What Spider-Man: Far From Home Explains About The MCU's Phase 4

Avengers: Endgame may have been the end of an era for the MCU, but Spider-Man: Far From Home represents the actual, literal, real-deal end of Marvel's Phase 3 for its cinematic universe. So now that Far From Home is out there in the world, we can safely start laying what we know of Phase 4 out on the table and trying to connect the dots.

There were, unsurprisingly, a bunch of potential clues and references to what we can expect to see in the future as Peter's European misadventure spiraled out of control, including two of the most significant post-credits scenes the MCU has ever pulled off. And between that, some of the movie's most surprising twists, and the possibilities put forth by the enigmatic Mysterio--well, let's just say we have a lot to talk about here.

Obviously, everything from this point on is going to be jam-packed with spoilers, so please consider this your final warning and proceed with caution.

And while we're at it, check out our other Far From Home coverage to start unraveling all these Phase 4 mysteries.

• What happens in Far From Home's after-credits scenes?

• What does that surprise cameo mean for the MCU?

• So, does the MCU have a multiverse or not?

The post-credits stinger for Far From Home contained, arguably, one of the biggest bombshells of the MCU. The Nick Fury and Maria Hill who spent the movie working with Peter were, in fact, Talos and his wife Soren--Skrulls we met back in Captain Marvel. This is hugely significant for a few reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it tells us the Skrulls have been active in the Marvel Universe since the '90s--and they're working hand-in-hand with Fury.

This means that at any point in the MCU's timeline after Captain Marvel, any character could have been replaced by a Skrull for any reason. Of course, the threat of Skrull-replacement in the MCU isn't that dire--the Skrulls are friendly in this universe, not evil--but still. It does provide a nice "get out of jail free" card for any and all inconvenient moments writers and directors may want to address from movies past somewhere down the line.

Also, moving forward, this means we can expect to see Fury and the Skrulls--who, by the looks of things, have a very well outfitted space station--working together to monitor for threats.

The other post-credits moment for Far From Home featured the surprise return of none other than J. Jonah Jameson (played once more by J.K. Simmons, no less), the notorious editor of the Daily Bugle. This is Jameson's first proper MCU appearance, but not much has changed since we last saw Simmons in the role, it would seem: He's still vehemently anti-Spider-Man and willing to do whatever it takes to get the web-slinging menace off the streets. There's a twist this time around, though--Mysterio sent Jameson a recording right before his death, framing Peter for his murder and for the drone attacks. And that's not all--the recording also outed Peter Parker as Spider-Man to the world.

This means that moving forward, Peter is in for a world of hurt. We have no real indication of what the next major Spider-Man movie will be, or when it will happen--Peter is not confirmed for any Disney+ shows yet, either--but whenever and whatever it is, it's going to have to deal with the fact that Peter is now a public hero. And that, unfortunately, means that everyone he's ever cared about is in danger right along with him.

Mysterio's claim about being from an alternate Earth turned out to be, unsurprisingly, a total fabrication--but that doesn't mean the possibility of a multiverse is entirely off the table for the MCU. It just means introducing one will be a little more complicated.

Talos-as-Fury very casually mentions the fact that Earth is home to "Kree sleeper cells," and never brings it up again. This is obviously a pretty major development, no matter how tossed-aside it felt in the actual moment. It seems like a full-on Kree conspiracy could be brewing for the MCU--and we have no idea when it would have started or just how deep it goes. What, exactly, does a Kree sleeper agent do? Who can be one? How are they activated? Will Jude Law return?

A bit less Earth shattering than the return of J.K. Simmons and J. Jonah Jameson, but important nonetheless: the Daily Bugle, one of the Marvel Universe's premier news outlets (or gossip rags, depending on who you ask), definitely does exist within the MCU. Expect to see the news outlet start cropping up more as a way to link events to one another and inform different corners of the shared universe to maintain little bits of continuity.

Far From Home establishes that the population of Earth is very aware that Iron Man sacrificed his life to fight Thanos, and that other Avengers were killed or taken off the board in the process (though none of them apparently rate as high as Tony Stark on the "collective mourning" agenda). We can definitely expect this public anxiety to be a recurring theme in Phase 4--people are really nervous, despite the fact the MCU is more populated with super people than ever before.

Tony is obviously gone, and Pepper Potts and Morgan Stark were nowhere to be found in Far From Home, leaving Happy the last man standing of the old Stark team. He and Aunt May are kind of dating, so, that's not only weird, it's likely an indication that we'll probably keep seeing him every now and again.

The only three heroes namechecked directly in Far From Home were Thor, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange--all of whom were busy in one way or another. Thor was "off world" (likely hanging with the Guardians, since we saw them take off at the end of Endgame), and both Strange and Carol are ambiguously occupied. We don't have any real news from either front as far as their respective sequel movies are concerned, but whatever they were busy with will likely play a part in Phase 4.

Bruce may have brought everyone back in the blink of an eye during his Hulk Snap, but that doesn't mean the Earth is totally back to normal. We get a pretty decent look at just how weird things are now--May and Peter lost their apartment in the 5-year gap and have since started a relief effort for those affected like they were--but with any luck, this is only the beginning. After all, bringing people back from the "dead" is never without complication and 5 years is a long, long time to be out of the loop. Expect to see the ramifications of the "blip" coming up again and again in Phase 4.