'The Dark Knight' warned us about mass surveillance. In 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' it's a punchline.

Caution: Spoilers for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" ahead.

With great power comes great responsibility — that's the iconic mantra that's been at the heart of Spider-Man since his introduction in 1962.

But in 2026, should that great power include the ability to run a mass surveillance program on the people of New York City, with nothing more than a quip to explain it?

If you go by the events of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," in theaters now, in which Spider-Man (Tom Holland) uses illegal facial recognition technology to identify both Scorpion (Michael Mando), a criminal, and Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), a telepathic mutant running amok in NYC, the answer is yes.

The technology is remarkably similar to what Batman uses at the end of "The Dark Knight," released in 2008. Except in that film, using it was presented as a huge ethical dilemma, and it's ultimately destroyed.

It's been 18 years since "The Dark Knight." What does the treatment of surveillance in "Brand New Day" say about our attitudes toward it? They've changed.

Spider-Man's line 'speaks to the extreme extent to which people are surveilled right now'

Spider-Man reveals the technology when looking for Scorpion, telling Detective DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) that he has "every camera in New York running a facial recognition scan."

"That sounds super illegal, Spider-Man," she responds. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

He laughs and says it's "probably for the best."

Some Spider-Man fans were upset about Spidey's relaxed attitude toward the surveillance technology. On X and Reddit, they used nicknames like "Peter Thiel Parker" and "Palantir Parker" to describe the character.

Peter Thiel's Palantir Technologies provides government agencies, including ICE and the Department of Defense, with software such as Gotham. It "supports soldiers with an AI-powered kill chain" by integrating target identification and target effector pairing, among other capabilities, according to the company.

Nicholas Carnes, a political scientist, professor of public policy at Duke University, and co-editor of "The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe," told Business Insider he was "very uncomfortable" with Spider-Man's illegal technology "being a throwaway line."

"I thought, my goodness, how blasé it seems to now say, 'Oh, I'm just going to do this. Don't tell on me, detective,'" Carnes said.

For Carnes, the nonchalance of the moment reflects how pervasive surveillance has become in our day-to-day lives. "That line can only exist in the movie in the way it does in a world where people are accustomed to being surveilled," he added.

The surveillance debate has shifted since 'The Dark Knight'

"The Dark Knight," released 18 years ago, approaches surveillance technology differently and shows just how far attitudes have shifted.

Bruce Wayne argues with his friend, Lucius Fox, about the implications of using surveillance tech on fellow citizens, leading Lucius to threaten to quit. The film climaxes with Bruce destroying the device, much to Lucius' relief.

The film was released in July 2008, near the end of George W. Bush's second term, when some Americans were concerned about the application of laws like the Patriot Act and the NSA spying on American citizens. A Gallup poll put Bush's approval rating at just 29% that summer.

Nearly two decades later, surveillance concerns haven't disappeared, but we've all gotten more accustomed to living with it in every part of our lives, including at home, at work, in our cars, and at school.

"Christian Bale was Batman in an era when people were getting really concerned about what's happening with their data. And Spider-Man is sort of surveilling the entire city in an era when people are being told a hundred times a day, 'AI is good, and it's your friend,'" Carnes said.

That's not to say "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" doesn't criticize government power. Carnes noted that the movie ultimately portrays government oversight in a negative light.

"This is a movie that really depicts a fictional department of the US government [the Department of Damage Control] as shadowy, abusive, unaccountable, and utterly immoral," Carnes said.

The film ends with Spider-Man breaking into a DODC facility and discovering the agency has been developing weapons specifically designed to take him down.

While Peter has regrets about creating technology that was used against Jean and could have catastrophic consequences for mutants in the future, he never reckons with becoming Big Brother himself.

Spider-Man's surveillance tech isn't so far removed from reality

The technology Spider-Man uses to fight crime — without any oversight — isn't unlike surveillance systems that are already in place today.

Automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), including those made by Flock Safety, are used by police departments across the country to search camera networks for vehicles of interest.

Proponents of the technology argue it could be a helpful tool in preventing crime, supporting victims, and aiding police work. Critics argue that the tech has accuracy problems, raises privacy concerns, and lacks reliable oversight.

For now, it seems Americans share critics' concerns. A March 2026 poll by the Center for Democracy and Technology found that 74% of respondents were "concerned about the privacy and security of their personal data that is held by the government."

That raises another question: whether seeing this kind of surveillance wielded casually by a trusted superhero — Spider-Man — can continue to normalize it.

But Carnes noted that audiences have accepted superheroes having technology that, in the real world, would not fly.

"We're OK with Spider-Man having that power because he's Peter Parker, and he's dear to us, and we trust him," he said. "We would not be OK with virtually anyone having that in the real world."