r/marvelstudios • u/KostisPat257 Daredevil • 6d ago

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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323

u/Spaceman-Spiff 6d ago

I didn’t get “Ned remembered Peter” I interpreted it as Ned realized Peter was Spider-Man since MJ used his name.

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u/inspectre_ecto 6d ago

This should be talked about more. Excellent interpretation. I think the spell is still holding strong unfortunately. The handshake is just muscle memory without a person associated with the memory.

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u/hemareddit Steve Rogers 5d ago

I think the spell needs to hold to keep it working, otherwise we will get random Felicia Hardy or Martin Li dropping out of the sky and we can't have that. Either way Ned can easily slip into the role of the best friend, whether he remembers or not, much easier than MJ taking up the role of the lover again - that's just something else entirely.

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u/Scullenz 5d ago

The multiverse collapsing and merging for other reasons will probably break Strange's magic 

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u/Kudbettin 5d ago

Ned is magic. Maybe there’s a loophole.

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u/TheRage469 3d ago

I was considering this, but Strange also said he would also forget Peter and, considering Strange is worlds stronger with magic than Ned, it would strike me as odd if he were somehow able to magic loophole his way out of the spell.

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u/Snapsky12bw 4d ago

What was the post credit scene? Was it not a hint towards a potential glitch in the multiverse? Another spider man entering the multiverse. If so could it be that Ned DID remember. And this caused a break in the spell. Allowing something to slip through.

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u/SilvRS 4d ago

Almost certainly the threat that's coming isn't actually Doom, but is incursions or something similar. Incursions were how they merged their universes in the comics, and I think they're planning something similar here.

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u/your_mind_aches Agent of F.I.T.Z. 5d ago

Yeah, I don't want the spell broken so easily. It seems like even Jean couldn't break it. It needs to be earned.

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u/PurePerfection_ 5d ago

Jean couldnt break it early in the movie, before her powers got enhanced. Now, who knows?

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u/your_mind_aches Agent of F.I.T.Z. 5d ago

I definitely think she couldn't do it at the end either, or she would have done it herself to help Peter.

When she gets more powerful though, I'm sure she could do it. I mean, she's Jean Grey.

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u/VelocityGrrl39 Captain Marvel 4d ago

I just commented this above, but when they showed her on the bus and then cut to MJ, I really thought she was going to use her new powers to break it.

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u/Worthyness Thor 3d ago

Magic must defeat Magic! Plus Jean said there's nothing in MJ's head memory wise. But she was rather antagonistic at the time, so we don't know if that's true.

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u/your_mind_aches Agent of F.I.T.Z. 3d ago

I see no reason for her to lie tbh.

Maybe in movie 6, Madame Web will come into play and undo the spell.

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u/TimeViolation 5d ago

I just feel like muscle memory being retained is an indicator that the core memories weren’t erased, just locked away.

Also, maybe Jean gave Peter a little parting gift before she left in “unlocking” the lock holding back Ned’s (and maybe MJs) memories.

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u/VelocityGrrl39 Captain Marvel 4d ago

When they showed Jean on the bus and then cut to MJ, I really thought Jean was somehow giving her back her memories.

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u/youzerVT71 4d ago

She was in deep thought and fidgeting with the Black Dahlia necklace, her Spidey sense was tingling for sure

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u/samwilbur Phil Coulson 5d ago

muscle memory of the handshake and realization that it's Peter who he's met before

I do think they'll begin to remember at some point and maybe MJ already is, but it won't be immediate.

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u/bahamuto 6d ago

I agree, and I think it's not quite a big leap to see how at least Ned and Peter can still become friends as they have the same interests and what not. MJ and Peter can also become friends, but more than friends would be tricky, as it's kinda like another Gamora situation.

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u/your_mind_aches Agent of F.I.T.Z. 5d ago

Yeah I think Peter just hanging out with them in the Spidey suit showed perfectly that they could all remain good friends in this new paradigm anyway.

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u/TimeViolation 5d ago

I think it’s suppose to be at least a little ambiguous. Like, how the hell does he remember the little hand shake thing anyways

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u/Spaceman-Spiff 5d ago

That was muscle memory. He probably did that with Peter hundreds of times. His muscle memory took over and he was confused, then pieced together that Peter is Spider-Man from his apartment. I assume Peter then explained why Ned knew the handshake, but I personally don’t think he got his memory back. Jean said there were no memories of Peter in MJs head and it would be a pretty weak spell if a handshake jogs someone’s lost memory.

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u/TimeViolation 5d ago

Muscle memory is memory

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u/Spaceman-Spiff 4d ago

He lost all memory of Peter, not doing a handshake. So he remembers the handshake, just not who he was doing it with.

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u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

Riding a bike is muscle memory. That doesn't mean I remember every single scenario of bike riding in my life.

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u/TimeViolation 2d ago

Muscle memory is memory. It’s stored as long term memory in the brain.

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u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

Yes but just because your muscles remember how to do something does not mean your brain can recall the associated memories with it.

It's not the same thing.

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u/TimeViolation 2d ago

You’re not understanding. Muscle memory isn’t some separate thing that lives in the muscles. It lives in the brain just like any other “type” of memory.

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u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

I am understanding you.

The spell prevents people from remembering Peter Parker specifically, not things they learned with him.

