'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Spoilers: Rewatch This MCU Movie First

When Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2, it’ll be the 23rd film set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and the first to come after the devastating events of Avengers: Endgame — so to set up Marvel’s Phase 4, it has to incorporate elements and characters from other films. Cursory knowledge of previous Spider-Man movies helps understand Far From Home’s place in the wider MCU, as does remembering Tom Holland’s MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, but by the time the post-credits start rolling in this latest Spidey adventure, the most important movie to remember is Captain Marvel.

Warning: This article teases light spoilers from Spider-Man: Far From Home.

For the second earliest MCU movie chronologically to be so important to the latest is surprising, but Nick Fury remains a major player in most MCU stories. Captain Marvel was Fury’s introduction to the wider universe, and the events inspired him to create the Avengers Initiative. That film also explained how Fury got the Captain Marvel-themed pager he used in the Avengers: Infinity War post-credits scene to call Carol Danvers back to Earth. In a post-“Blip” MCU, these details remain important.

Nick Fury and Maria Hill appear in Far From Home in key roles. They struggle to define S.H.I.E.L.D.’s role in a post-Blip world without Tony Stark, and the organization’s relationship to the remaining Avengers. With the team in disarray, Peter Parker is recruited as the new go-to hero to help combat dangerous elementals from an alternate reality.

Will Spider-Man step up to become the new Iron Man? Or will someone else? The way Far From Home explores the Decimation’s impact on the universe to set up the future of the MCU retroactively makes Captain Marvel feel like a prequel to Infinity War and Endgame with Far From Home as its sequel.

Far From Home establishes the new status quo for the MCU moving forward, but Captain Marvel planted the seeds for a sprawling narrative that’ll blossom in the coming years. You don’t even need to see Far From Home to know that these two movies are very important.

In an early Far From Home scene that’s already been released, Peter Parker tries to skip out on Avengers duty so he can stay on vacation with his friends. He suggests Fury look to Thor and Doctor Strange, to which the one-eyed spy replies that the god of thunder is “off-world,” and Maria Hill confirms that Doctor Strange is “unavailable.”

Then Peter suggests Captain Marvel, and Fury bluntly replies, “Don’t invoke her name.”

This fun moment of levity is a reminder of Fury’s bond with Carol Danvers. Already, watching Captain Marvel feels like necessary homework before Far From Home. Without giving too much away, however, we’ll say that this isn’t the only time Far From Home directly references the events of Captain Marvel.

This shouldn’t surprise anybody. With Tony Stark dead and Steve Rogers retired as an old man, Peter Parker and Carol Danvers will probably become the central heroes of the MCU moving forward. (There’s also the huge 30-year gap in her timeline that needs to be filled in.)

Captain Marvel was released in March of this year, but how well do fans remember those events four months later? Where does Carol Danvers go at the end of the movie? Who’s she with? What does Fury do after she leaves? There are three decades worth of unexplained history between Captain Marvel and her reappearance in Avengers: Endgame. Far From Home offers the slightest tease to imply some of the things that may have happened.

Most Marvel Comics fans assume that Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio cannot be trusted, but is he the only character whose identity is in question? Captain Marvel established the entertaining premise that anybody could be a shapeshifting Skrull in disguise, and even if Endgame didn’t bother using this mechanic at all, we can safely assume that it’ll come up again in the future of the MCU — especially after you see what happens in Far From Home.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will be released in theaters July 2.