Note: Spoilers ahead for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is now in theaters, picking up in the direct fallout of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” But there’s one small detail in particular from that movie that fans might need to be remembering — especially when thinking about the ending.
In the final moments of the film, Peter (Tom Holland) works up the courage to introduce himself properly to his former best friend, Ned. To do so, he initiates their best bros handshake that fans first saw way back in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Ned does it flawlessly, which naturally confuses him.
Then, a glimmer of recognition hits, and he addresses his friend by his name: “Peter?!”
There are a few theories as to what’s going on here. Some like to believe that he’s just piecing together that MJ (Zendaya) told him that Spider-Man’s name was Peter, and that this was the guy she was referring to. The more popular (and really, more plausible) option is that Ned’s muscle memory kicked in, jogging his actual psychological memories. There is a third option though.
Because let’s not forget, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” established Ned has magic. “Like, Doctor Strange magic,” he excitedly tells Peter in that movie.
In “No Way Home,” Ned is able to use a sling ring to create portals, making him directly responsible for bringing Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man to the MCU. We don’t know how he got this magic, but given what we’ve learned from other projects in the franchise, it seems it’s just inherent in him because of his belief.
Ned goes on to further use that magic to help in the final battle of “No Way Home.” So, it’s possible that Ned’s own magical ability helped his brain break through the spell cast by Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) that made everyone forget Peter.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is now in theaters everywhere.
