SPOILERS AHEAD!
For two months we asked ourselves how the MCU will continue after Avengers: Endgame as all the people who have been gone are now back and the question remained, how will the world deal with it? In Spider-Man: Far From Home we follow Peter on his second solo adventure and get some of the answers we were looking for.
The movie picks up a couple of months after Endgame. We see an “in memoriam” and Betty (Angourie Rice) explaining to her fellow students that everyone who got dusted – called the Blip – will pick up where they left off as they’re still 16 while their other school friends are now 21. Peter’s friends – Ned (Jacob Batalon), MJ (Zendaya), Betty, and Flash (Tony Revolori) – who we know from the first movie were some of those who were also blipped.
For Peter, he is trying to be the best friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he can be, but struggles with the pressure of people wondering if he will become the next Iron Man. It does not help that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is calling him constantly, so Peter ghosts him because he has other plans in mind. School is out for summer and Peter and his friends are preparing themselves for a science trip through Europe. The plan is to start in Venice and then go to Paris and … well, this was before Fury kidnapped the trip. Never send Fury to voice mail.
The snap opened a hole between the multiverse and now The Elementals, four extradimensional humanoids who became immortal absorbing power from nature, have come to our earth and want to destroy it as they did before in another universe. Quentin Beck, also known as Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), came through the rift as well to stop them, but he needs help and that is why Fury called Peter because no other Avenger is available.
To make it easier for Peter, Fury decides to take over and send him and his friends on another route. From Venice, they drive through Austria, to Prague, to Berlin, the Netherlands, and finally to London. But, little did we know at the beginning of the movie that it would turn out completely different and letting us in on how Phase 4 of the MCU will kick off.
At first, Peter seems to be okay, but being Spider-Man again, while the Avengers have gone completely AWOL, feels like a burden to him. He does not know if he should continue and moreover, he does not know where his place is in this new world. The blip has not only a huge effect on Peter, but we also see a different MJ this time. Still saying unfiltered thoughts, she shows more of her vulnerable side. Your life can be over in a second so do not waste it!
Peter has a plan. He is falling in love with MJ and he wants to confess his feelings to her during the trip. He gets her a beautiful black Dahlia made of Murano glass in Venice and wants to give it to her on the Eiffel tower. Plan B is to tell her on the Charles Bridge in Prague, which would have been perfect, but to confirm MJ’s guess that he is Spider-Man kind of counts as well as a bonding moment.
While Tony Stark was not around in person, his spirit was everywhere. After joining Fury, Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), and Mysterio on their mission, Fury gives Peter a gift from Tony. In it are the iconic glasses that Tony wears in the last two Avengers movies. In it is a note that these glasses are “for the next Tony Stark. P.S.: I trust you.” E.D.I.T.H., short for “Even Dead, I’m The Hero” gives its owner access to Stark Industries satellite network as well as information on people’s bios and what they are up to.
Now, let’s break down the plot changing scene in the movie. We knew from the trailer that the Elementals and the multiverse will be introduced. It was all fascinating until we find out that Quentin is a former employee of Stark Industries and only interested in revenge. It turns out that some of the inventions Tony claimed to be his, have actually been of his staff. (Side note: that does not make Tony less of an inventor, right? I mean, he found out how to time travel!)
Quentin gathered them all and worked out a plan to make the world believe that he is the only superhero the world needs and for that, he needs EDITH. The Elementals? Illusions! Multiverse? If there is one, he is not from there.
Peter, who misinterpreted Tony’s message, gives Quentin the glasses because he things that he has the potential to be the next Iron Man and that is when the actual fight begins. Afterwards, with MJ’s help, he finds out about Quentin’s plan and goes after him to stop him and get EDITH back. What came next broke me, put me back together and gave me hope.
After fighting Quentin and his illusions in Berlin and also being hit by a train, Peter is alone, confused, and needs help so he calls the only person he can trust: Happy. He picks him up with Tony’s former jet and he gave him the speech Peter needed to hear so much earlier. Tony believed in him and he would not have done what he did if he did not knew that he would leave the world in capable hands. The loss of a person they both respected, loved, and called a friend bonds them together and Happy is gladly taking his place next to Peter as he did years ago to Tony. The similarity is beautiful and feels like a trip back in time. Peter then builds himself a new suit while Led Zeppelin blasts.
This scene has so much meaning. Not only for Peter and Happy, but also for Tom Holland and Jon Faverau. Jon, who fought for making the first Iron Man movie, has been there from the beginning and now sees the torch he lit on being passed on. You cannot tell me that Jon was not proud of it all. The next Tony Stark in the MCU is Peter Parker. The smartest kid we know who should not think less as that about himself and that is why this version of Spider-Man is by far the best! By the way, Happy and Aunt May being a couple?! I am in!
Apart from the great story, the stunts have been improved and the fight scene in the end was amazing. Tom Holland was the perfect choice for this role and in Far From Home he proves it once again. Peter is trusting himself again and embraces his abilities and finds a new way to use them. Balancing between being a superhero, finishing school, and having a girlfriend will not be easy, especially after the first after credit scene in which Quentin’s last action before he got defeated by Peter and died was to make a video and tell the world who Spider-Man really is.
So, and what can we expect from the first movie of Phase 4? I have no clue. Quentin’s team of angry ex-Stark Industries employees are somewhere and the Avengers have not regrouped… The two cameos do not give us any real clues as well. J.K. Simmons is reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy and Dr. Erik Selvig shows up in one scene on a screen as part of a documentation called “Nova: Einstein Rosen Bridges”. The only hint we get is from the second after credit scene where Fury and Hill turn out to be Talos and his wife, which are the Skrulls who were introduced in Captain Marvel. This explained why they have been so weird in this movie, but also gave us this little gem of a scene:
While they have been on earth, the real Nick Fury is out in space on a big spaceship with the rest of the Skrulls. It all looks like HQ for a secret space organization and this could indicate that Fury is building up S.W.O.R.D. – Sentient World Observation and Response Department – and that the future of the MCU lies completely in outer space!
