All 3 MCU Characters Who Could Remember Spider-Man in Brand New Day

Tom Holland has dropped a bombshell about Spider-Man: Brand New Day, confirming the theory that not everyone in the universe has forgotten that Peter Parker is Spidey. Ever since Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s tragic ending, there had been questions over any loopholes that might preserve Peter’s memory for some, and now, finally we know it’s true. But who could the mysterious character be? Could it be Brand New Day‘s secret villain? Is that why Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned are in danger and need protection? Or is the character know remembers Peter a more obvious choice? There are already some pretty compelling theories.

Honorable mentions have to go to the MCU characters who have the inbuilt multiverse loophole that could have protected them from Doctor Strange’s spell. Technically, anyone outside the Sacred Timeline wouldn’t be subject to the memory wipe, meaning Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) should remember Peter is Spider-Man when he returns in Avengers: Doomsday. Likewise America Chavez was outside the main universe thanks to her innate dimensional travel powers, so if she ever came across a Peter Parker in another realm, she’d have a good idea of the other version’s secrets. But Cap isn’t appearing in Brand New Day and remains in his own universe when he appears in the Doomsday teaser footage, and America requires too much mental gymnastics to qualify, so they’re both out. And the prevailing speculation that Wong might be powerful enough that the spell wouldn’t work on him is just empty theorizing with nothing to back it up. It’s not impossible, per se, but there are 3 more likely candidates to explore…

3) Hulk

The most popular of the candidates who remember Peter Parker’s superhero secret is Mark Ruffalo’s Jade Giant, because of the nature of Bruce Banner’s suppression of his mutation. From Avengers: Endgame onwards, Bruce has either been the “smart Hulk” variant created by marrying the intellect of Banner with the brawn of Hulk or he’s been plain old puny banner thanks to his mutation containment device. But in both cases, Hulk isn’t really present (at least his mind isn’t). Smart Hulk being a true balance of the two was always a lie, because Bruce is “at the wheel”, but has a more impressive physique. Hulk’s separate mind remains suppressed, as it does when Bruce is walking around in his little body.

So, the theory goes that because Hulk may not have been “present” or “at the wheel” when Doctor Strange cast his spell, only Banner was actually affected. We know from the Brand New Day trailers that Banner doesn’t recognize Parker, but that doesn’t mean the same for Hulk. And that could be what ultimately decides the battle when Savage Hulk bursts out and ends up fighting Spider-Man. Calming him down has rarely worked (other than in the regrettable “sun’s getting real low” nonsense), but narratively speaking, there’s value in Hulk recognizing deep down that Peter isn’t a threat, even if they didn’t really know one another.

2) Jean Grey

First, a disclaimer: we don’t yet know that Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This point obviously assumes that she is, but there are other possibilities that are mostly still in play because lots of people are too cynical to accept that Destin Daniel Cretton isn’t trying a bit of misdirection with the trailers. Regardless, let’s just accept that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably Jean Grey. And if Sink is indeed Jean Grey, she has a similar loophole to Bruce Banner’s that could have blocked out the spell.

We know that Grey has the Phoenix Force within her, and there are some major hints in the Brand New Day trailers that Jean might actually be an antagonist to Peter. That wouldn’t make sense unless she was being manipulated, or she wasn’t in control, and the Phoenix being more present in her mind earlier in her story would account both for the villain turn and for her memory being spell-proof. If Phoenix was in charge and Jean was “absent”, but Jean viewed Mysterio’s announcement of Peter Parker being Spider-Man’s secret identity, that could account for her being the one exception. And of course, there could be a separate loophole that just positions Jean as such a powerful psychic that no outside influence could change her mind for her. Including magic.

1) James Rhodes (The Real One)

And then there’s James Rhodes, a late runner in the “who remembers” race. Ever since some point around Captain America: Civil War‘s events, Rhodey was replaced in the MCU by a Skrull imposter (you may not remember this solely because very few people watched Secret Invasion). This caused some plot holes, and has never actually been followed-up on, because of the delay (and possible cancellation) of Armor Wars, but it could be an elegant way of making Rhodey the one exception to Doctor Strange’s spell. At the time it happened in No Way Home, War Machine was still on ice in the Skrull stronghold with the alien technology subduing his conscious mind.

That could theoretically be used as the loophole, assuming Tom Holland wasn’t talking about a character who is actively involved in Brand New Day (which seems unlikely), but it also comes with other problems. The technology would have to be explained as more than just keeping Rhodey unconscious, because that would mean literally everyone who was asleep at the time of the spell would still remember Peter is Spider-Man, and that would be a ridiculous, glaring oversight in the spell. And there’s no actual confirmation in Civil War that Rhodey knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man anyway: would Tony have shared his new recruit’s secret identity so quickly? Even to his closest ally? Okay, maybe – he did tell Happy Hogan, but there are a lot of requirements for this one to work.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

6 Spider-Man: Brand New Day Theories Ranked By How Likely They Seem After the Trailer