We all thought the shock ending of Far From Home was stunning, but it has nothing on how No Way Home ends! The final twist sees Peter asking Strange to perform a different spell to restore safety to the multiverse: not one to make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but one to erase all memories of Peter, period.
The spell allows the world to retain the knowledge of Spider-Man, which avoids massive plot holes like who would have filled Spider-Man's plot-relevant roles in the Avengers team-ups. However, it's maddeningly murky trying to understand how Peter being erased from the universe's collective memory actually works. Does the spell "replace" missing memories, even minor ones? Because the list of plot holes concerning the implications of this spell are endless. For instance, if memories of Spider-Man still exist, just not Peter Parker:
- Do MJ and Ned still remember working with Spider-Man? If yes, how did they get involved with him in the first place without having known Peter? If not, how does MJ think she got the scratch on her forehead at the end of the movie?
- If MJ and Ned were never Peter's friends, why do MJ and Ned think they didn't get into MIT at first?
- How did Aunt May and Happy meet through Spider-Man if they only ever met through Spider-Man because of May's relation to Peter?
- Wouldn't any of the surviving Avengers wonder why none of them know Spider-Man's identity?
- If all records of Peter's existence are gone, how can he do basic things like have a bank account, rent an apartment, have a credit card, drive, and so on?
While the world forgetting Peter Parker packs a powerful emotional punch, especially seeing MJ and Ned not know him, the logic behind it doesn't seem to add up.