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Few superhero movies have left fans dying to know what happens next more than Spider-Man: No Way Home. Indeed, Tom Holland’s third solo outing as Spidey, wrapping up with everyone on Earth magically forgetting about Peter Parker’s existence arguably ranks as the second biggest narrative rug pull in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s history (Avengers: Infinity War’s ‘half your favourite characters are dead’ cliffhanger is still number one). Heck, even now — five whole years later — we still have a bunch of  questions about the webslinger’s status quo in the wake of Doctor Strange’s mystic arts mind-wipe hocus pocus.

If anything, the more we find out, the less we know. In February 2026, an official synopsis for No Way Home sequel Spider-Man: Brand New Day surfaced online, revealing that Peter Parker ditched his secret identity altogether once the world forgot about him. It’s an intriguing twist on the classic ‘Spider-Man No More’ trope, but how does Pete’s life function without a civilian component? The mind boggles — and not even the recent Brand New Day teaser trailer has any real answers.

So maybe it’s time we stopped looking to studio-sanctioned blurbs and teasers to fill in the blanks. Maybe Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Marvel Comics source material holds the key to cracking the blockbuster’s biggest mystery, instead.

Everything we know about Peter Parker’s life post-No Way Home mind-wipe

As you’d expect, most of what we know about Peter Parker’s current situation comes directly from Spider-Man: No Way Home. That flick’s finale established that our hero’s one-time girlfriend MJ, and best bud Ned Leeds, no longer recognize him, nor does anyone in the costumed crime-fighter community (something further corroborated by the Brand New Day teaser, which confirms that Bruce Banner/The Hulk has no memory of Peter). No Way Home also implies that Strange’s spell erased all electronic records connected to Peter — that’s why he’s studying for his GED during the denouement — while the 'More Fun Stuff' extended cut takes things a step further, revealing that Peter isn’t visible in old photos and videos anymore, either!

Related: How Sony's Spider-Verse movies changed Marvel's Spider-Man comics forever

Of course, this poses a whole lot of boring, logistical conundrums. Stuff like how the paperwork-free Peter can rent an apartment (and hold down a job to afford said rent), and what the deal is with his bank account — can he still access whatever money Tony Stark and Aunt May left him? And if there’s no record of Peter on any system anywhere, how did he register for his GED or (as the Spider-Man: Brand New Day teaser suggests) enroll at Empire State University? Presumably, director Destin Daniel Cretton and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers will at least gesture at the mundane practicalities of Peter’s new reality early on in Brand New Day; comic book logic combined with audience leniency can explain away almost anything.

At any rate, the ins and outs of Peter Parker’s finances aren’t what most fans are fussing over — his emotional state is. The official synopsis I mentioned earlier describes a four-year gap of in-universe time between No Way Home and Brand New Day. As such, the implication is that Peter Parker, a guy so companionable that ‘friendly’ is one of the most commonly used descriptors for his spandex-clad alter-ego, has had no social life to speak of for almost half a decade. Peter’s voiceover in the Brand New Day teaser indicates he does still identify as Peter; he just has no friends in that persona.

Sure, Pete shows up at a housewarming party in the teaser; however, no one there — least of all MJ and Ned — apparently has any clue who he is. Shots of a sad-eyed Spidey plunging through the air reinforce this reading on his personal circumstances, hinting there’s no real downtime for him between taking down C-list supervillains, except maybe college classes. Being Spider-Man is his life now, and that’s starting to take a toll. And when that’s the case, nothing good will follow — not if the comics are any guide, that is.

Spider-Man letting go of his Peter Parker identity never ends well in the comics

The comic book incarnation of Spider-Man has turned his red-and-blue back on Peter Parker twice in mainstream Marvel continuity.

The first time was in the 1994 Amazing Spider-Man story arc 'Shrieking,' by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Mark Bagley. Here, the wall-crawler’s mind snaps following a string of major misfortunes (seriously: it was a rough run, even by the standards of so-called ‘Parker Luck’). He takes refuge in a web cocoon not unlike the one we see in the Brand New Day teaser, only to emerge convinced that his Peter persona is dead. Poor Spidey really gets caught up in the delusion, too — walking out on MJ, trading his sense of humor and restraint for po-faced brutality, and referring to himself as “The Spider” in his now grim ‘n’ gritty internal monologue. It’s an alarming change that extends beyond “Shrieking” and starts to seem permanent; however, Marvel’s flagship superhero eventually comes to his senses and reconnects with the ‘Peter’ side of his personality.

The second Spider-Man/Peter Parker uncoupling was in mid-2018 — and this time, the split was literal. In Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley’s 'Back to Basics' arc that ran in Amazing Spider-Man, a science experiment gone wrong divides Spider-Man and Peter into two separate beings! At first, it seems like a dream outcome; the now-powerless Pete no longer has to half-ass his personal and professional commitments, while Spidey is free to battle evildoers 24/7. But the longer the pair operates independently, the clearer it becomes that Spider-Man sans Peter Parker doesn’t work. Without Peter’s principles — most importantly, his sense of responsibility — the webslinger is little more than a fame-and-fortune-fixated adrenaline junkie. Oh, and the separation process is also slowly killing both of them. So, unsurprisingly, Peter soon engineers a way to recombine with his Spider-self, the way nature intended.

Will any of this Marvel Comics lore apply to Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

Probably not literally. Yes, Peter Parker is undeniably glum and detached from MJ in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day teaser, and yes, he does the whole ‘cocoon’ thing, but that’s hardly confirmation that a “Shrieking” adaptation is on the cards. For one thing, Pete seems to be in a much healthier frame of mind in Brand New Day than in “Shrieking”; he’s bummed out, not on the verge of a psychotic break. I mean, he’s downright glib during the brief glimpse we get of his run-in with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher! Plus, as noted earlier, the teaser’s voiceover has Peter referring to himself as Peter, not “The Spider”.

And as for a “Back to Basics” live-action do-over, for all that the Brand New Day teaser points to Spider-Man undergoing a dramatic physical transformation, there’s nothing to suggest it’ll involve a ‘separate bodies’ situation. More likely, Cretton, McKenna, and Sommers are mounting their version of mid-2000s crossover “The Other,” which features yet another cocoon-centric incident — the outcome of which isn’t a second fully-functioning self, but rather organic web-shooters like those Holland’s Parker briefly sports in the teaser. Bottom line? Don’t go into Brand New Day expecting Holland to act opposite himself, Sinners-style.

There is, however, something that Spider-Man: Brand New Day almost certainly will have in common with the comics’ “Peter Parker No More” storylines: their shared thesis. When you boil them down, “Shrieking” and “Back to Basics” are both extended arguments that Spider-Man can’t exist (in any sense of the word) without Peter Parker. To keep saving the day, he needs a web — not of silk, but of people Peter cares about and who care about him. That’s why, as messy and straight-up torturous as Peter’s day-to-day life can be, it’s also his greatest source of strength. It’s what paradoxically lifts him up and keeps him grounded.

That’s been true in the comics since Spider-Man’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 way back in 1962 — and you better believe it’ll still hold true when Tom Holland swings back onto the big screen this July.

Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...

• Best Spider-Man comic books 
• The best Spider-Mans (or is it Spider-Men?)
• Spider-Man movie watch order
• Spider-Man's actors, ranked
• The best Spider-Man suits
• and the Spider-verse explained!

Just watch out for that radioactive blood.