Why 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Is The Last Movie In Marvel's Phase 3
Avengers: Endgame may have "end" in the title, but it's Spider-Man: Far From Home that will be the finale to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 3. This is something we knew and something that Marvel has employed to great effect before — Ant-Man and the Wasp worked as the palate cleanser after the heavy Avengers: Infinity War, and Far From Home will supposedly do the same after Endgame. But Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige revealed that the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel offers more than just a tonal breather, it offers a real definitive end to Peter Parker's — and the audience's — relationship with one long-running character in the MCU.
In an interview with ComicBook, Feige revealed that Spider-Man: Far From Home is the definitive end to Phase 3 because of the way it grapples with Tony Stark's legacy. There are spoilers for Avengers: Endgame in Feige's response to ComicBook:
"We've been working for many years on Infinity War and Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Those were the films that were culminating the entire Infinity Saga of the MCU. And as we were working on Endgamewe realized that the true end of the entire Infinity Saga, the final film of Phase 3, had to be Spider-Man: Far From Home, because—spoiler—we lose Tony Stark at the end of Endgame... The relationship between Peter Parker and Tony Stark is so special..."
Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, who started it all with 2008's Iron Man and became an unlikely mentor for Tom Holland's Peter Parker in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, doesn't make an appearance in Far From Home, but his presence looms large after his noble sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame. While Far From Home is lighter and more carefree than the grief-heavy Endgame, the Spider-Man sequel does center on Peter Parker grappling with Iron Man's legacy and how he can live up to that. It's a nice way to wrap up Tony Stark's 10-year arc: by showing how he lives on in the people he touched, and how they move on without him.
Speaking of characters moving on without Tony, we see Tony's dependable right-hand-man Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) finding potential love in Peter Parker's Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) in a new TV spot for Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Directed by Jon Watts and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, and Jake Gyllenhaal, Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in theaters on July 2, 2019.