I’ve been a huge MCU fan since the very first Iron Man movie back in 2008. With Avengers : Endgame being released on digital this week, I wanted to write a brief article about some feelings I had about the latest MCU outing, Spiderman : Fair From Home.

*** Be warned, from this point on there could/will be spoilers ***

Let me be clear – I absolutely loved this movie. Where the first Spiderman was pretty good, it felt like there was just a little too much of Peter moping about not Happy not taking his calls. Far From Home rectifies that, pushes Peter forward as a character, builds out the world and more.

Director Jon Watts, who returned from Homecoming, does a wonderful job of showing Peter’s struggle to balance his life between being a high school kid and a superhero. Homecoming tugged on this thread a little, but FFH makes it a focal point. For me that is a defining trait of Peter Parker. I also applaud the decision to take Peter out of New York. It makes for a nice change of pace and scenery.

Tom Holland brings Peter to life again (literally following Endgame) but with a dilemma we haven’t seen before. Without Tony Stark around, Peter is left to deal with things on his own. The prospect of not having Iron Man as safety net seems to terrify him. He’s not ready to step up and be the new Iron Man, instead looking to pass that responsibility to anyone who will take it. The character development of Peter in FFH is so well done – it felt like we literally saw him grow up and accept his place as a full fledged Avenger in this movie. There is a scene later in the film that involves AC/DC which would make Tony Stark proud.

I would be remiss to not mention Mysterio, who I felt like was just as good if not better than the Vulture. Knowing Mysterio’s arc from the comics gave a little away, but Marvel did a great job of weaving his story into the MCU tapestry. Jake Gyllenhaal was perfect in his role as Quentin Beck/Mysterio. He really sells both sides of his character, who makes a wonderful ally and villain for our beloved wall crawler.

The supporting cast was great too. Peter’s classmates and teachers provide their comedic relief, including a touching video tribute to the Avengers at the beginning of the movie. Ned and Betty Brant’s story was fun, although it came really close to being played out too much. We learned a little more about MJ’s character, but I feel like Marvel has to make a decision here. Zendaya does a fantastic job of playing the character, and I love her chemistry and interactions with Peter. Marvel however seems coy as to whether this is supposed to be Mary Jane Watson or not. If she is the new “MJ” that’s fine, but let’s lean into it more. I feel like it does a disservice to the character right now to be so nebulous. It’s going to be super weird if they decide in the future she’s not MJ and then we get another “MJ” in the MCU.

I didn’t really care for the Brad character. I get he is supposed to be the other guy after MJ, and he also shows the effects of the “blip”. It didn’t really grab my attention though, and he came across more annoying than anything. I never really felt like MJ was into him either, so maybe it wasn’t just me. The Aunt May/Happy romance also seemed weird at first, but it kind of resolves itself by the end of the movie.

On a totally different topic, the “nightmare” scene where Mysterio tricks Spiderman with the special effects blew me away. It felt like it was ripped directly from the pages of a Marvel comic book. Very cool.

In the end, FFH barely edges past Spiderman 2 as my favorite Spiderman film of all time. This movie nails the right mix of action, plot and world-building along with having so much character. The post credits scenes are pretty major as well, which makes it even more interesting to see where they take Spiderman from here.