15 greatest superhero movies of the decade

11. Spider-Man: Far From Home

Released: July 2, 2019

There was initially a lot of confusion when it was first revealed that Spider-Man: Far From Home would serve as the final film in the MCU’s third phase (instead of the first of phase four), but upon reflection, it’s easy to see why it does.

Though it is an epilogue of sorts for the Infinity Saga, it is also built around moving on – as Peter Parker finds himself struggling to do just that in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame. And that drives the movie, as it is very much about letting go of the past and moving into the exciting light-hearted and, most of all, fun-filled future – something that both Spider-Man and superhero movies are all about.

Far From Home takes the best of what worked in Spider-Man: Homecoming while eliminating all of the elements that didn’t. As a result, it feels more like a Spider-Man movie in that it is a lot more fun, triumphant and unapologetically young than its predecessor – all while framed with an incredibly mature backstory.

Tom Holland was better than he had ever been in the role (and that’s saying a lot), while Zendaya really came into her own this time around and Jake Gyllenhaal served as the perfect mentor antagonist as Mysterio.

This, in a way, marked Spidey’s official debut as the leader of the MCU’s next generation – and what a debut it was – and it was also an uplifting exclamation point on one of the greatest sagas in cinema history.