WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home, in theaters now.
It's no secret Spider-Man: Far From Home, just like its predecessor, is as much a tribute to Iron Man's role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it is a story mapping out the early days of Tom Holland's hero. Homecoming focused on Tony Stark mentoring the boy, and now, the sequel deals with Peter Parker in the wake of his death, wondering how to be both an Avenger and New York's main guardian moving forward.
Seeing as Stark died in Avengers: Endgame, and director Jon Watts basically reshaped him as the new Uncle Ben, unsurprisingly, there's an abundance of Iron Man tributes throughout the film, haunting Spider-Man. However, Far From Home doesn't relegate itself to giving props to only that Avenger, as seen in one scene in the final act in which Peter homages a major moment from Endgame's climactic battle against Thanos.
Far From Home is a Tony Stark epilogue packed with daddy issues, with other heroes are referenced throughout. We see early on in a video in Peter's high school paying respect to the other Avengers, like Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Black Widow. Even in the finale, when Mysterio's drones attack London, we witness Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan in a museum trying to throw a heavy, medieval shield to protect Peter's friends, only to yell, "How does Cap do it?"
However, a big honor Spidey offers up comes when Mysterio's drones keep firing at him on Tower Bridge, blowing up beams, lampposts and street signs in the process. Trying to find a way out of the gunfire and never-ending hail of debris, Pete improvises and makes his own arsenal from the rubble.
In so doing, we get Watts' take on Captain America, specifically when Chris Evans' star-spangled Avenger got access to Mjolnir and walked up to the Mad Titan in Endgame, swinging the hammer in one hand and wielding his shield in the other. That was precursor to possibly the best superhero fight ever, as Cap brought down the lightning and showed just how worthy he was.
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Now, while Spider-Man embodies all those qualities, he simply doesn't get to do that much here, and that's because his weapons are more props than anything else. He emerges from the ash and rubble swinging the head of a lamp by its cord, and wielding a road sign the same way Cap held his shield. (Hey, he did steal it from Steve in Civil War.)
In fact, he's pretty much modeled after Cap in this moment -- from his posture to how he steps out as the last man standing. Even Michael Giacchino's score has an orchestral swell at that moment to mimic one of Endgame's crowning moments.
The battle doesn't go on that long for Peter, and it isn't as triumphant as when Cap battled Thanos, but it's still a pretty effective and fun moment to watch. Spider-Man is able to swing the lamp head and bat away a few drones. The makeshift weapons are just enough to help him cut a path to Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio, who's in disbelief a teenager from Queens could be so audacious yet so clever in the face of death.
Now, Peter wasn't resurrected at this point in Endgame, so it's not as if he saw Cap's battlefield performance. It's simply Watts and his team having some fun and reminding us that when it comes to protecting New York, Europe and the world, Spider-Man is as worthy as they come.
Now in theaters, director Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home stars Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, JB Smoove, Jacob Batalon and Martin Starr, with Marisa Tomei and Jake Gyllenhaal.