If you go with what happened in the comics, after Dr. Strange cast a spell that made everyone who knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man forget they knew it, they were not only unable to remember, but inflicted with a sort of blindness to evidence. I believe at one point Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, all of whom previously knew his secret identity, encountered a statue that had been erected somewhere-- maybe in the Negative Zone?-- which depicted Spider-Man without a mask standing with the Fantastic Four. When they looked at the statue, they couldn't see its face. I think later his mask came off, and his face appeared blank to everyone. It wasn't until he willingly chose to reveal to someone that he was Spider-Man that the spell was broken. No one who previously knew suddenly remembered, but if they saw him without his mask, or otherwise learned his identity, they would be aware of it.
I suppose the MCU version of the spell is similar. The knowledge that Peter exists is gone from everyone's mind, but all the evidence in computer databases, paperwork, school records, and such still exists. It's just that no one really remembers him or knows who he is. They might look in a yearbook and be sort of hypnotized not to notice his picture, and so forth.
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phony (215)
2 years ago
Thats great and all... but it's still a plot hole in the movie, because thats never explained there.
And what you wrote proves how simple it would be to do so, yet they chose not to (or forgot). Which is bad writing either way, IMO. Still, its nice knowing what happened in the comics, so thanks for that. But my guess would be that 99% of the people who saw the movie never read those :/
comics ≠ movie.
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FilmBuff (6736)
2 years ago
Something not being spelled out isn't a plot hole. A plot hole is an instance where the plot fails to make sense due to an oversight or error. The Sopranos didn't end on a plot hole because we were never told if Tony lived or died.
The point to the ending is that Peter is being forced to start over, alone, and faces uncertainty in all aspects of his life. We don't need to know the precise particulars of the spell that caused this, we need only accept that it happened in much the same way that we accept that falling into a vat of electric eels can give one the power to command electricity.
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phony (215)
2 years ago
See, i disagree in this case. For instance, they felt the need to explain why Strange couldn't use the time stone anymore, yet they didn't HAVE to. I can accept that, as you said, "falling into a vat of electric eels can give one the power to command electricity" because thats internally plausible in superhero canon.
This, on the other hand, is different. It's like saying that WW 1984 is well written because "dude, don't bother with the world falling apart, just ignore it and accept that everything is normal again"... that is simply lazy and bad.
A creative decision that allows interpretation from the audience because it isn't spelled out is one thing. Not adressing something that could easily be regarded as an oversight - or plot hole - is quite another. There is only so much suspension of disbelief i can allow, IMO.
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