r/marvelstudios • u/KostisPat257 Daredevil • Jul 31 '26

Discussion Thread Spider-Man: Brand New Day - Worldwide Release Discussion Thread

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has now been released in the United States and in a number of other countries around the world.

  • All discussion about the movie should be held here and in the rest of the discussion threads we are going to put up in the next few days.
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  • Any other unofficial threads discussing movie details will be deleted.
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  • Project Insight will be on AT LEAST for the next few days, so any posts will be filtered by the mods before being approved/removed onto the sub, that doesn't mean you can disregard the above points and post untagged spoilers without fear of being banned.

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614

u/Aggravating-Reach473 Aug 01 '26

that's what I appreciate about this movie.

neat! they really have jean gray in this.

wait, what was her power again?

shit, they're just gonna have her return MJ and Ned's memories of him as thanks, at the end of the movie aren't they?

then it's hammered to us in 2 separate instance that that's not going to happen, first in the rooftop, and second in Frank's hideout.

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u/popiconmel Aug 02 '26

Oh, I didn't think of this. I thought Ned was just able to break the curse because he seemed to have some sorcery skills.

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u/Forizen Aug 02 '26

Muscle memory is all it was with the handshake right?

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u/DUNDER_KILL Aug 02 '26

The way he said "Peter" and looked at him after the handshake indicates he remembered more after that.

It's the power of bromance, not even Strange can stop it.

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u/Caprihorn Aug 02 '26

Nah, he remembered the "Peter" MJ called spiderman when he left their hangout. Just realized that this Peter is THE Peter aka Spiderman

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u/YungL1am Aug 02 '26

Yeah it seemed a very deliberate choice to include MJ calling him Peter in front of Ned so that's my interpretation as well.

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u/trustabro Aug 02 '26

I was thinking about this and I think that I am missing something.

  1. Yes, he knows that Spider-Man’s name is Peter.
  2. How can he tell from that handshake that the person in front of him is Spider-Man?

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u/everix1992 Aug 04 '26

I think he had enough pieces there to put it together tbh. He's incredibly smart

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u/trustabro Aug 04 '26

But that defeats the point that the handshake has no ties to Spider-Man. The handshake is between him and Peter Parker. I think that scene is either telling us that he now remembers that Peter is Spider-Man or it’s a red herring making us think that he put two and two together but he didn’t.

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u/Ysmildr Aug 04 '26

They show him doing the handshake with peter in his spidey outfit in a flashback in the movie. They can choose to do what they want with it, but personally I'd be a little disappointed if Ned remembers. They really hammered home MJ had absolutely nothin in her head of Peter, and that it was cliche that a kiss would make her remember

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u/NinjaEngineer Black Panther Aug 09 '26

Eh... I dunno. Just saw the movie today and the ending seems to heavily imply he remembers Peter. Same for MJ, as she's shown with the necklace Peter gifted her in Far From Home.

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u/trustabro Aug 04 '26

Thanks, I missed that. Do they do it with the mask on or off?

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u/AgentCodySpanks Aug 12 '26

However, it was Jean that was possessing MJ, and they made it a point that MJ and Metzger didn’t remember anything from that time, so it seemed somewhat implied that maybe if he actually kissed her with her own mind present, she’d remember as well.

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u/usernamesaconspiracy Aug 05 '26

Idk why you’re downvoted when you’re correct. The handshake has nothing to do with Spider-Man. You can see Ned remembering as the handshake goes on. We’re just going to have to wait and see, but the downvotes for you are crazy since that’s exactly what happens

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u/trustabro Aug 05 '26

Someone earlier said that there was a flashback with Spider-Man with his mask off doing the same handshake with Ned. I didn’t remember that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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u/EmbarrassedHelp Aug 05 '26

He knows he spent a lot of time with Spider-Man, and Peter knowing the handshake confirms that.

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u/twennyjuan Aug 03 '26

I didn’t think about your second point. He definitely remembers.

31

u/ACoderGirl Aug 05 '26

Yeah. He doesn't remember Peter, but he now knows:

  1. Spider-man's name is Peter.
  2. Peter is the guy in front of him.
  3. Spider-man saved him many times, so he clearly has a connection to him even if he doesn't understand what.
  4. Peter knows a handshake that he can't explain why he knows, implying some kinda connection to his past.

