Is Spider-Man: Far From Home the best Spider-Man movie ever made? If your answer is yes, then you might have not seen either Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 or last year's animated feature, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Is it better than Spider-Man: Homecoming? Can't say that, for both films, directed by Jon Watts, are enjoyable in their own ways. And yet, Far From Home is more ambitious, more polished in its treatment, while confining the plotline around Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his high-school adventures, which have just got better. Spider-Man: Far From Home Movie Review: Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal Team Up to Deliver a Thrilling, Surprise-Filled Superhero Rumble.

Tony Stark may have died in Avengers: EndGame, sacrificing himself to vanquish Thanos. But like in the first film, his presence as Peter's mentor is being felt throughout the movie, with Peter grapples with the idea of being Tony's replacement in the Avengers. No other superhero turn up in the film, but Spider-Man: Far From Home has plenty of cameos, callbacks and Easter Eggs. And in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, Spider-Man: Far From Home connects itself to past movies in MCU, as well other Spider-Man films and even hints towards at an exciting future for MCU. Needless to say, HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD!

#1 The Blip Has Changed The Way of Living

The return of the Snapped Humans back on Earth is now called the 'Blip'. The opening scenes show through Peter's classmates how the world reacted to their 'dead' mates like returning. Like Betty Brant's (Angourie Rice) news partner revealing how his younger brother is now elder to him. Or how Peter now has to deal with Brad Davis (Remy Hii), who used to be a scrawny kid before the Snap but is now a hulk of a teen, and is now competing with him for MJ's (Zendaya) affections.

#2 Captain America is 'Dead'?

Thanks to time travel shenanigans, Captain America (Chris Evans) is now an old man, whose new existence is only known to his old chums. For the rest of the world, he is dead, which is why Cap features in the 'In Memorium' section in the start. Or did the Old Cap die? Guess, we will never know!

#3 Aunt May Has Also Been Snapped

Not just Peter Parker, even his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) also has been a victim to the Snap, as she retells her ordeal during the charity event. She also mentions turning up during the 'Blip' in her house with strangers around.

#4 The Avengers Are No Longer A Team

Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and Vision (Paul Bettany) dead. Captain America is retired. The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) is injured. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is a family man. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) are touring somewhere in the universe. Doctor Strange Benedict Cumberbatch) is unavailable. Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) cannot be called for petty tasks. War Machine (Don Cheadle), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) are not even mentioned. Which is why it is understandable that Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) is after Spider-Man, the only available Avenger, for new missions.

#5 Tony Stark Creates His Own Villains... Even After His Death

Tony Stark is a fine superhero, and his death in Avengers: EndGame has definitely pained us. But he and his legacy have this annoying habit of creating his own enemies. Nearly every human villain that he has faced has been made so by some of his own fallacies, from Iron Monger in Iron Man to Ultron in Age of Ultron. Even Homecoming's villain, The Vulture, turned to the bad side because Iron Man inadvertently had a hand in it.  It looks like this trait of Tony's is not going away even after his demise. Mysterio's alter-ego Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) is revealed to be a disgruntled ex-employee of Stark's, who was annoyed that Tony gave his memory-recreating device the acronym BARF. And like with Ultron, Stark once again creates an AI, EDITH, to protect the world and gives it to a teenage boy to take care, who of course, misuses it and later makes it fall in the wrong hands. As for what EDITH stands for, it is 'Even in Death I'm Hero'. Apparently, Stark's sense of humour also remains immortal after his death.

#6 Marvel Zombies?

During a moment when Spider-Man gets trapped in Mysterio's illusions, there is a scene where he faces Tony Stark's tomb. Suddenly a hand bursts out of the grave, and undead, zombiefied Iron Man is seen crawling towards a horrified Spider-Man. This is an Easter Egg pointing towards the Marvel comic line where an epidemic makes half the Marvel universe to turn zombies, including Iron Man. In another scene in the illusion, Mysterio pushes MJ from a cliff, which could be a nod to the death of Gwen Stacy, one of Spidey's girlfriends from comics. This was recreated in the forgettable The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

#7 Spider-Man's Identity Revealed

The mid-credit scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home is all kinds of awesome. It drops a shocker when a video is played on a new channel that has a dying Mysterio's last 'confession'. He blames Spider-Man for the chaos in Europe and then reveals his identity as Peter Parker. As we all know, Peter keeps his alter-ego very secretive, even though a lot of people are in on that secret, and now the rest of the world knows too. What's more, he is now a marked man, and we can expect a whole lot of villains whom he had pissed off earlier to be after him in the third Spidey movie. Can we hear Sinister Six coming?

#8 J Jonah Jameson is in Town

The same mid-credit scene delivers another shocker - Marvel has convinced the great JK Simmons to reprise his character of J Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle Editor, from the Tobey Maguire trilogy in MCU. There are some changes to his character - like he has gone bald and The Daily Bugle is now a blog. One thing is common though - JJJ really hates Spider-Man, and this time, he has a reason!

#9 The Skrulls Are Still on Earth

The end-credit scene is equally interesting, as we learn that Nick Fury and Maria Hill whom Peter meets were Skrulls Talos and Soren, from Captain Marvel, in disguise, and they have been assigned to do so. In a conversation earlier, they also mention about Kree sleeper cells. It looks like Earth is being infiltrated by alien species, which could be a talking point in Phase 4. Secret Wars, anyone?

#10 Nick Fury is in Space!

So where was the real Nick Fury? Well, he was having a 'vacation' on a spaceship commanding a huge team of Skrulls for a mission unknown. This gives MCU an excuse to make up for Fury's absence in future movies, but where he is upto? As per ardent Marvel fans, Nick Fury is now heading SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Response Department). If SHIELD was looking after the threats that could affect the Earth, SWORD goes on a universe-level, and after Thanos, who can blame Fury for aiming higher!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2019 08:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).