In less than a week, Spider-Man: Brand New Day raked in $1 billion worldwide and smashed box office records. It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of big-screen comic book spectacle when it aligns perfectly. But while this latest Spider-Man movie was truly excellent, it doesn’t necessarily signal that Marvel has figured out how to get its larger interconnected universe back on track.

Despite Spider-Man: Brand New Day's success, the MCU is on shaky ground. While both Spider-Man: Homecoming and No Way Home cleared the $100 million mark during their opening weekends, it only took Far From Home six days to reach $185 million. What’s different here is how quickly Brand New Day has shattered records and cemented itself as one of Marvel and Sony's most fruitful collaborations.

The film’s a testament to the fact that people do still have an appetite for big-screen comic book spectacle when the stars align just right. But the things that make this latest Spider-Man project work so well haven’t been present in the Sony-free parts of Marvel’s interconnected universe. Jon Watts' Spider-Man trilogy eventually started mucking around in the multiverse, but those films told relatively self-contained stories that were focused on building a grounded world around Tom Holland's Peter Parker.

The mixed reactions to trailers for the studio's next big feature make it seem like people might not exactly be excited about what’s coming next. Avengers: Doomsday will bring most of Marvel's heroes together once again, but the Multiverse Saga has been too unwieldy. The films and Downey Jr.'s rehiring are also Marvel's way of moving on from the Kang-filled future they gave up on after jettisoning Jonathan Majors.