A new look at Disney+'s VisionQuest changed everything for Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending. Marvel Studios' next Disney+ series, VisionQuest, will begin on October 14 as the final leg of the WandaVision trilogy and possibly a major chapter in the MCU. The highly anticipated project has one key connection to Spider-Man: Far From Home, thanks to the return of EDITH, the Tony Stark-made glasses AI that Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio was after. EDITH will be one of many AIs who appear in human form within Vision's internal Mind Space, although she has been recast for her Phase 6 return, as Schitt's Creek star Emily Hampshire is tagging in for the original voice, Dawn Michelle King, who is usually an editor, not an actress.
Entertainment Tonight (ET) went behind the scenes on the set of Disney+'s VisionQuest to talk with series star Paul Bettany and EDITH actress Emily Hampshire. The BTS sneak peek included a few short clips from VisionQuest's set, one of which directly references Tom Holland's Peter Parker, as EDITH tells Vision that her "first boss was a junior in high school."
Vision: "I'm having a profoundly difficult time navigating teenagers."
EDITH: "Tell me about it. My first boss was a junior in high school."
Many will remember that Far From Home led to difficult times for Peter Parker, as Mysterio exposed his secret identity to the world. That would set in motion a chain of events that would eventually force Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange to cast a spell in No Way Home that erased any recollection of Peter, which became the basis for his lonely struggles in Brand New Day.
Fans saw that in full effect in this summer's Spider-Man record breaker through Zendaya's M.J. and Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds. The movie's Marvel Studios intro even showcased Peter fading out of various events from the MCU so far, namely his memories with his ex-girlfriend and best friend.
So it comes as a surprise to see that EDITH doesn't just recall Spider-Man, she clearly remembers Peter being a high school teenager. That raises questions about whether the other AIs were equally unaffected by Doctor Strange's memory spell, such as FRIDAY, who was in Spidey's suit in Homecoming.
Brand New Day left fans confused about Bruce Banner and Hulk's status after Doctor Strange's spell. While Bruce clearly didn't remember Peter, there was a glimmer of recollection in Hulk's eyes after he clashed with Spidey at Damage Control HQ, leading him to give up and drop from the New York skyscraper.
Even in Marvel Comics, when the Immortal Hulk: Great Power one-shot reunited Spider-Man and Hulk after the One More Day storyline wiped all memory of Peter's secret identity from the world, the Jade Giant still remembered. Despite the comic precedent, the MCU never gave a definitive answer about whether Hulk was affected by the spell, although their on-screen history together was limited anyway.
How Doctor Strange's Spell Will Be Addressed in Future MCU Projects
Previously, The Cosmic Circus reported that Marvel Studios might reverse Doctor Strange's memory spell after Avengers: Secret Wars before Phase 7. However, one could argue that gradually reintroducing M.J. and Ned into Peter's life in Spider-Man: Brand New Day naturally, not reversing the spell, makes any kind of supernatural undoing of Peter Parker's biggest hurdle yet seem unlikely.
Just before the credits roll on Brand New Day, Ned appeared to recall his old friend after they organically repeated their classic handshake. Meanwhile, many have theorized that M.J. had also begun to remember Peter during Brand New Day's climax, when a tear fell from her eye when she was frozen by Jean Grey.
While Tom Holland's return in Avengers: Secret Wars may offer some updates on the outcome of Brand New Day, the exact state of Peter's life may not become clear until Spider-Man 5, whenever that finally happens. It's easy to imagine that Peter will already have fully rekindled his friendship with Ned in the MCU sequel, while he and M.J. may be working to restore their relationship to its former glory.
When it comes to Spidey's fellow superheroes, future MCU crossovers, such as Secret Wars, will probably keep things between them and the mask, not the man underneath, as he returns to maintaining a secret identity. Regardless, it's tough to imagine the spell's consequences being explored in any major way again after already spending most of Brand New Day dealing with the fallout.
In the meantime, only time will tell whether VisionQuest is hiding any more Spider-Man references after he was previously namedropped in Daredevil: Born Again. As EDITH's only MCU appearance before now was in Far From Home, in which she was roped into a conflict between Spider-Man and Mysterio, it stands to reason that those events may be referenced, clarifying exactly what she remembers.
