'Spider-Man: Brand New Day': How Does Peter Parker Afford His Tech And NYC Apartment?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a bonafide hit, smashing box office records. The bulk of Brand New Day's plot picks up four years after the heartbraking ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home, when to avoid a multiversal catastrophe, Doctor Strange was forced to cast a spell that made everyone on Earth forget Peter Parker. To avoid the troubles of his life, Peter devotes himself fully to life as Spider-Man, with the 'Peter Parker' aspect of himself being somewhat neglected.

Seeing as Peter doesn't appear to be holding any job aside from being Spider-Man, some fans have questioned how Peter affords the rent on his attic living space in New York, as well as all the advanced tech he uses. Some have even gone so far as to call this a plot hole.

However, there are some ways and reasons how he might make this work.

Inheritance/Life Insurance

Doctor Strange's spell erased any memory of Peter Parker. It did not erase Peter himself, or his identity. He still exists from a legal standpoint. This means that any bank accounts or money Peter had prior to the spell would still exist in his name.

This also means, as tragic as it was, Aunt May's death probably helped set Peter up. If May had a Will, or Life Insurance policy, Peter is in all likelihood the only beneficiary. He could have lived on this money, at least for a while.

We also know, from the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, that Tony Stark left Peter Parker the E.D.I.T.H glasses after his death. Given how important Peter was to Tony, its possible he also received a financial inheritance from him, or ongoing Stark Internship money.

New York City property prices plummeted after the Battle of New York

At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter moves into a rather cheap looking apartment in New York City. Just a few minutes into Brand New Day, Peter moves from that apartment into the Attic space of the same building to avoid contact with his new neighbours.

Even with the downgrade, some fans find it hard to believe that the seemingly jobless Peter would be able to afford rent anywhere in New York City. However, these fans are basing their opinion on real life property numbers.

It is a canonical fact that in the MCU, NYC property values plummeted following the Battle of New York, aka the climactic event of the first Avengers film. Crime Lord/one time NYC Mayor Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, references this as a reason why he has been easily able to purchase large amounts of land and property in New York City.

It's not difficult to assume that property values have continued to drop with each subsequent disaster, including Ebony Maw's arrival on Earth in Avengers: Infinity War, the destruction of the 'New and Improved' Statue of Liberty in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the attack of Gargantos in the opening scenes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and most recently, the attack of The Void in Thunderbolts*.

And that, of course, is without mentioning all the smaller scale incidents across Marvel's TV series. While Peter Parker would be priced out of the rental market in real life, he can probably afford to live in the MCU's NYC because it is no longer a desirable place to live.

Peter Parker has a talent for building Tech from salvaged material

As for the questions over how Peter can afford his new AI assistant, Evie, and all his high-tech computers and gadgets? Well, it may not be a matter of afford, necessarily. Peter Parker is known to have a talent for building tech from salvaged material. Peter's PC as seen in Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming is built from various salvaged parts, and he built Spider-Man's first web-shooters prior to the upgrades provided to him by Tony Stark.

While the spell possibly renders Peter unable to use the Iron Spider, or other Stark-Tech created suits, he still has them in his posession. He probably also still has the E.D.I.T.H glasses willed to him by Tony Stark. Peter may have been able to salvage and rework the tech and AI into the set up in his apartment, either reprogramming or using the AI as a basis for Evie.

Aside from all this, there are other methods through which Peter could be making money.

Crowdfunding/YouTube

In Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark was able to find Peter by tracking the Spider-Man videos he had posted on YouTube. When Ned discovers that Peter is Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he says that he recognised him from YouTube, indicating that Peter had continued to post videos in the Stark suit. It is likely that these videos accrued enough views over time to be monetised, resulting in an income stream for Peter/Spider-Man. He may even have been owed backpay on these post-snap.

Some fans have also suggested the possibility that Spider-Man could run on crowdfunding, through a service like GoFundMe or Patreon. Many in-universe Spidey fans would probably be delighted at the thought that they could help their favourite hero.

So, just because the exact details of how Peter funds his life weren't shown or explained onscreen, doesn't mean there's a plot hole. Sometimes we just have to trust that our heroes have a plan.