Wally West aka the Flash has at one point run into the same problem as Spider-Man in that he revealed to the world his secret identity only to immediately regret that decision, the only difference is the Flash was able to mind-wipe the world in a much better manner than Spider-Man. Spidey's identity being known by the world is a plot point that has transcended comics, with the fallout of Mysterio telling the world that Spider-Man’s real name is Peter Parker being the driving force behind the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Spider-Man first found himself in a similar situation in the comics, and his way of making the world forget his identity was pretty sloppy compared to how the Flash erased his real name from everyone’s mind. 

In The Flash #200 by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, the Flash is battling the villainous Zoom in a way that transcends time and space, having a full-on fight across the globe in a matter of milliseconds. The Flash is finally able to best Zoom by effectively freezing him in time, but that still leaves Wally with a lingering problem. Earlier in his continuity, the Flash told the world that his real name is Wally West, which is what alerted his villains, primarily Zoom, to his existence and in turn led to his life being practically destroyed. In an effort to help Wally, Barry Allen introduces him to Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern, who is going by the name Spectre at the time. Using the other worldly powers offered to him as the Spectre, Hal makes the entire world forget that Wally West is the Flash, no strings attached. 

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The Flash is able to make the world forget his secret identity while maintaining the progress of his character development, whereas Spider-Man’s character gets a hard reset in the same situation. In the storyline Spider-Man: One More Day, Spider-Man is reeling from the fact that Aunt May has been shot because he revealed to the world he was Peter Parker during the Civil War event. While trying to come to terms with the possibility that Aunt May will almost certainly succumb to her wounds and die, Peter is approached by the demon Mephisto who offers to make everyone forget that Spider-Man is Peter Parker as well as to save the life of Aunt May in exchange for the love he has with Mary Jane Watson. Willing to do anything to save the life of his aunt, Spider-Man accepts, which means the child he was destined to have with MJ would never be born and the two would no longer be together. 

While the outcome that Spider-Man and the Flash experience is the same, the fallout of the two different mind-wipe maneuvers couldn’t be more different. The Flash experiences no negative impact of the world forgetting his secret identity as he is helped by a friend and fellow Justice League member who uses his extraordinary gifts to make things right in the Flash’s life. Spider-Man, however, makes a deal with the devil, which completely undoes years of continuity and reset the entire Spider-Man comic franchise. 

Not only does Spider-Man suffer in-continuity impacts from the deal he makes with Mephisto to have the world forget that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, but there are real world impacts as well. Years of established growth and character development for Spider-Man was washed away, undoing his marriage with MJ and throwing him right back into slumming it with Aunt May, becoming once more the broke bachelor he previously was. The Flash could show Spider-Man a thing or two about how to mind-wipe the world properly as his version had only good outcomes while Spider-Man’s held loads of negative consequences.

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