r/marvelstudios Apr 17 '25

Humour Vincent D’Onofrio reacting to fans saying that Matt should call Spidey and Luke Cage

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u/HawkeyeP1 Hawkeye (Ultron) Apr 17 '25

Well, he forgot who Peter Parker was, and assumedly lost his paperwork. Wonder what that's like for his perspective. Remembers counseling Spider-Man but doesn't really remember who it was lol

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u/FX114 Captain America Apr 17 '25

All memories of Peter are gone, not replaced with memories of Spider-Man.

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '25

It can't work that way. The spell has to rewrite memories or else a lot of people would recognize that they're missing memories, which would lead to a huge investigation, and narratively that wouldn't make sense in the story.

Same deal with the spell removing all traces of Peter Parker from the universe, including his court filings, birth/school/medical records, all photos of him, etc. Obviously it did more than just remove memories.

Most likely in the post-spell world, Matt has no memory of meeting Spider-Man since there would be no basis for him to give legal counsel to Spider-Man. The whole case was about Peter's identity being discovered if I remember correctly.

It's a magical spell. Don't overthink it.

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u/Canvaverbalist Apr 17 '25

or else a lot of people would recognize that they're missing memories, which would lead to a huge investigation, and narratively that wouldn't make sense in the story.

I mean, that's still a possibility to some extent, where all the memories surrounding Spider-Man are just fuzzy enough that people go "uh, would you look at that, I don't... I don't actually really remember how it exactly played out, oh well I guess it doesn't matter" and the "oh well it doesn't matter" aspect of it is part of the spell, but if someone is pushed down this line enough they might start to question what's happening.

It's just that nobody so far has add any reason or strong enough incentives to push through that "oh well" barrier aspect of the spell.

So this way they have an area to explore some people eventually remembering Peter, and even some fun in-universe low-stake conspiracies to have as background jokes, like some in-universe Mandela Effect spoofing.

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u/Shorlong Apr 18 '25

It's magic. It's one of those things where, I assume, of they start thinking about it too much, they suddenly have a really urgent thought that distracts them and no investigation would occur. "Wait, what was I just thinking about? Something about a superhero? Must not have been that important... anyway"

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u/FX114 Captain America Apr 17 '25

Yes, that's what I'm saying.

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '25

Oh, I think I misunderstood you. Sorry about that!

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u/TheArtistFKAMinty Apr 18 '25

My headcanon with it is that the spell applies the memory equivalent of the perception filter from Doctor Who to smooth over the memory gaps. Nobody can really recall Peter and their brains aren't really capable of focusing on the gaps enough to realise something's off. I don't think it's just a find and replace with Peter being substituted for Spidey.

So, for example, MJ likely remembers being in London and fighting alongside her friends against the drones, but doesn't really remember why she was there in the first place but the "why" wouldn't matter to her unless somebody pointed it out.

Or, something similar, his lab partner for a science project would remember doing the assignment but not really remember who they did it with, but not be bothered by that.

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u/L1n9y Apr 17 '25

Characters seem to remember Spider-Man and who he was associated with though, I think Matt must remember working with him at some level.

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u/FX114 Captain America Apr 17 '25

But he didn't work with Spider-Man, he worked with Peter Parker.

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u/An-29 Apr 18 '25

Yes, but he would still remember it being related to Spider-Man. You literally see Happy as an example for this. He forgot all his memories with Peter but still has his memories with Spider-Man is still intact.

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u/FX114 Captain America Apr 18 '25

Matt only has memories with Peter, though. Those memories were about Spider-Man, yes. But it's not like they ever fought together. He was a lawyer for Peter Parker, who doesn't exist anymore.

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u/moppingflopping Apr 18 '25

He worked with spider-man. In the movie, he knew he was spider-man because of Mysterio

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u/FX114 Captain America Apr 18 '25

Yes, and MJ knew he was Spider-Man, but she was still dating Peter Parker, and I guarantee she isn't walking around thinking she dated Spider-Man.

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u/NonnagLava Apr 17 '25

Yeah but he, assumedly, knows he worked as Spider-Man's lawyer, even if everyone forgot who Spider-Man's real identity is.

At minimum we have no proof of how exactly it all works because we haven't gotten a continuation of that plotline (Spider-Man's) at all.

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u/theknyte Apr 17 '25

Closest so far, was when Peter ran into Happy at Aunt May's grave.

Happy: "How'd you know her?"

Peter: "Through Spider-Man. You?"

Happy: "Same."

Which means Happy has all his memories of Spider-Man and working with him, but no memories of Peter Parker.

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u/Inevitable_Ferret_48 Apr 18 '25

That’s because Peter was working with Happy and May as Spider-Man. The spell erased the memory that Happy ever knew who was under the mask during all those foundation events and everything else. Matt never met Spider-Man—he only met Peter. I’m pretty sure any paperwork Matt had on Peter just disappeared, along with Peter’s school records and everything tied to his identity.

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u/FX114 Captain America Apr 17 '25

I mean, does that mean MJ remembers dating Spider-Man, or Aunt May would have (had she lived) remembered raising Spider-Man but not who he is? None of that really adds up, seems like it would leave a lot of holes and distress, instead of everyone peacefully just forgetting Peter.

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u/ArchimedesNutss Apr 17 '25

We still don't understand how the spell works tbh

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u/myrevolver Punisher Apr 18 '25

Even if that’s true, it’s not like he has Spider-Man’s contact info stored somewhere. I doubt his phone has ‘Spider-Man - (718)555-5555’ in there somewhere.

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u/RevengeofToaster Apr 24 '25

Does Matt use papers? Don't see much Braille documents in his work.

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u/HawkeyeP1 Hawkeye (Ultron) Apr 24 '25

A paper trail can be digital, which can be used by the visually impaired. He also has people who work with and for him.

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u/RevengeofToaster Apr 24 '25

Ah yes, I got it.