Ned is a smart guy. He would have pieced together that somehow he knows Spidey/Peter on a personal level. He won't remember anything about him, but he knows that he must have somehow lost his memories of it. They'll have to rebuild new memories, but they aren't exactly at square one either, since Ned will instinctively trust Peter and he's obviously a massive Spidey fan.

MJ is a bit messier, especially because of the pain of not being told the truth by someone that she probably knows she once loved (even if she doesn't currently feel that way). But I think she's quite similar and just needs more time.

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u/Roboticide Hulkbuster Aug 09 '26

Lot messier.  MJ also has a boyfriend.  Even if their relationship isn't perfect, if she's a half decent partner she has to actually end things with Flash before seeing if she has any connection with Peter.  That's gonna be a hard conversation and it's fair she needs time to process.

Imagine in real life knowing you suffered from an extended amnesia episode, but recovered and moved on with life.  Met someone. Graduated college.  Then someone you just met shows credible proof you had a relationship with them, seemingly a great one, and clearly had legitimate love for you.  You remember nothing, and if consider pursuing that at all, you have to tell the partner who you're otherwise happy with you're dumping them to date your ex who you have no memory of.

It's honestly on par with the whole "remarried during the Snap but now they're back" drama that the MCU never really bothered to cover much of.

10

u/becauseiloveyou Aug 10 '26

MJ is not with Flash… that’s a totally different actor and character.

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u/Roboticide Hulkbuster Aug 10 '26

LOL, it's fucking Ezra Bridger's actor from Star Wars.

I saw a tan-skinned guy making out with MJ for half a second and just assumed it was Flash for some reason.

I think the rest of the point stands. It doesn't matter so much who the boyfriend is.

2

u/edflyerssn007 Aug 23 '26

MJ is currently with jabba the calRIZZian.

1

u/booksycat Aug 20 '26

I feel like this is one thing the good teams do well in the universe: they open something up enough to be more than one thing so they can walk through the right door later and be like "yeah, we knew the whole time"

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u/CrazySnipah Aug 03 '26

I think they cleverly left it ambiguous on purpose so that whatever the viewer wants to believe will be true. Regardless, the next movie will honor them both by having them be best friends again at the beginning.

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u/kyrev21 Aug 03 '26

I think it’s ambiguous because it’s a better end to the movie and it allows them to decide how it’s resolved in the next movie. MJ still hasn’t experienced a kiss herself so it could go either way

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u/dakthatpassup Aug 03 '26

I don’t think it’s ambiguous at all lol he remembers the handshake, and then calls him Peter with a smile on his face because he remembers it’s his best friend. MJ calling Spiderman Peter is irrelevant to this scene because he only knows spider man’s name is Peter. And nothing from that interaction tells Ned that it’s Spiderman.

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u/Islero47 Kevin Feige Aug 03 '26

I agree with you, the script maybe is ambiguous, but the way Jason played it - his face indicated remembering and joy, not surprise and puzzle solving.

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u/WookieeSmuggler Aug 04 '26

I think it was play on earlier in the movie when Jean through MJ mocks Peter for thinking true loves kiss would break the spell. Then at the end of the movie we get the friend version of true loves kiss (the handshake) which seems to actually work.

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u/CrazySnipah Aug 03 '26

Sure, but I’ve seen plenty of people be equally sure it’s the opposite, and that he just realized that he’s Spider-Man. I was also convinced of the same thing as you, and it’s still what I believe.

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u/DMonitor Captain America (Cap 2) Aug 08 '26

I imagine that it's a bit of a mix. He was trying to connect the dots about how he got saved by Spider-Man so much, why he would just hang out at his apartment with MJ, and then the handshake + name triggers a realization that he knows Peter even if he doesn't remember him.

6

u/dakthatpassup Aug 03 '26

The handshake has zero connection to Spider-Man. He tells Ned his name is Peter which gets no reaction. The handshake is what makes him realize that’s his bestfriend Peter Parker. If it was supposed to be him finding out he’s spider-man they would’ve left it off with him looking excited calling him spiderman instead.

