What the ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ post-credits scenes mean for the MCU’s future

In “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” Peter Parker is ready to take a break from his superhero responsibilities and embrace being a high school student.

Picking up shortly after the epic events of “Avengers: Endgame,” “Far From Home” reveals how the world is recovering after the half of the universe’s inhabitants who had been wiped out by Thanos five years ago were just as suddenly “blipped” back into existence.

[Warning: The following article contains plot details and analysis of “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” If you haven’t seen the movie yet, consider checking out this spoiler-free review.]

Not only was Peter (Tom Holland) among the many who had ceased to exist for five years, he returned just in time to see his mentor Tony Stark sacrifice himself in the showdown against Thanos in order to save the world. So it’s understandable that Peter just wants to forget everything Spider-Man-related for a while and enjoy a European vacation with his friends.

But with great power comes great responsibility, and Peter eventually comes to terms with his new status of being more than just a friendly neighborhood hero.

“Far From Home” is more than just the next installment of the “Spider-Man” franchise. The movie is the final chapter of Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the conclusion to what is now called the Infinity Saga.

And in true MCU fashion, “Far From Home’s” story isn’t over just because the credits start to roll. The movie features two post-credits scenes that tease what’s to come for Spider-Man as well as the next phase of the greater MCU.

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Tom Holland stars as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Jake Gyllenhaal is Quentin Beck/Mysterio in the latest onscreen iteration of the Marvel Comics wall-crawling creation, “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”

The mid-credits scene picks up immediately after the end of the movie as MJ (Zendaya) and Peter/Spider-Man are wrapping up their date.

It turns out Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), had one last trick up his sleeve. Using some out- of-context footage of their final showdown, Mysterio left a video message that makes it seem Spider-Man killed him in order to eliminate the superhero competition.

Beck’s actions probably weren’t much of a surprise for fans already aware of Mysterio’s comic book origins. The comics introduced Beck by having him frame Spider-Man for some crimes in order to try to set himself up as a hero.

Sharing this video in the world is none other than the Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson — played once again by J.K. Simmons — a very vocal Spider-Man critic. The Oscar-winning actor first played the newsman in the Sam Raimi-helmed “Spider-Man” trilogy (2002-07) that featured Toby Maguire as the titular web-slinger.

But Simmons’ MCU debut wasn’t the only shocking reveal of the scene. Because of the news segment, the entire world now knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

Before this point, Spider-Man was one of the few superheroes in the MCU whose true identity was a secret. Now that he’s also been framed for murder, it seems Peter will have plenty to deal with in any future “Spider-Man” installment. How will Peter — and his friends who know the truth — handle everybody else thinking he is a villain?

The second post-credits scene, which is shown after the full credits roll, shifts the focus back to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders).

Except it turns out they aren’t Fury and Hill at all. At some point Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife, Soren (Sharon Blynn) — Skrulls introduced in “Captain Marvel” — took over the identity of the two secret agents at Fury’s request.

Although it isn’t clear exactly when the identity swap took place, this opens the door to the possibility that anybody could actually be a Skrull in disguise. Could a version of a “Secret Invasion” storyline be in the MCU’s future?

But the segment’s surprises don’t end there. When Talos and Soren call up Fury, it is revealed that he is in some sort of space station.

With “The Eternals” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” among the MCU’s upcoming titles, it’s safe to assume that at least part of the next phase will focus on events happening in space. Especially considering the “Far From Home” reveal that Thor is off-world and Captain Marvel is “unavailable” (likely busy dealing with threats in space once again).

What’s less certain is exactly what Fury is doing is space.

Could the MCU finally be preparing to introduce S.W.O.R.D.? Short for the “Sentient World Observation and Response Department,” in the comics S.W.O.R.D. is a secret agency (like S.H.I.E.L.D.) focused on dealing specifically with extraterrestrial threats.

Or perhaps Fury is in space to assist with a mission involving the “unavailable” Captain Marvel. She has spent most of her time since becoming a superhero away from Earth helping out those who don’t have a team like the Avengers looking out for them.

Or maybe he’s just taking a well-earned vacation.

Whatever the reason, as we roll into a wide-open future for the MCU, “Spider-Man: Far From Home’s” post-credits scenes raise more questions than they provide real answers. Let the fan theories begin.

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Twitter: @tracycbrown