'Jake Gyllenhall's Mysterio could possibly be the next lead Avenger'  

For Marvel fans who are still reeling under withdrawal symptoms of Avengers: Endgame, the next fix is here. Spider-Man: Far from Home, directed by Jon Watts, is set to hit the screens this Thursday. The film, starring Tom Holland as the titular character, takes off from the events of Endgame. "Spider-Man: Far from Home brings together humour, heart, scale, and everything you love about Spider-Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)," says Watts, who previously helmed Spider-Man: Homecoming.

One of the interesting character arcs in the MCU has been that of Peter Parker. As Watts points out, “In Homecoming, Peter wanted the life of an adult, but now he wants to hang onto his youth. Everyone is looking for a new Super Hero and savior — the next Tony Stark. Tony seemed to have chosen Peter, but the world doesn’t realise he’s a 16-year-old.”

The trailer revealed that one of the driving forces behind Peter stepping up to the responsibility is Nick Fury. Watts says, “Fury is more pragmatic; he built the Avengers and now, years later, he’s rebuilding everything from scratch. His job is keeping the world safe, and Peter is a key figure in that goal.”

“Fury, too, has been gone five years, having been erased with the snap,” says Watts. “He’s always been the guy who’s on top of everything, and now he’s seeing a very different world. It’s a situation we’ve not seen Fury in before. He’s no longer the guy who’s in total control.”

There is a new character introduced into the MCU in the form of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio, originally a supervillain, who is now showcased as a hero in Far From Home. “Mysterio is a fascinating villain in the comics, so depicting him here as a hero is definitely something we haven’t seen before. The idea of Spider-Man, Mysterio, and Nick Fury teaming up to take on this global menace (Elemental Creatures) was really exciting to us.” Watts adds, “We needed someone who could easily slip into the role of a Super Hero and, possibly, the world’s next lead Avenger. We knew Jake could carry that weighty responsibility.”

Watts adds that he and everyone connected with the film felt a huge responsibility to do right by the character of Spider-Man and to the entire MCU. “We hope we’ve delivered something that’s fun, exciting and moving and gives audiences something they haven’t experienced before.”