'Spider-Man' Post-Credits Tease 'Secret Invasion' Plot in 'Captain Marvel 2'

Coming off of Avengers: Endgame, fans expected the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home to tease the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there’s no way anyone saw the twist in that second post-credits scene coming.

Spider-Man: Far From Home’s post-credits scene reveals a huge development for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As we’re weeks away from Marvel revealing Phase 4 (Marvel didn’t announce a Phase 4 panel for San Diego Comic-Con, but D23 is likely), here’s what we can guess about the MCU through the post-credits of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Warning: Huge spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home ahead.

In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) lives through the fallout of “The Blip,” the worldwide wipeout of half the universe. While most of the world struggles to adjust, Peter Parker tries to live as normal a life as possible when he embarks on a European summer vacation with his friends.

That’s vacation with a capital-V, as Peter leaves behind his Spider-Man suit. Seriously, it’s only for just a week or two. What could possibly go wrong?

Turns out, a lot.

Under orders from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders), Peter is roped into fighting off colossal alien beasts known as the “Elementals” alongside a new superhero, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). Comedy ensues when Peter tries to take up missions while dodging his friends and teacher-chaperones, but things get serious when Peter finds out Mysterio was playing everyone, including Nick Fury, the whole time.

After dealing with Mysterio, Peter has his own problems to deal with when The Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) outs Peter Parker as the one and only Spider-Man. (Told you there’s spoilers.)

But that’s nothing when, in the post-credits scene, fans learn that “Nick Fury” and “Maria Hill” weren’t themselves the whole time, but Skrulls. More specifically, Nick Fury was impersonated by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), reprising his villainous role from Captain Marvel earlier this year.

As a reminder: Skrulls are the invading green aliens from Captain Marvel who are capable of shapeshifting their appearance to blend in. They played a prominent role in the origin story of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and will likely continue to play an important part in the future of the MCU.

But in Far From Home, things seem chill. When Talos makes a call from behind the wheel of Fury’s SUV, he’s talking to the real Nick Fury, who is sipping mai tais and not really paying attention to Talos’ droning while he stares at simulated beach resort. (This may be a nod to “Tahiti,” a mystery theme that once loomed over the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) When Fury shuts off the illusion, he gets up and orders the Skrulls around him to go “back to work.”

As Fury continues walking, the camera pans to the right to reveal he’s in space inside a huge, elaborate space station filled with Skrulls. Cut to black.

Wait, What Just Happened?

Yeah. Nick Fury and Maria Hill are Skrulls. Or more accurately, two Skrulls are on Earth posing as them. But don’t worry, the real Nick Fury is fine. (Maria Hill maybe, too, though we don’t actually see her.) Apparently the Skrulls are on Earth under Fury’s consent, possibly even his orders.

All the while, the MCU is gearing up for Secret Invasion.

WTF Is Secret Invasion?

Readers of Marvel will be quick to tell you that the post-credits of Far From Home means the MCU is potentially adapting Secret Invasion, a 2008 storyline in which a handful of heroes within the Marvel Universe were secretly replaced by shape-shifting Skrulls. The series was originally published over the course of 2008 from Brian Michael Bendis, a prolific writer (now at DC writing Superman) whose Ultimate Spider-Man served as the primary basis for Spidey in the MCU.

Because of the way Thanos was introduced in 2012’s The Avengers, fans may be eager to guess that Secret Invasion could be the next big “storyline” of the MCU to dominate Phase 4 and beyond. And why not? It was a big storyline that has a lot of built-in drama for the big screen. It would be exciting for fans to speculate which of their favorite characters are actually Skrulls, with plenty of potential for shocking, unexpected twists.

At the same time, Secret Invasion can only go so far. And there’s precedence for huge, overarching storylines getting squished into the confines a single movie. As in the case of Mark Millar’s Civil War inspiring 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Secret Invasion can be the basis for a single film. If I were a betting man I’d bet Captain Marvel 2 due to the prominence of Nick Fury and the Skrulls.

(Advisory: Do not bet any money on what movies Marvel may or may not make. I am not responsible for losing your mortgage.)

Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters July 2.