Spider-Man: Far From Home is an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming(2017) and the twenty-third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Jon Watts, written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J. B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon, Martin Starr, Marisa Tomei, and Jake Gyllenhaal. It follows Parker and his friends as they go on a school trip to Europe.
By October 2016, discussions had begun for a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, with a release date given to the film before the end of the year. Holland was confirmed to return in July 2017, with Watts also confirmed to return to direct that December, and Gyllenhaal cast as Mysterio in June 2018. Holland revealed the film's title ahead of filming, which began in July 2018. Filming took place in England, the Czech Republic, Venice, and the New York metropolitan area, before wrapping in October 2018.
Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in the United States on July 2, 2019, in 3D and IMAX.
Premise[]
After the events of Avengers: Endgame,[1][2]Peter Parker goes on a school trip to Europe with his friends. While abroad, he is recruited by Nick Fury to team up with Mysterio to battle the Elementals.[3][4]
Cast[]
- Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A teenager and Avenger who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider.[5]
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury: The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D.[6]
- Zendaya as Michelle "MJ" Jones: One of Parker's classmates.[7]
- Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill: A former high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who works closely with Nick Fury.[6]
- Jon Favreau as Harold "Happy" Hogan: The former head of security for Stark Industries and Tony Stark's driver and bodyguard who looks after Parker.[8]
- J. B. Smoove as Julius Dell, Parker's teacher and a chaperone on his school trip to Europe.[9]
- Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds: Parker's best friend.[10]
- Martin Starr as Roger Harrington: Parker's academic decathlon teacher.[11][12]
- Marisa Tomei as May Parker: Peter's aunt.[13]
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck / Mysterio: An expert on the Elementals who is recruited by Nick Fury to help Spider-Man stop them.[14]
Additionally, Michael Keaton, Tony Revolori, Angourie Rice, Laura Harrier and Hemky Madera reprise their roles as Adrian Toomes / Vulture, an imprisoned arms trafficker,[13]Parker's rival Eugene "Flash" Thompson,[15]Parker's classmate Betty Brant,[16] Toomes’ daughter and Parker's former classmate Liz,[17]and Mr. Delmar, the owner of a local bodega, respectively.[18] Numan Acar has been cast as Dimitri,[19] while Oli Hill,[15] Remy Hii,[20] and Zach Barack have been cast in undisclosed roles.[21]
Production[]
Development[]
In June 2016, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman stated that Sony and Marvel Studioswere committed to making future Spider-Manfilms after Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).[22]The following month, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said if additional films were made, the company had an early idea to follow the model of the Harry Potter film series, and have the plot of each film cover a new school year,[23]with a second film intended to take place during Peter Parker's junior year of high school.[24] By October 2016, discussions had begun for a second film, including which villain would be featured, according to Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, who was signed for three Spider-Man films including Homecoming.[25][26]In December, after the successful release of the first Homecoming trailer, Sony slated a sequel to the film for July 5, 2019.[27] Sony's insistence that the sequel be released in 2019 complicated Marvel's preference for secrecy regarding their plans for Spider-Man, since the character would die at the end of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and not be resurrected before the release of Avengers: Endgame in April 2019.[28]
Sony was revealed in June 2017 to have the use of another Marvel Studios-controlled character for the film, as it did with Iron Man for Homecoming.[29] Feige stated that Marvel and Sony were "just starting to solidify our plans" for the film, and felt Spider-Man's appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame would "launch him off into a very new cinematic universe at that point", similar to how Captain America: Civil War (2016) "informed everything in Homecoming".[1] Marvel and Sony were both keen on having Homecomingdirector Jon Watts return for the sequel, with Feige saying "that’s the intention for sure" and Pascal noting they "would be crazy [not to]" have him return. Watts also noted he was signed for two films.[30] Additionally, Feige mentioned the film would be titled in a similar fashion to Homecoming, using a subtitle, and would not feature "2" in the title. He also stated that filming was expected to begin in April or May 2018.[31] Pascal said the film would begin "a few minutes" after the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame.[2] As with Homecoming, Feige stated that the film's villain would be one that had not yet been seen in film.[32] By July 2017, Watts was in negotiations with the studios to return for the sequel,[5] and Marisa Tomei expressed interest in reprising her role as Aunt May from the previous film.[33]
Pre-production[]
At the end of August 2017, as the film was entering pre-production,[31] Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, two of the writers on Homecoming, were in final negotiations to return for the sequel.[34] In early October 2017, Jacob Batalon confirmed he would reprise his role of Ned in the film.[10] In December 2017, Feige confirmed that Watts was returning to direct the sequel.[35] By February 2018, Zendaya was slated to return for the film, reprising her role as Michelle "MJ" Jones.[7] By late April, filming was scheduled to begin in early July 2018, with Feige saying filming would occur in London, instead of Atlanta as with the first film. Feige explained that one of the reasons behind this was because a majority of the film would be spent around the world, outside New York City.[36] A month later, Jake Gyllenhaal entered negotiations to play Mysterio, while Tomei and Michael Keaton were confirmed to reprise their respective roles of May and Adrian Toomes / Vulture; McKenna and Sommers were also confirmed as the film's screenwriters.[13][37] At the end of June 2018, Holland revealed the film's title to be Spider-Man: Far From Home,[38] and the casting of Gyllenhaal was confirmed.[39] Feige explained that they decided to reveal the title in this way because of the potential for the title to leak after filming began.[40] He compared the title to Spider-Man: Homecoming in that it is "full of alternate meaning" while continuing the use of "Home",[41] and explained that the film focuses on Parker and his friends going to Europe on summer vacation, away from their home of New York.[42]
