Actor Jacob Batalon has been discussing the ending of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day", particularly the emotionally loaded handshake between his character Ned Leeds and Tom Holland's Peter Parker, which closes out a film that has become a huge box-office success. The scene has sparked debate among fans over whether Ned genuinely regains his memory of Peter's identity, a question that matters because the entire film hinges on the memory-wipe spell cast at the end of "Spider-Man: No Way Home".

The film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, broke Avengers: Endgame's record for the biggest domestic opening weekend ever with $360 million, and took $941 million worldwide on opening, second only to Endgame. In the final bodega scene, Peter reveals himself to Ned, who responds with a seemingly knowing "Peter?" after they shake hands, fist-bump and mime finger guns. Fans remain split on whether this signals a genuine restoration of Ned's memory, mere muscle memory triggered by MJ's earlier mention of the name Peter, or a partial memory return linked to Jean Grey's psionic powers, with the article noting inconsistencies in each theory.