After weeks of delays, Sony and Marvel finally released the trailer Marvel fans have been dying to see, the first Spider-Man: Far From Home clip that shows what’ll happen next in the Spider-Man franchise. The trailer delivered plenty of scenes from the upcoming movie. In fact, it showed us enough to completely ruin Avengers: Endgame — that is, if you’re a diehard Marvel fan who’s up to date with Avengers 4 rumors.
“What I think we should focus on is this Spider-Man who started in Civil War and then has this [Homecoming] movie, and then will be in the Avengers movie,” Sony’s boss Amy Pascal said all the way back in late June 2017 about the then-new Spider-Man: Homecoming film. “And we are starting now the next one which will start a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story.”
This is the quote every Marvel fan needs to read if you still think the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home happen before Endgame. That interview had been around almost a year before Infinity War launched, so Pascal may not have been aware of the importance of her statement. Or she may have thought that her comments will be forgotten.
When Pascal made those remarks, the plans were to launch Far From Home in 2020, two months after Avengers: Endgame. Both movies will launch a year earlier than that, with Avengers 4 hitting theaters some two months before the new Spider-Man film. That’s not enough time between the two movies to give Sony more freedom when it comes to marketing the movie, though. In fact, a story not too long ago said Marvel was not too happy with Sony’s plans to release Spider-Man 2 so soon after Avengers 4.
The internet never forgets, after all, so Pascal’s quote was dug up rather quickly last year after we witnessed the massacre at the end of Infinity War. MCU Cosmic now points out that the Spider-Man 2 timeline is still valid. Far From Home takes place in 2019, after Infinity War and Endgame.
Getting back to the Infinity War snap, several Marvel heroes and other beloved characters died because of Thanos, including Spider-Man and Nick Fury, both of whom appear in the new trailer. By the way, Maria Hill is also in Spider-Man 2, and she turned to dust at the end of Infinity War.
Pascal’s casual comment turned out to be a massive spoiler for Endgame. It revealed that at least Spider-Man, who had a heartbreaking death in Infinity War, will be resurrected in the upcoming Avengers movie. Various reports last summer then basically confirmed that Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders would reprise their Fury and Hill roles for the new Spider-Man film. As a result, we knew that at least three beloved characters that Thanos killed with a snap of his fingers would be revived.
This brings us to yesterday’s trailer (watch it again above) that features plenty of Spider-Man scenes and gives us a glimpse at Nick Fury reaching out to Parker. Sony went to great lengths not to spoil Endgame in any way, and the result is a clip that seems to lack some of that MCU magic. But it’s as if Sony tried too hard to conceal Endgame events, while simultaneously leaving breadcrumbs in it that diehard fans can follow and interpret from an Endgame angle.
The scenes that Sony chose for the trailer make no clear connections to the broader MCU universe. We do have little hints, however. Like the fact that it’s Pepper Potts who signs the huge check that Happy brings to Peter Parker and his aunt. We also see Happy and Fury in the trailer, staples of Iron Man and Avengers films. Then there’s a scene that teases the destruction/renovation of Tony Stark’s former Avengers headquarters. Not to mention that airplane scene where Happy tells Parker that he’s all alone on this one, suggesting that bad things may have happened to some good people in Endgame.
Ignoring these little details, you could very well say that Sony is implying that Far From Home can happen at any point in the MCU timeline, not necessarily after Endgame. Parker’s passport, for that matter, doesn’t have any dates in it, although it does reveal that August 10th is his birthday. But if you’re familiar with Pascal’s quote above, you’re not going to like the overall tone of the trailer. It’s as if Sony is trying to tell us that Infinity War and Endgame didn’t happen, while simultaneously dropping tiny clues about the events in those movies.
On first inspection, the characters seem to be just too cool about everything. The overall demeanor is nothing like we would expect if half of the known universe had recently been murdered. Parker wants a vacation with friends, one that doesn’t include wearing the suit. On the other hand, this may be seen as another little nod to Endgame. The outfit that Stark made for him could turn out to be an annoying reminder that Stark just sacrificed his life for everyone else — that’s one of the most prominent Endgame theories out there, by the way, that Stark will have to sacrifice his life in order to defeat Thanos.
Wanting distance from Spider-Man may be a way to grieve for Parker, who’s still a teenager, after all. But that’s a stark departure (pun intended) from the previous films where Parker couldn’t wait to use his abilities and be part of the team. Also worth noting is that the post-Infinity War Earth may need the Avengers more than ever. So, leaving your powerful suit behind isn’t the best idea.
But you can’t say for sure if Parker is in any pain following what just happened in Endgame. Similarly, Fury seems to be unaffected by recent events. But then again, Fury is gloomy in most movies, except for the upcoming Captain Marvel.
What’s clear to Marvel fans is that we don’t expect a completely happy ending for Avengers: Endgame, one where Thanos’ actions will be undone without any sort of sacrifices from the Avengers. But this first Spider-Man trailer makes it look like Infinity War was erased from everyone’s memory, implying some massive time-altering event in Endgame would just revive everyone and prevent the decimation from happening in the first place.
With all that in mind, let’s also not forget that Marvel likes to mislead audiences with trailers, so that may be the case with this first Spider-Man 2 trailer. Still, Sony seems to be trying too hard to promote the film as if it’s not connected to Marvel’s bigger picture, while also dropping Easter eggs that are easy to link to Infinity War and Endgame. And it feels like you can’t have it both ways. As much as I have waited for the first Far From Home trailer to drop, I found myself wishing that Sony delayed the release of its new Spider-Man film, just to avoid having to dance around potential Endgame spoilers while marketing the film.
