Last week, fans found themselves split between feeling overjoyed and frustrated as the trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home dropped. No, they weren’t frustrated because the trailer suggested the movie was going to be bad, in fact, quite the opposite, but to my surprise so many MCU fans voiced their frustrations because they felt that this trailer spoils the yet to be released Avengers Endgame. So what’s the deal? Did Marvel really just spoil the most anticipated movie of the year? Well, that’s a complicated answer. Things will be a lot easier for everyone if the question is re-asked. Did the trailer spoil Endgame? To a degree. Did Disney and Marvel spoil Endgame? No.

Disney and Sony

The partnership between Sony and Marvel has been an interesting one to say the least. To sum everything up as neatly as possible, Marvel gets to use Spider-Man how they see fit in their big team up movies like Civil War and Infinity War while only getting to oversee movies like Homecoming and Far From Home. While I’m happy that we’re getting Spider-Man and Captain America on screen at the same time, the real winner of this pairing is Sony. Yes, Disney gets to keep the revenue that’s made from their movies that feature the wall-crawler, but those movies were going to make a billion dollars with or without Spider-Man, whereas Sony getting all of the revenue from all of the stand alone Spider-Man movies is huge when you consider the fact that just a couple years ago, there were a lot of rumors speculating that Sony was looking to sell its film division.

It wasn’t until the success of Jumanji and Spider-Man Homecoming that Sony’s film division managed to turn a huge profit for the first time in a few years. Looking at the box office comparisons between Homecoming and the pre-Disney partnership Spidey movie Amazing Spider-Man 2 where Homecoming made $200 Million more dollars, it’s clear to see that there was certainly a Disney bump. On top of that, we can’t forget about Sony’s latest attempt at making their own standalone superhero movie in Venom, a movie that Kevin Feige hilariously made sure to point out was not in the MCU. As of now, Venom has made over $800 million worldwide and it would be foolish to think that people didn’t go into that movie with the assumption that it was in some way connected to the Tom Holland Spider-Man films.

But what does Venom making a ton of money at the box office have to do with the Far From Home trailer? In my opinion, everything. Originally I started out by talking about how people were frustrated that Disney spoiled Endgame by releasing the Far From Home trailer and the truth is, because it’s a stand-alone Spider-Man movie, Sony were the ones holding all the cards. There were actually reports that Disney did everything it could to keep Sony from releasing it because they didn’t want to spoil Endgame. With the success of Venom though, I think Sony, a company that seems to go on an every few years cycle of being the most arrogant company in the room to becoming the humbled company that needs to dust itself off and re-evaluate what it’s doing, now feels like they are untouchable again. They wanted to release the Far From Home trailer that they showed off at the Comic-Con in Brazil and that’s just what they did.

Why Far From Home’s Trailer Shouldn’t have been a Surprise

With what we saw in the Far From Home trailer, people honestly shouldn’t have been surprised with where things seem to be heading after Endgame and here’s why. Last week, just a day before the trailer dropped, my article about Black Panther’s connection to the Endgame ending went live. In it, I spoke about how Black Panther 2 was a great guide to figuring out what’ll happen in Endgame simply because a large percentage of the audience that saw the first Black Panther may not watch another superhero movie until Black Panther 2’s release. In other words, the movie that people are expecting to see when they sit down for Black Panther 2 is a sequel to Black Panther, NOT a movie called Black Panther 2 that takes place in a world they’re unfamiliar with.

Yes, we would all love for Endgame to dramatically alter the MCU forever, but at the end of the day, it’s important to keep in mind how the MCU films are set up. With the exception of Iron Man 3 where we see Tony Stark dealing with PTSD caused by the events of the first Avengers movie, it’s very rare that events from the big team-up movies carry over into the stand-alone films. If you’re a fan of the Captain America movies you can easily just stick to watching every MCU movie with Captain America in the title and never be lost as to what’s happening in his story and the same goes for Thor. While the audience members that decided to skip out on Age of Ultron may have been confused as to why Hulk was on an alien planet, just like how it’s done in the comics, with one quick explanation, audiences got all they needed to be able to move on enjoy the rest of the story. The MCU has a history of making sure that when you go into their next film, newcomers are still able to jump in and enjoy without needing to ask too many questions and this is why people shouldn’t be shocked by what was shown in the Far From Home trailer.

