Watching Spider-Man: Brand New Day? Here's everything to remember from No Way Home

As Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives, the film picks up after Peter Parker loses everything in No Way Home. A final memory spell leaves him protecting New York in a world that no longer knows Peter Parker.

In Short

• Spider-Man's identity is exposed by Mysterio, causing chaos for Peter and loved ones
• Peter seeks Doctor Strange's help to erase his identity from the world
• Multiverse villains arrive due to a destabilising spell; Peter tries to help them

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day arriving in cinemas this week, fans may want to revisit how Spider-Man: No Way Home ended and why Peter Parker enters the new film with nothing left but his mask.

The events of No Way Home pick up immediately after Spider-Man: Far From Home, where Quentin Beck, better known as Mysterio, exposes Peter Parker's identity to the world before framing him for his own death. Overnight, Peter goes from being a celebrated superhero to one of the most scrutinised people on the planet. The revelation puts immense pressure on those closest to him, including Aunt May, MJ and Ned, whose lives are also thrown into turmoil.

Desperate to undo the damage, Peter turns to Doctor Strange, hoping magic can make the world forget he is Spider-Man. But during the spell, Peter repeatedly changes his mind, asking Strange to spare certain people from forgetting his identity. The interruptions destabilise the spell, tearing open the multiverse and pulling in people from other universes who already know Spider-Man's secret.

That brings some of the franchise's most iconic villains into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman and Lizard. Rather than sending them back immediately, Peter insists on helping them. Believing they deserve a second chance, he works to cure them instead of allowing them to return to the moments that would have led to their deaths.

His compassion comes at a devastating cost. Norman Osborn's Green Goblin resurfaces and brutally kills Aunt May. Before dying, she leaves Peter with the words that define every Spider-Man story: "With great power, there must also come great responsibility."

Broken by grief and consumed by anger, Peter is stopped from making a fatal mistake when the Spider-Men played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield arrive through the multiverse. Together, the three versions of Spider-Man cure the villains and prevent the collapse of reality.

But there is one final sacrifice left to make.

To seal the multiverse and stop people from crossing into his universe, Peter asks Doctor Strange (Dr Stephen Strange) to cast a new spell - one that erases Peter Parker from everyone's memory. Unlike the earlier spell, this one succeeds. The world remembers Spider-Man, but no one remembers the person behind the mask.

In the film's closing moments, Peter visits MJ and Ned, intending to remind them who he is. However, seeing them happy and safe, he decides not to reveal the truth. He also visits Aunt May's grave alongside Happy Hogan, who remembers May but has no memory of Peter himself.

The final scene shows Peter moving into a modest apartment, stitching together a new Spider-Man suit and swinging through New York completely alone. Without friends, family or mentors, he embraces life as an anonymous neighbourhood hero.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day begins four years later. Peter is no longer backed by the Avengers or surrounded by the people who once defined his life. Instead, he starts afresh, navigating a world that has forgotten Peter Parker while continuing to protect it as Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day releases in India on July 30, ahead of its global release on July 31. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Mark Ruffalo, Jacob Batalon and Michael Mando.

- Ends
Written by Lakshita Popli