Ever since 2008’s Iron Man, the Marvel credits scenes have become a staple of the films, teasing future sequels or filling the gaps between other films. But rarely do they show the film’s biggest twist. Spider-Man: Far From Home is full of twists and turns, but it slips its biggest one in the mid-credits scene of the film. And it’s one that will leave ripples on future sequels and could forever change the DNA of the Spider-Man movies.
Spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home below.
Mysterio’s Final Act
Midway through Spider-Man: Far From Home, it is revealed that Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), AKA Mysterio, is in fact a disgruntled former Stark employee who tricked Peter Parker in order to attain his dreams of becoming a world-famous superhero at the expense of hundreds of lives. Peter’s discovery of Mysterio’s true intent results in a whirlwind battle in London that sees Beck getting killed by his own tech, while Peter orders the “execution” of all the drones wreaking havoc on the city. However, an ominous shot of Mysterio team member William Ginter Riva (Peter Billingsley) downloading a file and fleeing the scene leaves the question of whether Beck has one last trick up his sleeve. In the post-credits scene, we learn he does.
Back in New York City and happily swinging around skyscrapers with MJ (Zendaya) on his arm, Peter’s return to his friendly neighborhood life is suddenly interrupted by a digital billboard broadcast from none other than J. Jonah Jameson, who makes his first appearance in the rebooted Spider-Man series. Jameson declares Spider-Man to be a scoundrel and plays a frantic video message from Mysterio who claims that Spider-Man suddenly attacked him. The message rolls a clip of Mysterio’s death taken by one of his drones, but with the facts noticeably altered: Mysterio begs Spider-Man to spare him and Spidey’s actual order to “execute them all” frames him as the person responsible for the drones attacking London. But that’s not even the most shocking part of this Spider-Man Far From Home post-credits twist.
Spider-Man Unmasked
At the end of Jameson’s broadcast, he pulls out one final shocking piece of information: Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Accompanied by a student picture of Peter Parker, Jameson reveals the webslinger’s identity in a twist that shakes up the entire conceit of the Spider-Man movies. Spider-Man is one of the few masked superheroes with a hidden identity — it’s the whole root of his identity and his struggle to balance his dual personal and professional lives. But like how Iron Man casually threw away the idea of hidden identities, this twist will leave ripples on future Spider-Man movies to come and perhaps even the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What Does This Mean for Future Spider-Man Films?
Does this mean that Spider-Man will no longer have a hidden identity for the following sequels? And will Spider-Man be branded Public Enemy No. 1 after having been framed for Mysterio’s crimes? The latter is not unusual — the webslinger has had to fend off accusations of villainy before, usually by J. Jonah Jameson and his outrage-inciting media tactics. But this is the first time Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker will have to deal with this injustice; up until now he’s had a fairly hunky-dory run as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and honorary Avenger. The next Spider-Man film could very well follow Spider-Man as he tries to operate after public opinion turns against him, providing all sorts of dramatic meat for Holland to chew on.
But there’s the elephant in the room of Spider-Man’s hidden identity. Spider-Man’s mask is an essential part of his identity, but then again, we thought the same of all superheroes until Tony Stark revealed that he was Iron Man. However, this could all boil down to J. Jonah Jameson’s credibility — in this series, he’s a blowhard conspiracy theorist who has just peddled a fake video that frames Spider-Man as a villain. If he’s disproven or disbelieved in the next film, Peter Parker could go happily back to being a masked superhero with a hidden identity. If the sequel explores this kind of “fake news” and information wars, it would be painfully timely — even more so than the Trumpian tactics of Mysterio’s illusion-wielding villain in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Either way, this post-credits twist and Mysterio’s final act has left a major impact on Spider-Man and the series as we know it. It’ll be fascinating to see how Spidey swings back from this blow.
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