Tom Holland Reveals Only One Person Remembers Peter Parker in SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY
The mystery surrounding Spider-Man: Brand New Day just got a whole lot more interesting. Fans have spent years wondering what life looks like for Peter Parker after the devastating ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Doctor Strange's reality-altering spell erased Peter Parker from everyone's memory.
Now, star Tom Holland has shared a surprising new detail that raises even more questions about where the story is headed next.
At the end of No Way Home, Peter made the ultimate sacrifice to save the Multiverse. In order to stop reality from collapsing, Strange cast a spell that made the entire world forget who Peter Parker was. Not just his classmates and coworkers, but everyone. MJ forgot him. Ned forgot him. Even the people closest to Peter no longer knew he existed.
That left Spider-Man feeling completely alone, and it sounds like Brand New Day is going to lean heavily into the emotional fallout from that decision.
For a while, many fans assumed the next movie would eventually restore Peter's relationships with MJ and Ned Leeds. That could still happen, but Holland has now revealed a fascinating twist that suggests things may be more complicated than expected.
Speaking about the film's new status quo, Holland said: "No one remembers that Spider-Man is Peter Parker apart from one person."
That's a huge revelation. The obvious question is: who is that one person? Some fans think it could be Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk. In Marvel Comics, Hulk retained knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity after a similar magical reset following the events of Civil War.
In that story, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, and Mister Fantastic helped erase Peter's identity from public knowledge, but Hulk somehow remained aware of the truth.
The MCU version of that idea would require some explanation, though. Spider-Man and Hulk haven't exactly shared much screen time together, and Banner never had a strong connection to Peter that would make him an obvious choice. Also, it doesn’t look like Bruce Banner recognizes him in the footage we’ve seen.
If we look at the wider MCU, another possibility is Steve Rogers. Depending on how Marvel chooses to handle the timeline, Captain America may have been outside the normal flow of events when Strange's spell was cast. Characters who weren't on Earth at the time are also potential candidates, including Carol Danvers, better known as Captain Marvel.
Then there's MJ. Considering the emotional connection between Peter and MJ, some fans are wondering if their bond could somehow weaken or break through Strange's spell. It wouldn't be the first time love has complicated magic in the Marvel Universe, and Zendaya's character remains a wild card heading into the movie.
Holland also offered another tease about Peter's former best friend, saying: "The reason why Ned is trying to find out who Spider-Man is in Spider-Man Brand New Day is so he can thank him personally for saving him."
That paints a bittersweet picture. Ned clearly feels a connection to Spider-Man, even if he has no memory of the friendship they once shared.
Meanwhile, Zendaya reinforced previous comments that audiences should prepare themselves for some emotional moments in the film. If Peter is forced to watch his old friends move forward with their lives while remaining a stranger to them, it's easy to see why.
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, “it's a Brand New Day for Peter Parker. Fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that doesn’t remember him—and the pressure of seeing his old friends move on without him—sparks a change in Peter he may not have the power to control.
But that transformation might also be the only thing that can stop a shocking new threat to the city and those he loves - a powerful villain no one can even see. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker, but he hasn’t forgotten them."
Marvel is taking Peter back to his roots while also pushing him into uncharted territory. A Spider-Man who has lost his support system, his identity, and his place in the world is a very different hero than the one audiences first met in Captain America: Civil War.
The biggest question now remains unanswered: who is the one person who still remembers Peter Parker? We'll have to wait and see if Marvel keeps that secret under wraps or drops more clues before the movie arrives.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton from a screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
The next chapter in Spider-Man's story swings into theaters on July 31, with a UK release arriving on July 29. For now, fans can start the speculation machine, because Holland just gave everyone a mystery worth obsessing over.