'Spider-Man: Far From Home' May Not Be The First MCU Phase 4 Movie After All

While very little is known about the Marvel Cinematic Universe's next phase, Phase 4, up until now it was commonly understood that the forthcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home would be the first movie of the next phase of Marvel films. That idea didn't come out of thin air, but instead Marvel Studios originally announced Far From Home as the first movie of the elusive Phase 4 following Avengers: Endgame, out April 26. Now it seems that plans have changed as Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently said that Spider-Man: Far From Home will be the final Phase 3 film.

Newsweek reported that this weekend during an interview in Shanghai, Feige called Far From Home, "The end of the third phase." According to the publication, Feige then acknowledged that he had never before told the public of Marvel Studio's change of plans.

Of course, the fact that the second Tom Holland Spider-Man movie doesn't initiate a new phase of Marvel's Cinematic Universe might not make the biggest difference in the movie's impact seeing as the MCU's phases aren't necessarily something you need to take note of in order to enjoy or understand the films. But the new revelation kind of throws a wrench into the supposed finality that Endgame is rumored to present. Perhaps Endgame won't completely change everything to finish off Phase 3 after all, and maybe the stakes for Spider-Man: Far From Home are a lot higher than anyone had realized.

Far From Home is set to come out July 5, and producer Amy Pascal previously said in an interview with Fandom that the new Peter Parker movie would pick up "a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story." Fans had already gathered that the announcement of a second Spider-Man movie following Endgame seemingly means that somehow the Avengers that survived Thanos' snap after Infinity War revive the ones that disappeared. At the very least, you can bank on Peter Parker coming back.

The idea before was that Far From Home would deal with whatever the consequences of Endgame were and set the tone for the MCU's new phase. Now it seems perhaps that Far From Home doesn't pick up the ramifications of Endgame but instead finish off something which Endgame might start. Since Spider-Man 2 takes place outside of the U.S. around various European cities, perhaps that means that Tony Stark's mentee will have some special mission upon returning to earth — that is, if he actually does return to earth.

A new theory that first appeared on Reddit by Redditor u/Enervata has presented an alternative solution to Infinity War's dusting of half the earth's population which posits that Endgame will introduce an alternate universe in which the future of the MCU takes place. The user suggested that the Avengers in Endgame won't manage to bring back the dusted superheroes because the only way to get to them will be through the Quantum Realm.

Should this Reddit-born theory prove true, perhaps Far From Home finishes off Phase 3 by presenting the first MCU film set in the new universe with a familiar superhero. By that logic then, the first movie of Phase 4 would introduce a new MCU superhero, which is likely to happen anyway since the MCU has big plans to introduce new characters like Gambit, the New Mutants, and the Eternals. Big things are definitely on the way, and if your Spidey senses are tingling, it's for good reason.