According to Tom Holland, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has a surprising twist: one mystery MCU character remembers that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, despite the end of No Way Home. Prevailing logic suggests that the Hulk is the character, since the Jade Giant could have been suppressed by Bruce Banner and technically not subject to the rules of Doctor Strange’s far-reaching spell. It’s an elegant solution (and a shade better than the alternative theory that it’s James Rhodes because he was replaced by a Skrull and kept on ice), but it doesn’t really explain why Hulk would then attack Spider-Man.
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There is a solution to that headscratcher, of course, because Brand New Day‘s marketing has made it very clear that someone is possessing people, and Hulk is just one of the victims. But what if that’s all misdirection? What if the MCU character Holland was talking about isn’t even in Brand New Day? Or what if he’s completely overlooked the fact that another rule-breaking MCU character might also know Peter Parker is Spider-Man, because of the quirk of his existence? Well, a Marvel fan on Reddit might well have nailed the perfect loophole that would make all of that true by pointing out that Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking superpower should mean that he’s aware of the scripts, since he’s proven multiple times that he knows he’s in a movie universe.
Why Deadpool Could Remember Spider-Man is Peter Parker
As the Reddit discussion points out, Deadpool should technically know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man because he could have experienced the plot of No Way Home in a completely different way from other heroes. We know he’s aware of other MCU heroes because he’s watched them; we know he knows Wolverine is played by Hugh Jackman, and that he is played by Ryan Reynolds, for that matter, and that Josh Brolin played both Cable and Thanos, so he should know who Peter Parker is and his relationship with Spider-Man. You can just see how they’d write it: Wade quipping about the secret identity as an opportunity for an added laugh, but not in a way that actually advances the plot:
There are alternative theories presented in the thread, like the suggestion that he’d know that Tom Holland is Spider-Man, but not Peter Parker, or that he’d know Peter Parker was Spider-Man, but wouldn’t actually know who Peter Parker is in any valuable way. And of course, it depends on how you view Deadpool’s meta-awareness as a superpower: as one Redditor says, “He is aware of both Spider-Man and Peter Parker as entities. Sometimes, even the names of the actors playing them. Meta awareness is part of Deadpool’s mutation, and he has barely tapped into it, mostly disregards it as craziness.” Even if it’s not played off in a substantive way, it would be very funny for Deadpool to offer a footnote to Peter Parker’s story – perhaps even when everything’s resolved – revealing he knew all along because he’d seen No Way Home.
How Marvel Comics Solves The Loophole
Just as Deadpool & Wolverine blocked Peter’s portrait with Tony Stark to avoid showing him (either for rights issues, if you’re cynical, or to preserve the idea of Peter being forgotten), Marvel Comics built in a clever workaround for Deadpool’s power. When he saw Peter without his Spider-Man mask, Deadpool saw only a blank face, and his name was bleeped out. Personally, I would love for the MCU to somehow pick up the same loophole as a further nod to Deadpool lore, and to settle this loophole completely.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Forum Conversation: Genius Spider-Man: Brand New Day theory…
Go to ForumWould be a great quick aside in an Avengers movie someday.
I don’t hate this! Though I do wonder how long it will take to see Deadpool and a Spider-Man interacte on the big screen, feels inevitable but you never know
I could totally see Deadpool knowing he’s Peter Parker.