0

u/DeusVultSaracen Iron Man (Mark XLIII) Aug 23 '26

It could still be the latter. The full line could easily be "Peter, so you're Spider-Man!"

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u/DUNDER_KILL Aug 02 '26

I can see that literal interpretation, but in my opinion the scene was clearly meant to indicate a deeper memory than that

2

u/Baals_Nuts Aug 05 '26

But how would he have known it was the same guy

2

u/Caprihorn Aug 05 '26

Handshake + the dude introduced him as another name the first time, he knows spiderman is called peter and i guess the handshake

3

u/Baals_Nuts Aug 05 '26

But he didnt handshake with Spiderman, how would he have made that connection

1

u/Hot_Marsupial_8706 Aug 10 '26
  • He knows that Spider-Man was around his life in high school a bunch
  • He knows, thanks to MJ, that Spider-Man's name is Peter

When Peter (re-)introduces to Ned as Peter, Ned deduces that he's Spider-Man because it's the same name MJ used. Because Spider-Man has been around his life, and the muscle memory for the handshake, Ned also deduces that he must have been friends with Spider-Man, in other words Peter (and vice versa, he must have been friends with Peter, therefore Spider-Man).

Basically he realizes they're one in the same and he connects the dots.

3

u/PtEthan323 Aug 08 '26

Thank you for pointing that out. I left the theater thinking the writers were hinting at Ned remembering Peter, which would have ruined the point of the sacrifice at the end of No Way Home.

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u/joe__kerr1 Aug 08 '26

I don't think it ruins the point of his sacrifice if he's spent 4 years being lonely and in solitude. He's suffered for his sacrifice and is finally getting a possible second chance

2

u/NinjaEngineer Black Panther Aug 09 '26

I agree with you. Yes, the sacrifice at the end of NWH was significant, but even then, I don't think it should be permanent.

2

u/Caprihorn Aug 10 '26

I mean, in the end of the day hes the one that made it permanent by not telling them right after

19

u/redsyrinx2112 Korg Aug 02 '26

It's the power of bromance.

It's guy love, between two guys.

7

u/meme-com-poop Aug 03 '26

Ned is Peter's real soul mate

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u/cmath89 Spider-Man Aug 02 '26

Not too mention he knew Peter as “Maynard” and called him “flower guy” before the handshake. He def remembers.

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u/Dumeck Aug 03 '26

Naw he literally doesn't remember him, he remembers MJ calling him Peter as he was swinging away. He realized that the Peter who just did this weird handshake he already knew was the same Peter that was Spider-man. They 100% are not giving Ned his memory back just due to a handshake.

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u/TheScreaming_Narwhal Aug 03 '26

100%? Ned was doing sorcery shit in NWH, they could absolutely have him remember. It would be a super weird reaction if he didn't remember something there.

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u/heckdwreck Aug 03 '26

If it isn't from him remembering Peter, then the reaction is just weird. Peter introduces himself as Peter, as opposed to Maynard from earlier, and Ned doesn't react, even though he now knows that Spider-Man's name is Peter. Then they do the handshake, you see the lightbulb going off in Ned's head, and instead of reacting "Spider-Man!", he reacts "Peter!", as if remembering what that handshake specifically meant or symbolized.

The handshake meant nothing to Ned regarding Spider-Man, it meant everything regarding his relationship to Peter Parker. It's a super weird way to have Ned realize that this random guy he met one time is Spider-Man. It's a super poetic way to show him remembering his best friend Peter.

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u/Hot_Marsupial_8706 Aug 10 '26

Because MJ called Spider-Man. When he says "Peter!" he also is silently saying, "this guy is Spider-Man because his name is Peter, and Spider-Man was around my life, so I know this guy."

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u/CX316 Aug 08 '26

love's true fistbump

14

u/ncopp Aug 03 '26

No, it was true love's handshake that broke the spell

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u/SonicFlash01 Aug 03 '26

You could say Ned held some memories because of sorcery (an as-yet unpaid-off plot opportunity) and that the Hulk retains memories of Peter (separate from Banner) that also didn't get unwritten (like that comic panel). That's probably the best way to handle shit like this?

