousing mill. In addition to those already named, Florence Pugh returns as Black Widow II and Tramell Tillman seems likely to be popping up regularly after debuting here as head of Damage Control William Metzger. But this is the reality of the MCU now. With that in mind, this film is limber in how it brings in, uses, and sends away its various crossover characters.

So, is this a successful adaptation of Spidey to the big screen? Yes, absolutely. Will it make everyone happy? No, it will not. With over 60 years of source material, several different film interpretations, and six appearances in the MCU, that’s an impossibility. But internal consistency? That’s a thing worth striving for and evaluating. On that front, this Spider-Man is an evolution of the joking high flyer we first met in Captain America: Civil War, one older and a bit more bruised but recognizably the MCU’s Webhead.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day webswings into theatres everywhere July 31. And we do mean EVERYWHERE.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer: