Avengers: Endgame changed the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in more than one way--but thankfully, its lack of a credits scene doesn't seem to be a trend. With Spider-Man: Far From Home the MCU has returned to its mid- and post-credits stinger formula with a vengeance, providing us with some of the meatiest teases yet for things to come in the mysterious Phase 4.
If you couldn't already tell--there are a lot of spoilers to follow, so please tread carefully. Here's what happened during the ending of Far From Home and its after-credits scenes, as well as what it could mean going forward. Be sure to also check out our guide to the big, surprise cameo, all of the Easter eggs, and what Far From Home tells us about Phase 4.
Threat or Menace?
Tom Holland's Peter Parker is surrounded by a relatively new supporting cast--he doesn't have a Gwen Stacy, and his Mary Jane isn't actually Mary Jane at all--but some side characters are just too big to change to omit entirely. Take J. Jonah Jameson, for instance--the head honcho of the Daily Bugle, who has been a featured part of Spider-Man films of days gone by, finally gets his MCU debut here in the mid-credits scene of Far From Home.
Oh, and he's played by J.K. Simmons. Again. Some things really do never change.
The major reveal happens after Peter and his classmates return from Europe safe and sound, only to learn that Mysterio had one final trick up his sleeve. He recorded the footage of his confrontation with Peter and edited it to make Peter look like the mastermind behind the attack who murdered Beck in cold blood. And then, just to really nail that coffin lid shut, he revealed Peter's secret identity and sent the whole package to the Daily Bugle for broadcast.
That's right: Not only did Jameson and the Bugle air a story to make Spider-Man look like a psychotic killer, the tape also outed Peter Parker to the world. And all Peter could do was watch helplessly as the footage played on a jumbotron in the middle of New York City.
The real question is what happens next. Historically, identity reveals haven't gone very smoothly for Peter. Back in Civil War (the comics event, not the movie), Peter was encouraged by Tony to go public as the face of superhero registration. He wound up regretting it so hard that he ultimately went to Mephisto, an incarnation of the devil, to have it undone in a story called One More Day which effectively magically reset Peter's status quo entirely, including erasing some of his long term relationships (and marriage to Mary Jane.)
Now, the MCU doesn't have a Mephisto (at least, that we know of) so that particular storyline probably won't make a one-to-one jump from page to screen. However, Peter Parker is one of Marvel's few superheroes who heavily rely on having a secret identity--which makes the next logical step for Peter's MCU a focus on that particular problem. He doesn't have to make a deal with the literal devil (though that would definitely be cool to see) but priority number one for our dear old Spider-Man come phase 4 is going to be putting that genie back into the bottle.
Perhaps even more interesting is the potential fallout around Jameson and Peter. Though the two have no working relationship in the MCU--Peter's way too young to become a crack photographer for a newspaper--one of Jameson's biggest "redeeming" qualities (if you could call them that) was the fact that, as far as he's ever been concerned, his hatred for Spider-Man has been aimed at a full grown adult. In this particular turn of events, however, Jameson publicly announces that Spider-Man is a teenager with all the gusto and bravado you'd expect from J.J.J.--something that adds a whole extra layer of cruelty and danger to the mix. Which begs the question: Is Jameson really just evil and deluded enough to want to ruin some kid's life? Or does he actually believe Mysterio's lies?
That will inevitably be the major challenge for Peter going into Phase 4. Not only does he somehow have to regain his secret identity, but he also has to convince the world that Spider-Man isn't a murderous villain. No pressure.
The Man On The Wall
The major revelations didn't stop there. The second post-credits scene features Maria Hill and Nick Fury as they leave the scene of Mysterio's major disaster--or, well, sort of at least. It turns out that the Maria and Fury we've been with for this movie aren't actually Maria and Fury at all--they're Skrulls (Talos and his wife Soren from Captain Marvel, to be exact).
It turns out that Fury has actually been off-world this whole time with a full-on Skrull army based out of a space station, and he sent Talos to fill in for him while he caught up on a bit of a vacation.
Of course, this asks way more questions than it answers: Just how long has Fury been working with the Skrulls? Since the '90s? Pre-Avengers? Has Talos really been dipping in and out of Earth since Captain Marvel? What are the Skrulls doing working with Fury? What's the goal? There's a throwaway line from Talos-Fury in the movie about "Kree sleeper cells" which might be some indication of their mission, but there's no way to know if that's the whole story or not.
The situation vaguely echoes one of Nick's many comic book storylines, when he worked as "The Man On The Wall," a sort of intergalactic protector of Earth from outer space. The duties weren't always the clearest or the most moral--as part of his job Nick often found himself making the tough choices and involving both himself and his operatives in less-than-ideal situations. But ultimately, as far as he was concerned, it was for the betterment of mankind.
Fury's stint as The Man On The Wall was formally introduced and ended after an event called Original Sin, which involved Fury's conditional immortality (don't worry too much about that) finally giving up. Bucky Barnes briefly took over in his stead--though it's pretty doubtful we'll see anything like that happen in the MCU, at least in the foreseeable future. Bucky will be busy running around with Sam Wilson on their Disney+ mini-series.
Meanwhile, Fury and his Skrull colleagues are likely to crop back up in the MCU relatively soon. It seems like we're heading for a full-on Kree/Skrull war (though, one that will be significantly different from the comics event of the same name) in Phase 4. So, even if he's not a featured part of the plot, we can probably expect to see Fury, Talos, and company skulking around somewhere very soon.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/spider-man-far-from-home-post-credits-scenes-and-e/1100-6468190/
2019-07-04 04:05:00Z
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