The Spider-Man: Far From Home Extended Cut is due to hit cinemas tomorrow and it’s safe to say it’ll be released into a very different climate than when it was first announced. Just a few weeks back, the film looked set to establish an exciting new status quo for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, in which he’d be hated by the public and vilified by J. Jonah Jameson. Now, with the Sony and Disney deal having collapsed, that’s all in doubt. So, what does this mean for the Extended Cut?
Well, on one hand, audiences might flock to cinemas just to get one last peek at Spider-Man in the MCU. This release could be the last time we’ll see Peter Parker hanging out with Happy Hogan, Nick Fury and with Iron Man’s influence surrounding him. Alternatively, with the fan community having been split down the middle, people could stay away in droves in an attempt to punish Sony, Disney or both.
The temperature is fairly testy on social media, too, with users commenting: “Is anyone likely to go see this? Given the current uncertain state of Spidey?“, “We really don’t need major movies going back into theaters two months after release with an extra 8 minutes jammed in to justify charging full price to see them again” and “If we boycott this and Sony doesn’t see a return, then you know that negotiations will resume and we get our boy back in the MCU!”
I’m in the skeptical camp on this one. The re-release of Avengers: Endgame took a little bit of the lustre off the movie with its embarrassingly unfinished Hulk scene. I also agree that this is the kind of thing that should be left for the home release, if only to give fans a reason to purchase these movies rather than simply stream them.
And as for the poster? Well, it’s actually kind of neat. I like the way it combines all his MCU costumes into one image, though doing that does cement that Spider-Man may never return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future. And what a shame that is.
