Spider-Man: Far From Home looks set to be the cinematic equivalent of the victory lap after the success of Avengers: Endgame (sure to become the highest grossing movie ever any day now). First impressions have been great, analysts are predicting a monster opening weekend and fans are curious to see the immediate consequences of what happened in the Infinity War sequel. But what many have been wondering is where this film fits into the wider MCU story.
Given that Endgame was billed as the finale of more than a decade of MCU storytelling, what does that make Spider-Man: Far From Home? Is it still part of the MCU’s Phase 3, or does it point the way towards the future Phase 4? Kevin Feige has cleared up some of this confusion in a new featurette for the movie, in which he clarifies that Spider-Man: Far From Home is the final piece in the jigsaw before Phase 4 begins proper.
“We’ve been working for many years on Infinity War and Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Those were the films that were culminating the entire Infinity Saga of the MCU. And as we were working on Endgame we realized that the true end of the entire Infinity Saga, the final film of Phase 3, had to be Spider-Man: Far From Home, because — spoiler — we lose Tony Stark at the end of Endgame.
The relationship between Peter Parker and Tony Stark is so special over the five films that Tom Holland has portrayed Spider-Man in the MCU, that we needed to see where his journey went, and see how does Spider-Man step out of the shadow of his mentor, Tony Stark, and become the true hero that he was always meant to be. And it’s for that reason that Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home are essentially two pieces of the same story, and it’s not over yet until Spider-Man: Far From Home.“
So, if I’m reading this right, Spider-Man: Far From Home could be considered a kind of feature-length post-credits scene for the last 11 years of MCU movies. In the film, we’ll no doubt see the characters dealing with Tony Stark’s heroic sacrifice, which will give us time to say our own goodbyes to Robert Downey Jr’s iconic performance.
However, based on some spoilers I’ve been hearing, it sounds as if the film will also reveal some key developments that’ll tease the initial direction of Phase 4. I won’t go into what they are here, but if they prove to be true, it could mean some very intriguing things for the next couple of movies.