8. Spider-Man: Far From Home
That brings us to the first of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies on our list, and oh boy is this one full of MCU fallout.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is set eight months after Avengers: Endgame and sees Peter still grieving the loss of his friend and mentor, Tony Stark. Desperate for a break from his life as Spider-Man, he decides to hang up his suit while on his class vacation to Europe and focus on relaxing and getting MJ to like him. Those plans get interrupted by Nick Fury, who recruits Peter to help him and his team take down the Elementals, interdimensional creatures that risk destroying the universe.
Fury gifts Peter a pair of glasses named E.D.I.T.H. left for him by Tony Stark and introduces Quentin Beck, later dubbed Mysterio, a hero from another dimension who lost his home fighting the Elementals. After they seemingly defeat the Elementals, Peter gives Mysterio the glasses, believing his new friend deserves them more. However, thanks to MJ, who also figures out he’s Spider-Man, Peter learns that Mysterio is actually the one behind the elementals.
After being repeatedly tricked by Beck’s illusions, Peter ultimately defeats him while he carries out his final attack, relying solely on his spider-sense and intuition to take him down. Following the battle, Peter reunites with MJ, and the two begin dating. The film ends on a cliffhanger with Mysterio, through a posthumous video message, revealing Peter’s identity to the world.
Mysterio ends up being one of the more interesting Spider-Man villains. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a perfectly over-the-top performance that matches well with the character. Mysterio’s powers also allow for trippy visuals that no other Spider-Man antagonist could provide, giving us one of the most visually stunning sequences ever in a Spider-Man movie while feeling ripped straight out of a comic book. The film also does a lot to develop his romantic relationship with MJ. Although neither of them showed much interest in each other in Spider-Man: Homecoming, their relationship feels like a natural development and not like it comes out of nowhere.
Some moments in the movie do feel out of place, primarily the bus scene where Peter almost gets his classmates killed while trying to use the E.D.I.T.H. glasses to erase an incriminating photo of him. While it could be much better, it’s still a satisfactory sequel and a solid end to the Infinity Saga.