Everyone Forgot Peter Parker — Here's Why He Became Your Friendly Neighborhood Figment

The Spider-Man saga parallels the Avengers in the MCU. In early days, it seemed like Spider-Man would be the cheerful, friendly, happier Avengers story while some of the MCU strayed into dark, brooding, sometimes frightening territory.

But true Spider-Man fans know that, despite Peter Parker being "your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," there are some pretty dark timelines in the Spiderverse.

With the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, we saw some of that darkness emerge. Gone was the happy-go-lucky Peter of Tom Holland's early days, following Iron Man around like a puppy. And here was a more traumatized, more introspective Spidey.

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day releasing in March 2026, it was time to look back and start to piece things together as a new era of Spider-Man stories begins. So, why did everyone forget Peter at the end of No Way Home? Here's what you need to know.

Spider-Man: No Way Home was a real turning point in the Spider-Man saga. Gone is the starry-eyed Peter who believed Tony Stark could solve all his issues, and that belonging to the Avengers was the be-all, end-all dream.

Now, Peter is a little more world-weary. And his villains have grown with him.

We watched Mysterio flip Spider-Man's reputation upside down and rip away the mask, unveiling Peter to an angry public.

But interwoven throughout Peter's own personal scramble for identity and safety was an over-arching storyline involving magic and the multiverse.

At the end of the day, Peter needed Dr. Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), to help him fix things.

The solution? Spider-Man stays, but Peter Parker becomes a ghost. Strange cast a spell, removing Peter from everyone's memories. Including his beloved MJ (played by Zendaya) and bestie Ned (played by Jacob Batalon).

It was a brutal loss for Peter, but reality was in danger, and Peter is ever the martyr.

That brings us to the events in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Peter is alone in a way he never was before, even when he was hiding his identity in the early days.

And, worse, he has to watch MJ and Ned create lives of their own without him. It's been four years since the world forgot Peter Parker, and he's now an adult trying to make it in a world that feels a whole lot more empty than it used to.

Brand New Day brings in a cast of new-ish but familiar characters, including Punisher, played by Jon Bernthal. We've already seen this MCU Punisher in the standalone Punisher, as well as his time with Daredevil.

The lines between good and bad guy are more blurred than ever, and Peter has to grapple with the after-effects of his self-sacrifice and what it means to fight for a life he can't be a part of.

With Brand New Day, Spider-Man has truly grown up.