‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’: Where Are the Avengers?

The first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home is now out, and aside from giving Marvel fans a look at what’s next in Spider-Man’s story, this first footage of Far From Home raises the larger question of how this pivotal film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lineup relates to Avengers: Endgame.

The plot that’s revealed in this Far From Home trailer sees Peter Parker on a school trip in Europe where strange elemental monsters are attacking various landmarks. Peter is recruited by Nick Fury to take on the threat, which has some Marvel fans asking one big question: why wouldn’t Fury go to the Avengers if he needed a superhero?

In other words: where are the Avengers in Spider-Man: Far From Home? Here are several likely possibilities:

Avengers Assembled

The most obvious answer in all this would be that the Avengers (at least the ones that survive Avengers: Endgame) are otherwise occupied with some kind of mission when the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home take place.

Fury then coming to Spider-Man would make sense for reasons you can read below… 

Avengers No More

The other big possibility that fans are already jumping on is that there are no Avengers when Far From Home is happening. Without knowing how Avengers: Endgame plays out, there’s just as much of a chance that even if the MCU is restored to full order by the end of the film, the Avengers team won’t be. 

Some of the original team members may die, or otherwise be taken out of the line of duty for one reason or another, and Fury could be trying to rebuild the Avengers Initiative in the meantime. Who knows: maybe this is Peter’s audition for the new squad? 

New Timeline

There’s one fan theory that Thanos actually created two very different MCU timelines during The Snap, populating one universe with all of the dusted characters from Infinity War.

Whether Far From Home exists in that other timeline, or a new timeline that’s established during Endgame, it could be that Spider-Man and Fury’s meeting is the first story in a renewed version of the MCU where the Avengers Initiative we know and love never happened.

America First

The Avengers haven’t exactly been international darlings in the time they’ve been active, and after Avengers: Age of Ultron and the Sokovia Accords of Captain America: Civil War, plus the second alien invasion and destruction in Wakanda during Infinity War, it would be understandable if the team was on an extremely short leash when it came to international operations. 

SHIELD Op

Tense international relations regarding superhero and/or SHIELD activity might also explain why Fury might approach Spider-Man with something like a stealth suit. Peter would essentially be a covert agent who could keep SHIELD and/or the Avengers Initiative on the right side of plausible deniability. 

Spider-Man: Agent of SHIELD? It’s happened before in the mythos, and could be again in the MCU. 

Mysterio

Of course there’s the big possibility that all of these “elemental creature” attacks throughout the film are actually the work of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio. Quentin Beck is a special-effects guru in the comics, and could be pulling that same trickery in this film. 

If the threat behind these events is simply Mysterio, who seems to be using the opportunity to position himself as a public hero, then it definitely wouldn’t be an Avengers-sized problem, and Beck would probably have components to his plan to keep that kind of superhero scrutiny off the table. 

The Nearest Avenger

Assuming that Endgame restores the MCU to more or less its former order, it would make sense that Nick Fury would reach out to Peter. Tony made Spider-Man an honorary Avenger in Infinity War; assuming that promotion was listed in some kind of file, Spider-Man would be the nearest Avenger to these particular events if the rest of the team was otherwise occupied or prohibited from taking the mission. 

Which of these theories for the Avengers’ absence do you think is the most likely? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Endgame on April 26, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.