After Thanos’ snap was undone, Peter (Tom Holland), Ned (Jacob Batalon), and MJ (Zendaya) try to get back to their “normal” lives. Their school is taking a field trip to Europe. Peter is hoping to use the trip as his chance to tell MJ how he feels.

Meanwhile, creatures have begun appearing around the world, wreaking havoc wherever they appear. These creature take the form of the different elements, Earth, wind, water, and fire, giving them the name the Elementals. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) have been working with their team to find and defeat the Elementals. New to their team is Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal). Quentin, who has earned the nickname Mysterio due to his coverage in Europe, is from the same Earth as the Elementals and is the only person who has any chance of helping to defeat them.

When Fury hijacks Peter’s field trip, Peter suits up to help Mysterio battle the Elementals. At the same time, he must try to keep anyone, especially his classmates, from finding out his true identity.

While it is officially the last film of Marvel’s Phase 3, Spider-Man: Far From Home feels more like a kick off to Phase 4.

Though Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield were fine as Spider-Man, Tom Holland is probably my favorite so far. Far From Home further cements that. Holland has the right look for a high school kid, which is how Spider-Man was portrayed in the comics I remember. Likewise, Zendaya is the best MJ we’ve had so far, for many of the same reasons. Jacob Batalon, as Peter’s best friend and the only one who knows his secret, provides some comic relief for the film. His character is goofy and fun, and just a good addition to the cast. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio is one of the few characters I remember from the comic books. I was curious how they were going to spin him, and they did a satisfactory job. Gyllenhaal was a good choice to play Mysterio given his talent and range. The rest of the cast are people we know and love – Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei – and they have proven themselves over the course of their films.

Spider-Man is one of the few comic book series I read as a kid. In fact, they are the only ones I remember owning. This means I have some history with Spidey and the people around him. That’s why I was so curious about how they would handle Mysterio from the comics. They chose a path that threw me for a bit of a loop, but it works. The rest of the story deals with Peter handling the aftermath of Endgame and trying to live a normal life, including trying to take a break from saving the world. One of the finer moments of the film was the entire school recovering from the snap. They took the time to give a funny but touching tribute to the battle with Thanos that explains exactly why everyone is where they are. It was expertly handled, as you would expect from Marvel.

The only reason Spider-Man: Far From Home is part of Phase 3 is that it deals with the repercussions of Thanos’ actions. Otherwise, as I mentioned, it feels more like the start of Phase 4. Either way you look at it, it works. Marvel continues their winning strategy when it comes to bringing superheroes to life. Though the summer movie season has been sort of lackluster so far, Far From Home turns things around and brings us the larger than life action movie that the summer demands. Make sure you see it while it is in theaters to make it the experience it deserves. Don’t forget to stick around for the credits. After taking a brief hiatus, the credit scenes are back in full swing.