Don’t panic: This is a spoiler-free review of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
I have to admit, I felt a bit weird and emotional watching Far From Home less than two months after Avengers: Endgame. I’m sure other Marvel fans feel the same after seeing three of the main Avengers—Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow—passing away in the last film.
But with every end comes a new beginning. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to enter Phase 4 and Far From Home is the transitional film. It’s believed that the next phase will focus on the remaining Avengers and other groups like the Guardians of the Galaxy and possibly the Inhumans. Some also think Phase 4 will explore the existence of multiverses, which was introduced in Endgame and hinted at in Far From Home‘s trailer. This was also used to justify why Loki has a standalone series on Disney Plus.
Back to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Just like the first MCU Spider-Man film, it’s like a teen movie where the lead character happens to be a superhero. Here, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) goes back to school after the Avengers brought everyone back from The Snap. Aside from being a regular student, he’s also faced with the responsibility of being a full-time hero after the death of his mentor, Tony Stark.
But in true “high school student running away from responsibilities” fashion, Peter would choose a school field trip in Europe over answering to Nick Fury’s orders. It’s actually both hilarious and refreshing to see Peter defy his hero duties so he can have fun and live like a normal kid. This includes finding the guts to tell Michelle Jones, aka MJ (Zendaya), how he really feels about her.
But, as the trailer showed, this vacation is short-lived as Nick catches up to Peter in Europe and introduces him to Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). I won’t go into detail as to what the mission was, but we all know Spider-Man does come out of his vacation leave.
So, how does the movie stand after Endgame? Well, first, you should look at it separately and not compare it to the previous Avengers film. Spider-Man: Far From Home has a different premise and stakes involved. Plus, it’s Endgame was created as an epic ending to the Avengers franchise, which is why it was made with such high production.
That said, Far From Home was a breath of fresh air, especially if you were crying your eyes out during Endgame. And that’s what’s great about anything with Spider-Man in it: He’s the fun, unassuming teenager who was thrown into the superhero world. Way back in Captain America: Civil War, Peter was already an endearing figure in the MCU—Scott Lang/Ant-Man is a close second.
To balance out the comedy and adorable teen vibe of all the characters, you could really feel Peter’s struggle to live up to his predecessors. Who wouldn’t feel the pressure? There’s a Norse god, super soldiers a gamma-fied tank, two covert assassins, and sorcerers just to name a few. But you will always root for Peter since he’s now part of the MCU’s future roster.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is now showing in Philippine cinemas starting today. A friendly reminder to stay because there are end credit scenes again!
Photos courtesy of Columbia Pictures
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