How Spider-Man: Far From Home Teases Major Marvel Comics Story Arc

Spider-Man: Far From Home continues the story of Tom Holland's Spider-Man's rise to Avengers status in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while also re-establishing the MCU status quo after Avengers: Endgame. However, like so many MCU sequels, Far From Home also had the obligation to set the stage for the next big MCU story arc.

Well, a major subplot of Spider-Man: Far From Home ends in a major post-credits scene reveal - and the implications of it have Marvel fans buzzing with excitement that the MCU is headed towards one of the biggest arcs fans have been waiting to see.

WARNING - MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW!

Nick Fury and Maria Hill's attempt to secure the Earth after the "The Blip" caused by the Infinity Gauntlet is the major reason that they first recruit Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) and later Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Tom Holland) to battle the Elemental monsters that are attacking Europe. As it turns out, the Elementals are all just a high-grade illusion created by Beck's illusion technology - and his story of alternate earths and the Marvel multiverse is just as phony. It's okay though: The Nick Fury and Maria Hill that recruit Beck are just as phony!

The Spider-Man: Far From Home after-credits scene reveals that "Fury" and "Hill" are actually Skrull couple Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife Soren (Sharon Blynn), who have been impersonating the SHIELD commanders throughout the events of Far From Home - nearly letting Quentin Beck get the ultimate weapon, and Peter Parker get killed, in the process. Talos makes a call to report the status of the Elementals mission, and its there we get a second major twist: the real Nick Fury is actually aboard a massive ship or station out in space - a facility filled with a crew of Skrulls!

Ever since the MCU Captain Marvel movie plot and character details were released, Marvel fans have been ready for the MCU version of the famous "Secret Invasion" storyline from 2000s Marvel Comics to launch as Phase 4's next big crossover. That arc revealed a Skrull plot over many years to infiltrate earth and replace key figures of power and/or superheroes, which eventually set the stage for a full-on Skrull invasion of Earth, which the Marvel heroes had to repel, while not knowing who was really a Skrull. Spider-Man: Far From Home's end credits scene seems to indicate that "Secret Invasion" is indeed unfolding - just not at all in the way that fans assumed it would!

Captain Marvel pulled a big twist in turning the Skrulls from the duplicitous villains of so many comic book stories, into a disenfranchised group of refugees that were simply trying to reconnect with their families and friends, in order to find a new home and freedom. From what little we've seen so far, this MCU "Secret Invasion" has the Skrulls impersonating key figures on Earth like Fury and Hill, for the sake of preserving the secrecy of some military operation that Fury himself is carrying out - possibly an espionage-style "invasion" of his own?

That would make sense, given the current state of the MCU. Fury failed to protect the Earth from Thanos and The Blip, and between that and the new knowledge of just how many threats are out in the cosmos (and how few Captain Marvels there are), Fury could be making galactic peace and safety his new primary agenda.

In other words, Nick Fury might be finally trading his SHIELD for a SWORD. (If you don't get the reference, SWORD is the Sentient World Observation Response Department, aka SHIELD's spinoff operation dedicated to observing and neutralizing extraterrestrial threats.)

Spider-Man: Far From Home and Avengers: Endgame are now in theaters, with Endgamehitting digital on July 30th and Blu-ray on August 13th. Captain Marvel is now available digitally and on home media.