Spider-Man: Far From Home - What The Explosive Ending Really Means

5. Peter Parker's Secret Identity Is Revealed

In the most stunning revelation of the entire movie, Quentin Beck leaves a stinger behind when he dies that pulls Peter Parker's world apart in front of the world's eyes.

He somehow sent out a doctored video message from his final moments that appeared to show Spider-Man killing him and massacring others in London - partly thanks to his foolishly chosen "execute them all" command - to New York's chief news station. He also added the kicker of revealing Parker's true identity - and his image - to the watching world, leaving him absolutely nowhere to run to.

Secret identities have never been much of an issue in the MCU, because the first founding stone ended with Tony Stark defiantly declaring himself to be Iron Man. Pretty much every other hero either exists openly without a disguise or outside of normal life (like Black Widow and Hawkeye did as "professional heroes"), but Peter Parker's age and comparative vulnerability made his secret identity more of a requirement. He now can't hide behind that anonymity.

The question ultimately is how Peter can come back from that. The most disturbing answer is that he can't and that he was never intended to. That would explain why his MCU lifespan was chosen to be so short: in effect, what if Marvel Studios pitched Sony a plan to retire Spider-Man early after his secret identity is blown and he's attacked from all sides?

What if there won't ever be a Spider-Man 4 in this timeline?