Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Endgame. After Avengers: Endgame jumped forward in time and killed off a couple of the longest standing Avengers, MCU is tasked with keeping that momentum going. Spider-Man: Far From Home, out July 2, serves as a direct followup to Endgame by focusing on Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) grief over the death of his mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). But it also picks back up with Peter's family and friends, including Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Ned (Jacob Batalon), and Michelle, a.k.a. MJ (Zendaya). Since it's been almost exactly two years since the last standalone movie focusing on Spidey, you may be in need of this Spider-Man: Homecoming recap.
Homecoming isn't an origin story. But MCU fans do get to learn more about Peter's life as a high school student/vigilante in Queens. After getting a chance to fight alongside the Avengers — or half of them at least — in Captain America: Civil War, Peter didn't want to just go back to school and pretend he was a regular teen. But, he wasn't yet an official Avenger, so he took matters into his own hands, skipping school to fight crimes. Eventually, a certain villain becomes a major threat and Peter gets a taste of what it's really like to be a superhero — with the guidance of Tony, of course.
Who Knows That Peter Is Spider-Man?
At the end of Homecoming, Peter's guardian, Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), walks in on him changing into his new Spider-Man suit. Audiences don't get to see the repercussions of her knowing about Peter's superhero identity, but considering that Spider-Man at least had the freedom to go to school on the day of Thanos's attack indicates that he wasn't grounded and forced into homeschooling.
Other than Aunt May, Peter's best friend Ned knows about his Spider-Man identity and serves as a right-hand man. The film hints that their other classmate Michelle suspects that Peter is the web slinger, but doesn't confirm that she knows. In a teaser for Far From Home, however, MJ is shown telling Peter that she knows that he's Spider-Man because "it's kind of obvious." Fair enough.
What Is Damage Control?
Tony Stark created a government organization called the Department of Damage Control, which cleans up scenes of Avengers battles, like the Battle of New York. At the start of Homecoming, you see Damage Control Director Anne Marie Hoag (Tyne Daly) at the aftermath of the battle between the Avengers and the Chitauri aliens from the first Avengers film. As Damage Control handled the clean up of alien matter, they put the local salvage company, Toomes Salvage Company, out of business.
Who Is Vulture?
The owner of the local cleanup crew, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) retaliates after losing his job, becoming the villain Vulture, out to destroy Damage Control and Tony Stark. Vulture is created out of stolen refuse from Damage Control, including a Chitauri exoskeleton and equipment that allowed Toomes to fly. Spider-Man takes it upon himself to stop Toomes, who happens to be the father of the girl he has a crush on, Liz (Laura Harrier). Later, Peter saves the bad guy's life, revealing his identity at the same time.
The first post-credits scene shows an imprisoned Toomes speaking with a fellow inmate, Mac Gargan (Michael Mando). Toomes lies and says he doesn't know who Spider-Man really is, whether that's because he plans to get his revenge against Peter himself or because he feels indebted to the 15-year-old for saving his life. The scene hints that Mac will become his comic book villain identity, Scorpion, but a report from Screen Rant states that it was revealed during a press visit to the Far From Home set that Mac won't play a part in this Spidey sequel.
Which Avengers Were In Spider-Man: Homecoming?
While the primary veteran Avenger in Homecoming is Iron Man, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) appears in a few hilarious public service announcements that play at Peter's school. Cap is just there for the laughs, but Tony and Peter's heartwarming scenes make Iron Man's Endgame death all the more heartbreaking. Far From Home will show how Peter deals with his grief over losing him and how Spider-Man is now being expected to step up.
Do Peter & Michelle Get Together?
Michelle isn't Peter's love interest in Homecoming. She's his cynical, precocious friend on the Quiz Bowl team. It seems as though Far From Home will change the dynamic between MJ and Peter, though, which Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige hinted in an interview with Den of Geek. "Giving her the initials that remind you of that [romantic] dynamic certainly is intriguing about what could go forward," Feige said of Michelle's nickname, which is meant to remind you of Peter's frequent comics love interest, Mary Jane Watson.
Is Miles Morales Part Of The MCU?
Donald Glover plays Aaron Davis, who is uncle to Miles Morales. While Miles doesn't appear in Homecoming, Marvel comic book fans know him as character who takes over the Spider-Man mantle. (He's also the main character in the animated hit, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.) Davis has a comic book identity too — a villain called Prowler — but in Homecoming he's only an unsuspecting, petty criminal who mentions that he has a nephew.
Screen Rant and other sites have reported that Miles Morales won't be in Spider-Man: Far From Home, though, and it seems unlikely that Aaron will show up in the forthcoming sequel for any reason. After all, Far From Home takes place around Europe on Peter's class trip.
All of these events must seem pretty distant to Peter, who was snapped and un-snapped in Infinity War and Endgame, respectively. But they may be important to the continuation of his own personal arc, so it's best to go into Far From Home well prepared.
