Spider-Man: Far From Home post-credits scenes explained - the two huge reveals
It’s well worth waiting after for the post-credits for some big shocks
**Warning: this article contains major spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home**
After a run of superhero movies without any post-credits scenes, Spider-Man: Far From Home brings them back in a big way, with arguably the film’s most shocking moments taking place after the movie’s very last “hairstylist to Mr Gyllenhaal” has had their due.
And if you were left a little confused by everything that happened in the scenes, never fear – here at RadioTimes.com we did the years of comic-book reading and unpopularity so you didn't have to, and we can fill you in on all the background to Far From Home’s big finish. Spoilers are obviously coming, so if you haven't seen the film we'd advise checking out of this article sharply...
- When is Spider-Man: Far From Home released in cinemas? Who’s in the cast? And how does it connect to Avengers: Endgame?
- Who is Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home?
- Every Marvel movie coming in the next few years
How many post-credit scenes are there in Spider-Man Far From Home?
Far from home has TWO, count 'em, two, post-credits scenes, so don't walk away after you've seen the first one, but also don't feel the need to stick around for hours after the second has played - we're nowhere near Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2's record FIVE post-credits scenes here.
First post-credits scene: J Jonah Jameson and Peter Park's identity reveal
First off, let's start with a post-credits scene that PROBABLY should have been before the credits, storyline-speaking…Picking up immediately after the main film concludes, the first post-credits scene finds Peter and MJ (Tom Holland and Zendaya) web-swinging through New York, much to MJ’s discomfort.
“Yeah I’m OK – I’m just never doing that again,” MJ tells Peter – but before he can swing away a nearby billboard starts playing some breaking news.
In a shock twist, it’s revealed that in his final moments Jake Gyllenhaal’s duplicitous Quentin Beck – aka sham superhero Mysterio – filmed a fake death scene that was edited to frame Spider-Man as the one behind the attack on London, leaning helpfully on Peter’s use of the phrase “execute them all” (which he’d actually said to “execute” the various programmes cancelling the attack).
The newsreader then reveals the source of this shocking information – a “controversial” news site called TheDailyBugle.net, the first look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Peter Parker’s well-known newspaper workplace.
Ever since the 1960s comics Peter Parker has worked as a photographer for the Bugle, often selling them photos of his own exploits as Spider-Man (despite the paper’s extremely negative slant on his heroism) and using assignments as cover for his missions.
As Spider-Man he also clashed with the paper’s editor and publisher J Jonah Jameson, a hard-smoking newsman with an irrational hatred of Spider-Man who ran a campaign of disinformation and downright scaremongering against the webslinger. For his part, Spider-Man frequently found himself forced to save Jameson’s life from various supervillains (including a few, like the Scorpion and the Spider-Slayers, that Jameson hired himself) though usually took the chance to play a prank or two on his old foe.
Now, the Daily Bugle seems to have gone digital, but it still has J Jonah Jameson at the helm. And in one of the biggest surprises of the entire movie, the man playing Jonah is once again JK Simmons, the Oscar-winning actor who portrayed the character in the original Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man trilogy.
Since those films were rebooted (twice), Sony and Marvel had notably failed to recast Jameson, with many fans believing that Simmons’ beloved performance cast too long a shadow, and it seems they were right! Instead, Sony have made the continuity-busting decision to have the same actor play the same character (albeit with a slightly different look) in two very different movie universes.
That casting decision alone would have made this post-credits scene one for the ages – but what comes next is even worse, with Jameson playing a clip where Mysterio reveals exactly who Spider-Man really is, blaring “Peter Parker!” across New York accompanied by a picture of Peter himself.
Now Peter's secret identity has been blown, he's been framed for multiple murders and all his superhero sponsors are dead or missing.
To quote Peter himself at the end of the scene, “What the f***!?!?!”
Just imagine how you’d feel if you HAD left at the end of the movie, like a normal person…
Second post-credits scene: Nick Fury is a Skrull?
The second post-credits scene, which requires a much longer wait, is a comparatively sedate affair, opening with Nick Fury and Maria Hill (Samuel L Jackson and Cobie Smulders) driving along in their black SUV following their adventures during the film.
As they discuss how they were fooled by Mysterio, the pair suddenly reveal their true nature – they’re actually shapeshifting alien Skrulls, who’ve merely been posing as Fury and Hill during the pair’s absence.
Specifically, the Nick Fury Skrull is none other than Talos, the main antagonist-turned ally in 2019’s Brie Larson movie Captain Marvel, who now notes how “embarrassing” it is that he was taken in by Mysterio given his own talent for deceit and shapeshifting.
Last time we saw Talos it was the early 1990s, when he and Captain Marvel (Larson) flew off into space together, looking for a new home for his displaced people. Presumably in the years since he’s stayed in touch with Nick Fury (who also featured heavily in Captain Marvel) to the extent that Nick would ask him for this favour.
After being persuaded by his companion, Talos then calls the real Nick Fury, noting that while they did manage to pass on Tony Stark’s tech-accessing sunglasses to Peter – apparently their only actual duty before things got out of hand – things then “took a turn,” and begging for more guidance.
“Everyone’s asking where the Avengers are and I don’t know what to tell them!” Talos continues, shortly before the real Fury – apparently relaxing on a beach somewhere – hangs up the phone.
Stretching out, the real Fury rises and his true location is revealed – a cavernous Skrull spaceship, attended by many of the green aliens, where he’s just been enjoying a holographic vacation.
“Everybody back to work!” Fury declares as he hobbles through the bridge, apparently responding to Talos’ call. “I need my shoes…”
This post-credits scene casts new light on the events of the film, explaining why Nick Fury may have been so unusually gullible as to believe Beck’s claims – he literally worked for Tony Stark! Why did no-one recognise him? – while also hinting at some intriguing future storylines for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Just where ARE the Avengers, if Talos is so confused? Why is Nick Fury in space, beyond his holiday, and does it have something to do with Captain Marvel? Will we continue to see the Skrulls in future movies?
And given that we saw Skrull-Nick and Skrull-Maria worrying about Kree sleeper cells in an earlier scene (before we knew their true identity), should we be worried about the warrior race returning to face off with Captain Marvel and the people of Earth?
It’s going to be a LONG wait until the next Marvel movie gets released next summer…
Spider-Man: Far From Home is in UK cinemas now.