MJ knows who Peter is at the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but she still cannot remember the life they shared. That is the key turn in Tom Holland's return as Peter Parker, and it leaves his relationship with MJ in a place that is recognizably close and still out of reach.
That distinction is why readers are asking Does Ned Remember Peter now. Peter Parker is back in the MCU for the first time in four years, and the ending lands on a version of reunion that is partial rather than complete. MJ recognizes Peter, but recognition is not the same as memory, and the story makes that difference matter.
The setup traces back to 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, when Doctor Strange cast a spell that made Peter Parker's closest friends forget who he was and left the world with no memory that Peter Parker ever existed. Spider-Man: Brand New Day works from that damage, not around it, and the ending shows that the spell's consequences are still shaping every step Peter takes.
By the end, Peter has successfully defeated the Department of Damage Control after its attempt to take down Sadie Sink's mysterious character, but the bigger emotional beat is what happens to the people around him. Ned Leeds and MJ are left in an unexpected place, and MJ's position is the sharpest example of that split: she knows Peter, but she does not carry the memories that would make that knowledge feel lived in.
That is also why the answer to the bigger question is not a clean yes. MJ read Peter's letter while he was hiding out at The Punisher's lair, and she said she does not love that version of Peter because she simply cannot remember him. The film leaves open the possibility that she may be able to fall in love with this version of Peter, but it does not confirm that the missing memories will come back.
So the story ends with a relationship that is technically restored and emotionally unfinished. MJ can name Peter Parker. She just cannot yet remember the version of him that mattered most, and that is the gap the next chapter has to close.