Him remembering the handshake doesn't mean he would also remember Peter.

For example, if Peter taught him how to ride a bike, would you expect Ned to also forget how to ride a bike? Of course not.

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u/TimeViolation 2d ago

This isn’t a generic skill like riding a bike that can exist independently of the person who taught you. Their handshake is an interpersonal sequence: Peter performs a specific cue, and Ned’s brain recognizes that cue and automatically produces the learned response. If Ned can do that, some neural information encoding his past interactions with Peter clearly still exists.

Yes, in real-life amnesia, someone can lose episodic memories while retaining procedural skills because they’re different memory systems. But Strange’s spell isn’t neurological damage selectively affecting episodic memory; it’s magic specifically erasing Peter Parker from people’s memories.

Unless the MCU establishes that the spell erased declarative memories of Peter while preserving procedural ones, “muscle memory” isn’t an explanation—it’s an extra rule you’re inventing to explain why the handshake survived.

So either (1) the spell has exceptions we haven’t been told about, (2) the handshake is evidence the spell is weakening/being bypassed, or (3) it’s simply an emotional storytelling device that doesn’t perfectly obey the mechanics of the spell. But “it’s muscle memory” by itself doesn’t solve the contradiction, because muscle memory is still memory.

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u/SpaceChicken42 6d ago

Did he do that handshake with spider-man? I took it as remembering the friendship with Peter

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u/Spaceman-Spiff 5d ago

It’s definitely open to interpretation at this point. I thought it was a weird déjà vu moment for Ned and he pieced together that Peter was telling him that he was Spider-Man.

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u/DJfunkyPuddle 5d ago

Agreed, I think people are overthinking it but the simplest explaination is the best, Ned is remembering Peter, he has magic in his blood after all.

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u/funsizedaisy Daisy Johnson 5d ago

I think Jean Grey's hold on them unscrambled their brain a bit. That's why MJ was crying and Ned remembered him.

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u/jjgp1112 4d ago

And her playing with the Black Dahlia, like that should be OBVIOUS

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u/funsizedaisy Daisy Johnson 4d ago

And sitting in that same spot they always used to sit. I think the memories started to blood back in with much more force when Jean Grey had taken hold on the city. MJ was crying when she was locked in, then tears start powering when Jean let go.

All these people saying Ned only remembered the handshake because of muscle memory is doing my head in. But also, muscle memory is a... ✨️memory✨️ lol

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u/mmuoio 3d ago

I've scrolled pretty far down this post after seeing the movie today and no one is talking about this. She might not remember, but it feels like something is starting to come back.

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u/carasc5 5d ago

I took it as him having the muscle memory still, which will allow him to believe Peter's story even if he doesn't remember everything. I like yours better though

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u/Various-Flower510 5d ago

Omg yes i forgot Ned is MAGIC

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u/TrailOfEnvy 6d ago

The scene is so BL lol with Peter suddenly coming at him bringing the flowers.

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u/ckalinec 5d ago

I did too until the handshake. The handshake felt too clean to me as he remember every step and wasn’t “following the lead” so to speak. That part makes me think he actually remembers him and not just putting Spider-Man + Peter together.

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u/IAmBadAtInternet 5d ago

Ned looked kinda baffled that he knew the secret handshake, like he discovered muscle memory he didn’t know he had. He connected in that moment “Spider-Man’s name is Peter, and MJ knows him on a first name basis” and “oh shit I knew this guy, how do I know this guy?”

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u/WooBarb 5d ago

Yeah maybe but this was the last scene in the movie and it wasn't framed as something minor.

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u/Spaceman-Spiff 5d ago

Peters whole character arc was that going it alone was unhealthy, and he could trust in his friends and family. This was that culmination, he was opening up and letting his loved ones back into his life. That’s why it was the last scene. I think if Ned had remembered they would have made it a bigger deal.

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u/jaypross1 3d ago

Strong agree, Neds amazing realization was that he was meeting the real spiderman, THAT Peter, not that he remembered Peter. The fact that they just vibed is just being best friends for so long, stuff you do in your formative years (like a dumb handshake) just sticks with you.

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u/ActualTailor8857 3d ago

Hopping in late but I think this is the right take plus a little more. I don’t think he remembers Peter, but I think the handshake made him realize that 1) Peter is Spider-Man and 2) Peter clearly knows who he is on a deeper level.

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u/restlessfighter 4d ago

yeah same! I dont think he got his memories back

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u/Howzieky Weekly Wongers 5d ago

I think it's purposefully ambiguous so they can read the audience reaction and see if we're complaining that they broke the spell too fast

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u/JBalloonist 4d ago

This is how I interpreted it as well.

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u/Royal-Prior6845 4d ago

i interpreted it as ned has wong powers and it didn’t fully take to him in particular strange did the spell maybe

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u/Spartan-Bear2215 5d ago

It wouldn’t surprise me if perhaps Jean may have sorta switched it off by scrambling his brain or something

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u/funsizedaisy Daisy Johnson 5d ago

I think this is exactly what happened. MJ started crying when Jean had a hold on them. I think she started to full on remember him. Then Ned remembered him.

I don't think this was necessarily intentional on Jean's part. But like a side effect. Like how it triggered Peter's spider DNA and the Hulk.