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u/sleepy-snowdrop Aug 02 '26

this is what I thought lmao

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u/SunnyGods Aug 10 '26

Yeah I thought it was pretty obvious and even setup for the future. Like, he can probably resist Dr.Strange's magic since he's seemingly even more talented than him

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u/CitizenKeen Aug 15 '26

No, it’s Guy Love between two Guys!

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u/Darksol503 Doctor Strange Aug 02 '26

Underrated comment! Haha

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u/Kitagawasans Aug 02 '26

Ehhh.. but when Jean goes ultra.. MJ starts crying.. and Ned remembers the hand shake between him and Peter.. so they kinda remember now. Also the fact that The Hulk PURPOSEFULLY let go of the building because he knew he was Peter..

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u/ezioaltair12 Thor Aug 06 '26

Yeah. I'm glad they didn't have her reverse the spell, but I also think its appropriate for Jean to be able to dislodge memories a bit with her powers

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u/KeyLime044 Aug 08 '26

there was a theory some time ago (before the movie released) about the one person who would remember Peter Parker. Some people thought it to be Hulk, since Hulk technically did not exist when Doctor Strange cast the spell

we obviously know now that it's Jean Grey, but I do still wonder if Hulk was affected by the mind wipe spell

3

u/NinjaEngineer Black Panther Aug 09 '26

Jean didn't remember Peter. She learned who he was from reading his mind (and then snooping around his apartment).

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u/abellapa Aug 01 '26

Also in no moment of The movie was established Jean could do that

Mj and ned probably gonna get their memories after SW reboots The MCU

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u/PSN-Colinp42 Aug 02 '26

Wait, didn’t Ned remember at the end? I was thinking that maybe Jean DID fix them - she said Peter was nowhere in there before her powers expanded.

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u/abellapa Aug 02 '26

No he didnt ,he just put Two and Two together that Peter is Spider-man and The handshake triggered muscle memory because he remembers doing it ,but he doesnt with who

Know he think probably was with Peter,but he doesnt actually remembers it

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u/9FBI9 Aug 02 '26

The way he said Peter a second time at the end very much made it seem like he remembered him

5

u/redsyrinx2112 Korg Aug 02 '26

MJ called Spider-Man "Peter" as he was leaving their apartment and Ned was like, "Spider-Man's name is Peter?!" So Ned just put it together when Peter said his name.

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u/idontknow87654321 Aug 03 '26

Why are you downvoted, this is literally what happened in the movie 😭😭🥀🥀🥀💔

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u/redsyrinx2112 Korg Aug 03 '26

Yeah, I don't know how people missed it.

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u/trustabro Aug 02 '26

That makes no sense. There is logically no connection between a handshake and Spider-Man.

The only connection is that he knows Spider-Man is called Peter because MJ says it but how can he know that this Peter is Spider-Man?

The handshake is clearly triggering something and that handshake has more to do with their forgotten friendship than Spider-Man.

I think it makes more sense that the handshake triggered a memory and it all came back to him

1

u/abellapa Aug 02 '26

Peter and Spider-man have the same voice ?

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u/askacanadian Aug 02 '26

I think he was just figuring out that Peter was the same name that MJ called spider-man, he’s linking that together.

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u/Jesso2k Aug 02 '26

Omg your Spider-Man! I'm piecing that together because MJ called Spider-Man Peter earlier therefore we have a hand shake suddenly.

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u/topramen614 Aug 02 '26

My head canon is since Jean was telepathically holding people still when she entered Peter’s mind, everyone else somewhat shared that experience subconsciously. MJ already knew Peter so that’s why she went to the school rooftop, unless there was an anecdote in his letter. Ned didn’t know yet so it never kicked in until the handshake. And to everyone else Peter would have just been a random person.

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u/hb_beaver99 Aug 02 '26

It was mentioned that MJ and Ned would dream about living together at MIT in the rooftop, so I think they remembered the rooftop without memory of Peter

5

u/Darksol503 Doctor Strange Aug 02 '26

I think you’re right, it’s heavily implied with both the handshake, and MJ being at the roof too with the pendant.

