Warning: this post contains some spoilers. If you haven’t seen Far From Home yet, you might want to swing away from this article until you’ve had the chance to do so.
Avengers: Endgame may have marked a turning point for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’s Spider-Man: Far From Home– in theaters now- that brings Phase Three to a triumphant close. The second installment in the Spider-Man trilogy returns to the tradition of post-credit scenes, after Avengers: Endgame only had an audio Easter egg of Tony Stark forging his Iron Man armor.
Far From Home gives us two scenes: a mid-credits scene, and a post-credit scene. Keeping with the theme of Marvel end credit scenes, both scenes set up for future films.
The spoilers start now.
What happened in the first post-credits scene?
The mid-credits scene picks up where the end of the movie left off. Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland) swings MJ (Zendaya) through Manhattan and drops her off at 8th Avenue and 33rd Street. A huge television screen on the side of Madison Square Garden displays a report from TheDailyBugle.net.
An edited video frames Spider-Man for the murder of villain Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) during their final battle in London. Mysterio, a master illusionist, claims that Spidey is a villain from another universe who was controlling the drones that attacked the city.
At the end of Mysterio’s testimony, he reveals the man behind the mask. Peter Parker’s secret identity as Spider-Man is publicly broadcast, leaving both Peter and MJ in shock. Peter yells “what the f…”, and the scene cuts to black. The ending of this scene mirrors that of Spider-Man: Homecoming, where Aunt May said the same thing that Peter did after she discovered he was Spider-Man.
So what does this mean for Spider-Man?
Peter’s been outed as a superhero and framed for murder. His entire life will be completely turned upside down for the beginning of Phase Four. It’s possible that his next solo movie will be about how he handles having his identity revealed, and attempting to once again be seen as a hero in the eyes of the public. The mid-credits scene also hints at Beck’s allies being potential adversaries in the future for Spidey, since they were the ones who doctored the footage to frame him for Beck/Mysterio’s murder.
Many people have noticed the parallel between this scene and the final scene from 2008’s Iron Man. The last scene in Iron Man ended with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) famously revealing himself to be Iron Man. But with Peter, his secret identity has been exposed without his consent. Some people see this as a way of coming full-circle. Phase 3 has ended in a similar way to how Phase 1 started — with a superhero revealing his secret identity. It simultaneously is a nice way to wrap up Phase 3, and also set the scene for Peter’s character arc in Phase 4.
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What about the second scene?
In the movie’s second scene, we learn that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) weren’t actually present for any of the movie’s events. They were being impersonated by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and Soren (Sharon Blynn), the shape-shifting Skrulls who were first introduced in Captain Marvel. Talos calls the real Fury, who has been relaxing on a virtual-reality beach on a spaceship. Fury decides that maybe it’s time for his vacation to come to an end.
Why is this important?
This big reveal answers a nagging question. It explains why Fury (a.k.a. the most paranoid person on the planet) fell victim to Beck’s lies. It wasn’t actually Fury himself who fell for it. In Far From Home, both Hill and Fury are a lot less competent than they have been in previous films. They trust Mysterio, they endanger the safety of Peter’s classmates, et cetera. Now that we’ve learned that they were Skrulls this whole time, we can credit that inadequacy just to the Skrulls’ inexperience with SHIELD missions.
This scene also foreshadows the involvement of Skrulls in future Marvel movies. If the Skrulls can successfully impersonate two high-ranking SHIELD officials, there’s no telling what else they are capable of. Who else might end up being a Skrull in disguise? There’s no way of knowing. We’ll just have to wait until the next movie to see.
Spider-Man: Far From Home does not disappoint. It’s a satisfying conclusion to the third phase of the Marvel universe. But, as every Marvel film has done in the past, the post-credit scenes leave you hungry for more. The next movie can’t come soon enough!
Featured image via Instagram