Filming[]
Principal photography began on location in Hertfordshire, England on July 2, 2018,[43]under the working title Fall of George,[44] with Matthew J. Lloyd serving as director of photography.[45][better source needed] Filming also took place in London,[36] with filming locations including East London,[46] and at London Stansted Airport.[47] Shortly after the start of filming, set photos revealed Hemky Maderawould reprise his role as Mr. Delmar, the owner of a local bodega,[18] and J.B. Smoove and Numan Acar joined the cast.[9][19] By early August, Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders were confirmed to be appearing in the film, reprising their respective roles of Nick Fury and Maria Hill from previous MCU films,[6]and Remy Hii joined the cast later in the month.[20] Filming took place in Prague and Liberec in the Czech Republic in September,[48][49] and moved to Venice by the end of the month.[49] Filming moved to New York City and Newark, New Jersey in October, where it used the working title Bosco.[50][51]Locations included areas around Madison Square Garden and Penn Station,[51] and Newark Liberty International Airport.[47] Filming officially wrapped on October 16, 2018.[52]
Post-production[]
In late October 2018, Sony Pictures reached a new multi-film agreement with IMAX Corporation to release their films in IMAX, including Far From Home.[53] At Sony's CCXPBrazil panel in December 2018, it was revealed that Hydro-Man and the Elementals would appear in the film.[3] Martin Starr was confirmed to be reprising his role as Mr. Harrington from Homecoming the next month.[11][12]
Music[]
Spider-Man: Homecoming composer Michael Giacchino was confirmed to return to score Far From Home in October 2018.[55]
Marketing[]
Due to the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame,[56][57][28] Germain Lussier of io9 noted that Sony would either have to begin marketing this film only two months before its release or spoil the fact that Parker is resurrected for general audiences that may not realize that this would happen in the next Avengers film. Lussier suggested that the latter approach be taken, while a representative of Sony said that the studio would be working with Marvel to "figure out the Spider-Man strategy".[56]
The first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Homewas shown at Sony's CCXP Brazil panel on December 8, 2018, with Holland and Gyllenhaal in attendance to promote the film. The footage did not acknowledge the events of Infinity Waror Endgame, with Steven Weintraub of Collider describing it as a continuation of "the Spider-Man universe" only.[58] The first trailer was publicly released on January 15, 2019, after Holland premiered it on his Instagram account.[59] A second, international version of the trailer was also released, which featured slight differences.[60] Alex Abad-Santos of Vox felt the trailer "arrived at a curious time" given the last time Parker was seen, he had died in Infinity War. Abad-Santos added that the trailer was "a roundabout way" that Parker and others would be revived in Endgame.[61] Other news outlets also commented on Parker's appearance in the trailer given the events of Infinity War,[60][62] with Zack Straf of IndieWire pointing out that, while it appeared Parker does return, the audience was still left wondering how he returns.[62] Adam Chitwood of Collider said, "This trailer looks exactly like a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. It’s cute and fun, and I love the idea of sending the kids on a European vacation. Adding Nick Fury to the mix also increases the stakes from an MCU standpoint, and I like that Jake Gyllenhaal‘s Mysterio is only briefly revealed in mysterious fashion". However, he added that Far From Home felt "the tiniest bit less special" when "judged so closely to [the animated film] Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse", given the latter's success as an "animated masterwork".[11] Chitwood also spoke to the teaser poster released for the film, calling it "really fun, leaning into the whole 'summer vacation' vibe of the film as the iconic Spider-Man mask is covered in travel stickers," with the stickers potentially hinting at all the locations in the film.[63] Graeme McMillian of The Hollywood Reporter felt the trailer was crafted in a way that presented the Elementals as the threat, when if fact, they could turn out to be "massive illusions on behalf of Mysterio as part of as-yet-unknown scheme", with Mysterio the true threat. He added, "Such a deception not only allows the audience to be as thrown off the scent as the movie’s hero, but it also gives Far From Home the opportunity to stay as grounded as Spider-Man: Homecoming was, in terms of narrative scale".[64] McMillian's colleague Richard Newby stated "The main takeaway from the trailer is that Spider-Man: Far From Home is deftly blending old and new school elements of the Spider-Man mythos, for a result that feels surprisingly fresh", and concluded, "Spider-Man: Far From Home looks like a strong next step in Spider-Man’s story, with enough intrigue and heart to make it a fitting first chapter of the MCU’s next phase." Newby was also excited about the inclusion of Nick Fury in the film, as it would allow Spider-Man "to become established in another corner of the MCU".[65] Forbes's senior contributor Scott Mendelson noted "the sheer confidence on display" from Sony with the teasers since Sony was "in a place where they are on a winning streak when it comes to Spidey movies" after the successes of Homecoming, Venom, and Into the Spider-Verse.[66] The trailer received 130 million views in 24 hours, surpassing Homecoming (116 million views) as the most viewed Sony Pictures trailer in that time period.[17]
United Airlines served as a promotional partner on the film, with one of their Boeing 777aircraft and several United employees appearing in the film.[47]
Release[]
Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in the United States on July 2, 2019,[56] in 3D and IMAX.[55] It was originally scheduled to be released on July 5.[40]