Spiderman: Far from Home

Spider-Man: Far From Home is arriving in theaters facing impossible expectations. In story continuity, it directly follows Avengers: Endgame, released just a few months ago to record-breaking box office success. In terms of Spider-Man stories, it follows the visually and narratively dazzling Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is still possibly the most ambitious Spider story to ever hit the screen. And in terms of its own internal story continuity, it follows the thoroughly enjoyable Spider-Man: Homecoming, an admirably human film that followed up the big, world-spanning action of Captain America: Civil War by scaling down the action and taking a more personal focus on protagonist Peter Parker, aka the teenage hero Spider-Man. Marvel Entertainment has had a long series of triumphs lately, both in its main, Disney-produced Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, and in the affiliated Spider-Man movies produced by Sony Pictures under a separate license. That sets the bar for Spider-Man: Far From Home almost embarrassingly high. But the film clears that bar seemingly without effort. It’s an out-and-out triumph, an adrenaline blast of pure action and emotion that lives up to its predecessors and ably forwards the MCU story in memorable and even touching ways.

Far From Home — which Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed is the final film of the MCU’s “Phase Three,” an arc that started with Civil War in 2016 — takes up the story where Endgame left off, both addressing some of its story concerns and processing some of its big emotions. Tony Stark’s death is being felt worldwide, as spontaneous memorials spring up in the form of everything from stylized murals and urban shrines to cheesy YouTube “in memoriam” videos like the one that opens the film. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has been particularly hard-hit by his mentor’s death and by the feeling that he’s expected not only to carry on without him, but to live up to his legacy and even to replace him in some way. Though the film doesn’t heavily underline the point, he’s clearly processing a fair bit of trauma over what he went through in the Avengers movies. He’s ready to take a break from superhero life and be a teenager again for a little while. There’s a terrific small moment in Far From Home where Tony’s assistant Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) watches silently as Peter steps up to one of Tony’s old fabricators and starts dialing through holographic suit elements, ginning himself up a new outfit. Happy doesn’t say anything about it — he just smiles a small, wistful smile, clearly recognizing the behavior and remembering the last man he watched do this same thing. It’s nothing more than a momentary quirk of the lips amid a much bigger and more thrilling crisis. But it’s Far From Home in a nutshell: an acknowledgement of small emotions amid big moments, a reminder of the ever-building continuity that’s made these stories so memorable and so satisfying for fans, and a moment taken for grief between action beats. It’s a beautiful little pause in a beautifully big film. But moments like these are what make Far From Home feel so heartfelt and relevant. It’s a breathless and admirably well-assembled movie that proves the Marvel formula still isn’t tired, but it’s also a capper on more than a decade of building powerful feelings around powerful heroes.