We finally have our first look at Spider-Man: Far From Home! The Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer hit the internet yesterday and, oh boy, there’s a bunch of questions to go with it. While at a basic level it all seems to show Peter Parker on a villian hunting school field trip around Europe, there’s a ton of hidden touches and obscure Easter eggs that could tell us plenty about what’s actually going on.
Like, when the film is set in the MCU timeline? Is this pre-dusting, or post restoration? And did you spot the subtle nod to Uncle Ben? Plus, there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t cleared up, like where’s Tony Stark, for example? Or any other hero on the planet for that matter? While I’ve done my best to pick out and explain the most interesting things you might have missed from the trailer, it’s worth noting that Marvel Studios is notorious for changing shots in trailers, or adding entirely new ones that never appear in the movie, either for dramatic effect or to hide a secret. So it's possible that some of what appears here could be a red herring. For now though, here’s 11 things you probably missed in the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer.
Peter and Aunt May are getting a cheque from The Stark Foundation
Right at the start of the trailer Happy arrives at Peter and May’s Homeless Support Charity Drive with a check for $500,000. The interesting thing here is that it’s signed by Pepper Potts not Tony (more on that later). However, the Foundation also traditionally appears in the MCU to fix superhero-sized financial problems, like the Battle of New York in The Avengers movie, or when the Hulk and Iron Man smashed up Johannesburg. Which begs the question: what happened in New York to earn a payout?
What’s going on with The Avengers Tower?
As Spider-Man is swinging through New York there’s a brief glimpse of Tony Stark’s old Avengers Tower. Now we know he sold it and moved the team to a new base (the one Ant-Man broke into), but the fact it’s being remodelled here means someone’s bought it and is getting it ready for… something? The popular theory here is that this is a tease for the Fantastic Four joining the MCU in the upcoming Marvel Phase 4, and this is being rebuilt into Baxter Tower.
When is Spider-Man: Far From Home set?
The quick shot of Peter Parker’s passport is interesting because the years have been removed from both the date of issue and expiry. There’s no way of telling if this is before or after Avengers: Infinity War. And just because dusted people are back you can’t assume it’s before - one of the biggest Avengers 4 theories involves time travel which could mean it’s technically after everyone got snapped but time travel has fixed it. However, producer Amy Pascal had previously stated that Far From Home starts “a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story” back when it was first announced.
Peter is using Uncle Ben’s suitcase
Not having to watch Uncle Ben die again is possible one of the MCU’s greatest contributions to modern cinema, but that doesn’t mean Spider-Man: Far From Home can’t add in a gentle reminder of Peter’s dead guardian. Not only is this a nice emotional reference, it also underlines Parker’s ongoing poverty in having to use an old, battered case.
Why is Nick Fury relying on Spider-Man?
Let’s just ignore Infinity War and The Snap for a moment and wonder why Nick Fury needs Spider-Man, a school kid, to help solve his problems? Where are all the other older, more experienced heros right now? “You got gifts, Parker,” Fury tells him, “but we got a job to do.”
Maria Hill puts in an appearance
We already new Hill was back after actress Cobie Smulders confirmed it, and leaked footage showed her and Samuel L. Jackson filming in London. However, she also appears briefly in the trailer fighting alongside Nick Fury. It’s an odd shot though: she doesn’t show up anywhere else in the trailer so at a quick glance you might have missed her.
IS TONY STARK DEAD?
There’s a ton of clues in the Far From Home trailer that suggest Tony Stark might not survive Avengers 4: Endgame. For example, the Stark Foundation cheque is signed by Pepper Potts, not Tony. Then there’s the shot where Peter looks sadly at his Spidey suit, the one Tony gave him. Then there’s the obviously absence of a Robert Downey Jr. anywhere in the trailer combined with the line “you’re all alone” from Happy. Seeing as Happy is the Stark-Parker go between it seems likely he’s talking about Tony’s availability, as in, he’s dead.
Spidey gets at least one upgrade to his basic Stark suit
At the beginning of the trailer we see Spider-Man in his Spider-Man: Homecoming Stark suit, both in New York and Venice. However, in London he’s wearing something else with black body panels that reach to his knuckles and a white spider detail on the back. If Tony is gone, then he’s somehow still providing for his prodigy. In Infinity War he tells his suit AI, Friday, to “open 17 A” when he sends his nanotech Iron Spider suit to save Peter from suffocating in space. Assuming the basic suit is “1”, then there’s another 16 options in between, not counting any As, Bs, or Cs. I’m going to say this is 1 B.
The Sinister Six might be the bad guys, not the Elementals
The Elementals had been rumoured as enemies already with both Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal mentioning them by name in interviews. This trailer would seem to confirm that with fire, earth, and water creatures visible, which would be Hellfire, Hydron, and Magnum respectively. Zephyr, the air elemental, isn’t immediately obvious in the trailer but could be the storm over Tower Bridge. However, some eagle eyed comic fans have noticed some interesting Easter eggs in the trailer.
In Venice there’s a boat with the number “ASM 212" which could mean Amazing Spider-Man #212, which was the first comic book appearance of Hydro Man. Then, when we see the earth/stone creature, the car number plate reads 463, and Sandman was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #4, published in 1963. Finally, when people are running from danger in London, there’s a number plate that reads "2865 SEP" and, you guessed it, The Molten Man first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #28, published in September 1965.
Mysterio, Sandman, and Hydro-Man have all been members of The Sinister Six too, a rolling group of long time Spidey villains. Only Molten Man hasn’t been in the gang before, but seeing as membership largely revolves around wanting kill Spider-Man it doesn’t sound like a hard club to join. Plus, the end of Homecoming revealed the Vulture meeting Scorpion, which would round off the six nicely if both returned. Is Mysterio using the Sinister Six to look like a hero for some ill gotten gain?
Does Spider-Man gets some sort of S.H.I.E.L.D. tech outfit?
It’s not clear whether this is an actual stealth suit or not but it’s definitely not Stark tech - especially considering the Stark suit goggles appear to have been retrofitted via some sort of headband. Instead it has a S.H.I.E.L.D. body armour vibe going on, possibly using gear from one of Fury’s safe houses scattered around the world after S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. Whether that’s physical protection, or some sort of stealth capability, is yet to be clear. One thing's for sure it’s not Spider-Man Noir, who’s an alt-universe gun wielding 1930s vigilante with a trench coat, so please stop saying that.
Is Mysterio using Doctor Strange-style magic?
When Mysterio appears to fight Hydron/Hydro-Man his abilities appear to manifest via Doctor Strange like glyphs. There’s two possibilities here. Given that his classic comic history has him as a visual effects wizard turned con man villain, he could just be copying the effect and faking it all, including the Elementals themselves. Although given Nick Fury’s involvement it seems odd that he wouldn’t notice if it was being faked.
The other option is that this version of Mysterio actually does have powers. When he first appears, he says “you don’t want any part of this” implying that he knows what ‘this’ is. Has he somehow created the Elementals? It’s worth noting, however, that in the MCU magic generally appears orange with only the time stone’s magic from the Eye of Agamotto appearing green. That would suggest Mysterio’s faking it.
If you want to see where Spider-Man: Far From Home is going as we head towards Phase 4 of the MCU, then check out every upcoming new Marvel movie we currently know about.
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