What exactly did the Trailer Reveal?

Honestly, this image, the very first image of the trailer, is all that needs to be shown when discussing why people feel like Endgame’s ending has been spoiled. The peaceful city streets outside a venue that’s raising money for the homeless in New York. No chaos, no destruction, just a normal city street. It becomes apparent very quickly that the “snap” at the end of Infinity War has been reversed. In my opinion, this shouldn’t matter and people shouldn’t allow themselves to get upset over this either. The most intriguing part about what will happen in Endgame isn’t will the heroes save the day, but how. Speculating about this has been the entire point of every Marvel Monday article that I’ve written so far. And I know I’ve written about how it’s important to remember that most people that go and watch these movies aren’t online looking up information, but I did find it surprising to see so many people upset because they felt like seeing this ruined Endgame as if the idea that our heroes saving the day was actually a surprise. With this out of the way, what else was shown in the trailer?

Well, one of the more unique things we see in the film, other than that majority of the film will be set in Europe and not New York is what we’re to be believed are the villains of the film. In the comics, these characters are referred to as the Elementals. The interesting thing about these guys, in particular, is that there are actually several different variations of them throughout Spider-Man’s comic history. The Elementals are comprised of Hydron (water), Magnum (sand), and Hellfire (fire). There’s also a character called Zephyr who uses air and wind which might be what’s causing that weird electrical storm in the middle of the city. The big water and sand monsters do come in a different form by way of characters known as Hydro-Man and The Sandman. Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I don’t think any of this matters. Questioning who these characters are stops the minute we see the reveal of this man.

Mysterio has always been one of my favorite Spider-Man villains. No, not because I think he has some interesting back story that’s unique or heartbreaking. I just think he looks cool. For those unaware of who this character is, the easiest answer is, he’s The Scarecrow from Batman but instead of using a toxin to trick you into seeing your fears, he uses illusions that he himself creates. Hopefully, you can already see where I’m going with this.

It’s my belief that all three elemental characters that we see are in some form, an illusion of Mysterio’s. We do see the monsters physically affect characters and the world so perhaps there’s more going on than meets the eye, but that doesn’t mean that Mysterio isn’t “Scooby-Dooing” this entire thing. After all, (just my theory) in a world where Iron Man and Captain America are dead, new heroes are going to have to step up. This leaves a perfect opportunity for someone like Mysterio to swoop in with some fake bad guys and make a name for himself.

I actually think the most intriguing part of the entire intro to Mysterio are the characters he’s emulating the most. Decked out in a costume that features a Thor-like cape while spewing blasts from his hands like Iron Man, Mysterio seems to be taking inspirations from the most popular Avengers around. There’s also another touch of inspiration that leads me to wonder the fate of another character, Doctor Strange. While we know that a Doctor Strange sequel is happening, we don’t exactly know where it’s happening. With one quick look at the shapes coming out of Mysterio’s blasts, it harkens back to Doctor Strange’s mystical abilities. While we don’t know what the character’s answer will be for why these shapes appear, if the answer is, in fact, mystical, why wouldn’t Spider-Man just call up the good doctor and ask if he knows this new hero?

What’s Next?

While I have no doubt that Far From Home will be an amazing movie, I do think fans should start asking the question, what’s next. If Sony can turn Venom 2 and their upcoming Morbius, Spidey’s Vampire villain, into more blockbuster success, than why would they be inclined to continue letting Disney use Spider-Man? These are the people that wanted to make an Aunt May movie, never forget that. Will Spider-Man 3 be the last time we see Peter Parker in the MCU? Unfortunately, I’m inclined to say yes.

Now, this next part is really stupid but bear with me because I love a good conspiracy. I even think I already know the title for Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man 3: Home Sweet Home. I think this title will both represent what’s going on both in the film, as we’ll see Peter Parker returning home and once again swinging through the streets of New York and in real life as this will be Sony’s sly way of letting everyone know they’ve finally got their boy back. Hopefully, I’m wrong though. Yes, by the time Spider-Man 3 is out in theaters we should be seeing the introduction of characters like the Fantastic Four and the X-Men into the MCU, but having a familiar face like Spider-Man swinging around that universe is just comforting. It lets fans like myself know that all is right in the world superhero storytelling.