Avengers: Endgame is still in theaters (and about to be bolstered by some new footage over the weekend) but if you are looking for the adventure to continue you are in luck. Spider-Man: Far From Home releases in time for July 4th, is the 23rd movie in the MCU, last in Phase 3, 1st in a post-Endgame world, 2nd Spider-Man solo outing (in our third iteration of the character), and will probably feature a partridge in a pear tree. Our on-staff Marvel aficionado Madison and biggest Spider-Man fan in Utah (other than Donovan Mitchell) Cole both saw it early. Let’s hear their, sure to be unbiased, opinion of the film…
Cole: Far From Home is the greatest Marvel movie ever!!!
Madison: I’m not sure I can go that far, but it’s certainly one of the best Spider-Man movies we’ve seen. Far Frome Home lives in the shadow of Into the Spider-Verse, arguably one of the best Spider-Man films ever made.
Cole: Spider-Man 2, Into the Spider-Verse (read our review here), Far From Home. Order them as you will, but they all do different things and tell different stories. What both this and Homecoming did above the average MCU movie is figure out a compelling villain.
The Next Iron Man
Madison: Honestly, from the trailers, I wasn’t sure how the MCU was going to play Jake Gyllenhaal‘s Mysterio. He is one of the more well known Spider-Man villains in the comics. From initial footage, I wasn’t sure how true to the pages they were going to be. But, Gyllenhaal is a great foil for both Tony Stark and Peter as the world is coming to grips with the loss of Iron Man in the events of Endgame.
Cole: The world wants him (Spidey AND Mysterio) to be the new Iron Man and from a story perspective they both get to serve that role. I love all the character dynamics and think it’s the perfect first post-Endgame movie. All within a typical Spider-Story of Peter-wants-MJ-but-has-the-responsibility-of-Spider-Man.
Madison: Yes, the best thing about the Spider-Man films is that he’s truly a street-level hero. Plus, we get to see the real impacts of the big Avenger films. Far From Home kicks off with a beautifully humorous in-world recap of how things played with the *snappening*. This is where the effects of having had half the worlds population blink out and Tony Stark [Endgame spoiler redacted] really get to play out.
Cole: Well. Actually. If it had started with that I would have loved it. There’s a dumb thing with Mysterio and Sam Jackson that starts the movie before we get the title card that they could have done without. Peter’s world should always be the start, end, and heart of these movies. Also, his Spider-Sense could have been handled a little better in my opinion too. Those are my two (and only two) problems.
Cole (again): Sorry but also about that, it is literally just a scene from one of the trailers where Jakey G is dramatically waving his hands saying “you don’t want any part of this” I realized how much I didn’t need it in the movie when we DIDN’T get the scene with Spider-Man telling the cops he’s “too busy doing their jobs” which was in every trailer. I kinda love the idea of trailers giving a feel for the movie with deleted scenes instead of telling the whole plot and making us predict during the movie where each scene we’ve seen will go. Trailers can be supplementary movie material. If more trailers did this, I would watch more trailers.
Spider-Man World Tour
Madison: In terms of action, Spider-Man films have to keep getting more and more creative to keep up with the slew of Spider-Man content being created. Far From Home has some really interesting sequences that, while relying heavily on CGI, are very fun to watch. There is one in particular that pays great homage to the comics while sending chills down any MCU followers spine.
Cole: I hope you’re talking about the crazy Dr. Strange-feeling Mysterio sequence in the abandoned building. I was the one that leaned over to you during that to say how amazing it was!
Madison: The very one.
Cole: You’ll know it when you see it, folks. It is the most comic-feeling scene the MCU has given us. Okay, maybe other than the splash page poses from Endgame. But, as with most rankings, I just can’t include Endgame. It’s not fair.
Madison: My favorite moment from Homecoming is when Peter is stuck in the rubble and has to summon the strength to push himself out. Far From Home pushes this character development further, but allows Peter to rely on his newly found allies. Happy Hogan and Tony Stark were both gatekeepers for Peter in Homecoming. But now they serve has Peter’s strength. By the end of Far From Home I just had to keep reminding myself, “holy shit, this kid is just a teenager! He’s a freaking boss!” And there is also a scene that mirrors and plays a beautiful homage to the first Iron Man film.
Cole: Tom Holland is really a gift to all Spider-Man fans. And now five movies into the MCU he is being allowed to show growth as a character that movie franchises don’t normally get the time to give.
Stay for the Post-Credit Scenes!
Madison: Last thing I’ll say about Far From Home is how well it pits Peter against his Spider-Man persona. These stories are at their best when being Spider-Man conflicts with being Peter. Far From Home rests on this conflict and lets it mount and build for the entirety of the film. Anybody making a Spider-Man film has to make sure not to let the relationship between Peter Parker and Spider-Man get too cozy. If not, you risk losing the heart of the character. But by the end of the film, this conflict only intensifies after a humdinger of a post-credit scene.
Cole: Even if you think you like spoilers, don’t look that one up. Please. It really is such a joy to watch a perfect Spider-Man story dealing with power and responsibility and an amazing villain to contrast it all. RDJ’s Iron Man will always be linked to Holland’s Spider-Man and even after [Endgame Spoiler Redacted] he manages to influence the story in a way that works in the MCU. Endgame aside, I wasn’t kidding, this is my favorite MCU movie.
See Spider-Man: Far From Home this week, just in time for Independence Day in the U.S.
And check back here at InQua for movie news and reviews all Summer long!
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