No Homecoming For Spider-Man: Far From Home
First off, a Spider-Man movie is a Spider-Man movie is a Spider-Man movie. And, being a Spidey nerd, I’ve enjoyed all of them to a degree (sorry Andrew Garfield). And, as such, I enjoyed Spider-Man: Far From Home (SMFFH).
But I had high expectations for this summer blockbuster. Tom Holland is my favorite to don the suit as the young actor just fits into this guy’s headspace as the perfect Peter Parker. As such, Spider-Man: Homecoming (SMH) is my top Spidey movie.
However, I wouldn’t put SMFFH in that category.
Expectations Too High For Spider-Man: Far From Home?
After the bar-raising of the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I’m sure that I went into the theater with my expectations much too high.
I wanted to see a game-changing movie. And I came away from Spider-Man: Far From Home wanting more than the fan service served up by this sequel.
But maybe that was the point.
However, I sincerely believe you need to see Avengers: Endgame to understand anything that is going on in SMFFH. And while many of you are shaking your heads saying “duh” I don’t believe that “prior knowledge” was necessary for SMH.
And, as far as the viewer sitting in the theater who actually saw (and was a bit over and underwhelmed by Endgame), the constant reminders, Easter eggs, and callbacks to other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films got pretty annoying.
That’s especially so in the end-credit scenes of SMFFH, but more on that in a bit…
A Complicated Story
Off the hop, much of the cast of SMH returned and gave the film a reunion feel — which was certainly intentional given the events of Endgame.
Exposition was pretty essential early on, with lots of scenes specifically designed to fill in the gaps caused by the two films between SMH and SMFFH.
And from there, the film takes off — to Europe — where Peter and his class embark on a class trip.
Friendly European Spider-Man
And I guess it’s a little easier to show you rather than tell you where that leaves our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man:
There are — in fact — many great things about Spider-Man: Far From Home; particularly the leads:
- Jake Gyllenhaal – His “Mysterio” is at the crux of this Spider-Man movie, and he does an admirable job with a complex character in a complicated script.
- Zendaya – “MJ” is often a superhero, or at least a super-sleuth, in her own right. She is in the middle of everything, much more like Karen Allen’s “Marion” in Raiders of the Last Arc than Kate Capshaw’s “Willie” in Temple of Doom. I was thrilled with her character development.
- Tom Holland – Has to do a ton with simple facial expressions, exposition, and downright convoluted script turns. He passed with high marks.


Photo: ScreenRant.com
However, the constantly changing setting, the consistent head-snapping distraction of the action, and the nagging feeling that some of the characters were playing against their usual m.o. put me in the mud from the middle of the film on.
That foggyness was the crux of my consternation. I enjoyed the resolution because of some excellent work by Zendaya and Holland. I liked some of the nudge, nudge comic book stuff.
But I felt like the film was chock full of fan service and compromised by the post-credit scenes.
As with many other MCU films, the post-credit scenes are CRUCIAL; especially so here. I won’t say much else, but I will say that the two scenes that roll after the principle film ends are too important to not be in the actual film.
Period. End of story. Go ahead “@” me.
In the end, I think I felt duped by, but not necessarily in the way the writers and director intended.
Sure, I have enjoyed Peter’s MCU time in high school and his two class trips. But here’s hoping that the next film is entitled, “Spider-Man: Graduation.”
But what do you think of Spider-Man: Far From Home? Let us know in the comments!