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u/dm_ajolo Aug 02 '26

MJ called Spider-Man Peter after their hangout and Ned remembered that during their handshake at the end. The handshake was nothing more than muscle memory.

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u/darthfracas Aug 02 '26

A handshake like that has to be more than just muscle memory. “How does this guy I met for five minutes the other day know this secret handshake that I didn’t know I knew?”

Not saying Ned has completely reversed Strange’s spell, but between MJ calling Spider-Man “Peter” in front of him and then realizing he has some latent secret handshake with this guy named Peter that just showed up, Ned’s mind is starting to piece it together.

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u/dm_ajolo Aug 02 '26

When Jean possessed MJ she says there’s literally no thoughts or memories of Peter at all. Theres no reason the same doesn’t apply to Ned. In Homecoming we see Ned and Peter doing their handshake without even looking at their hands or each other just pure muscle memory just like this time, like the saying how you don’t forget how to ride a bike

5

u/QuantumFeline Aug 02 '26

That's assuming Jean was telling the truth in that scene and not just further messing with Spider-Man. Or that she's powerful enough at that point to get a complete read on someone's mind, including something potentially blocked by magic.

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u/MilhouseJr Aug 03 '26

Yeah, I don't buy that line from Jean. MJ was holding the necklace close at the end of the film, like it clearly means something to her. That combined with the handshake scene makes me think they just need to pull on those memories a bit more until the spell starts to unravel.

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u/Worthyness Thor Aug 03 '26

I feel like the spell basically wraps any mention of Peter Parker in existence. But it doesnt erase the feelings and memories of the events hes in. So MJ and Ned remeber a time in high school where they were 3 musketeers, but they've not figured out who their 3rd is.

2

u/Vennish Aug 04 '26

I mentioned this elsewhere, but I think something definitely happened to MJ and Ned during Jean’s power explosion thing that froze everyone.

  1. We specifically see MJ crying while frozen. That’s a significant detail to include and they wouldn’t show that if it wasn’t important.

  2. MJ’s last scene is her sitting on a rooftop, smiling and holding the necklace that Peter gave her. Again, significant. I’d have to watch it again but I’m pretty sure that was the same rooftop that the trio always hung out on. She probably knew that necklace was given to her by someone important, why else would she keep a broken necklace for 4 years? I believe that somehow she’s getting her memories back.

  3. Finally, Ned and Peter’s last scene. There’s a lot of debate about whether Ned remembered Peter or just put 2 and 2 together that Spider-Man’s name is Peter and this random dude just introduced himself as Peter. Personally, I think Jean’s shenanigans loosened the spell or maybe she did it on purpose as a thank you to Peter. Either way, that handshake woke him up. Someone on this thread described it as “waking up from a dream” and I think that’s the perfect description for how he said Peter’s name. Also, I don’t understand how the handshake is in any way relevant to MJ accidentally revealing Peter’s name. The logical conclusion here is that Ned is regaining his memories. However, I think all of this was left ambiguous on purpose.

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u/CaptHayfever Hawkeye (Avengers) Aug 02 '26

...Were you commenting on Reddit while watching the movie in the theater?

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u/Aggravating-Reach473 Aug 03 '26

I was just trying to guess the plot, and see if the new phase story is predictable or lame. I was proven wrong, especially about the golden goose, well almost.

although, that MJ's confrontation about the letter in Frank's hideout is a bit forced, they try to have MJ the one who said she does not love him, and has become a different person.

b*tch, you think Peter's 4 years of grueling character development wouldn't ponder on that? why do you think he chose to let go? /J 😂

1

u/dalivo Aug 20 '26

They brought us to where we wanted to be as an audience (enjoying the friendship of the main characters) while showing the pain and heartbreak along the way. Very, very satisfying film. It was like several buddy-cop and romance movies rolled into one.

1

u/whereismymind86 Sep 06 '26

its reminiscent of the relationship between starlord and time travel duplicate gamora. You thought that'd be fixed but...no, she's a distinct individual, and you can never go back, but you can build a new relationship.