Spider-Man: Far From Home's Alternate Ending Explained: How Mysterio's Reveal Almost Happened Mid-Movie

Far From Home has been out and shaking up the web, and reports have surfaced on what the original ending for the film was supposed to be. Throughout this breakdown I'm covering everything you need to know about the alternate scenes and why they were changed for the final cut, so consider this your heavy spoiler warning if you haven't seen the movie yet.

In the ending we actually got, Mysterio is revealed to be a disgruntled ex-employee of Tony Stark who, along with others, has been trying to get access to his tech. Early in the film Peter, doubting his own abilities, hands over the Edith glasses, which grant the wearer access to Stark's Arsenal. With that tech now in Mysterio's hands, he launches a massive attack on Tower Bridge. Peter rushes there and manages to defeat Mysterio, who seemingly dies, though as I always say, don't believe everything you see on the internet. Peter returns home, saves the day, and gets the girl of his dreams, swinging through the city with MJ. All seems great until a live broadcast of fake news from the Daily Bugle reveals that Mysterio, or one of his cohorts, created footage showing that Peter himself launched the attack on Tower Bridge. As one final gut punch from beyond the grave, Spider-Man's identity is revealed to the world as Peter Parker right as we cut to black.

Co-writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers told the New York Times the identity reveal was originally going to happen in the final act

According to co-writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna, speaking to the New York Times, Peter's identity reveal was initially going to be part of the final act of the movie instead of just the post-credits scene. In their words, "With Mysterio there were versions of the story where he was at the forefront as an out-and-out villain that Peter and Nick were chasing around Europe as he pulled off these events. This was all building to this backstory of why he was doing it, which was a wholly different third act."

The writers say they were challenged to figure out what Peter sacrifices by the end of the movie

McKenna and Sommers explained that "we went down a lot of different roads, and ultimately because Mysterio deals so much in deception it was sort of natural, and it led to a story structure where his entire identity was a mislead. For a while we were challenged by the producers to come up with something that Peter sacrifices by the end of this movie, and when we hit upon that as a group it became a very scary idea. It's such a bold maneuver that it became inevitable, particularly with a tricky character like Mysterio who's this dark father figure from the grave. Is he trying to give Peter his 'I'm Iron Man' moment? It's thrust upon him, but is this a lesson or a punishment? We played with the idea that Peter is the one who sacrifices his identity out of necessity during the final battle. Then it seemed more interesting if Mysterio tricks him into doing it. But anytime we wrote a version where he was being revealed for the world in that battle, it felt like it diminished the victory. Before it became a tag, it was really just the end of the movie, right as he feels like he's stepping up as Spider-Man, he has the rug pulled out from under him again."

My theory: Mysterio may have forced the reveal by holding Peter's friends hostage

From what the writers describe, it sounds like Mysterio was going to exploit Peter's gullibility again to reveal his identity, similar to how Peter accidentally gave up Ned and MJ's identities during the skyscraper fight earlier in the movie. What really hits home with me is that the writers talk about Peter sacrificing his identity out of necessity, which could have meant that Mysterio held some of Peter's friends hostage and therefore forced him to reveal who he was to the world in order to save their lives.

Why I think the post-credits stinger works better than the scrapped final-act reveal

While I think the hostage scenario would have been cool to see, I definitely think the post-credits stinger works a lot better. Not only does it compromise Peter's identity, it also sets him up as a target for both heroes and villains, since the world will believe he killed Mysterio and orchestrated the attacks himself. The fact that he has Edith gives him access to serious power, and many will no doubt worry that he now has too much of it for his age, which sets up potential Civil War style conflict, possibly with Captain Marvel trying to take Edith back. Personally, I think the ending we got works a lot better, and it's easy to see why it made the final cut, since it allows Peter to become the hero, which is clearly not what Mysterio wanted, hence the reveal.

The writers reveal how JK Simmons and J. Jonah Jameson were worked into the post-credits scene

There was also discussion over the post-credits scene and getting JK Simmons involved. According to the writers, there had already been some interest in possibly using JK Simmons when they brought J. Jonah Jameson back, so once it was decided that Peter's identity would be revealed at the very end instead of during the final battle, it all fell into place naturally that J. Jonah would be involved. The idea of fake news and how you can't believe everything you see had been floating around through the entire movie, and the writers had been toying with the idea that Mysterio would turn Spider-Man into a villain, just like he did in the comic books, which tied into this J. Jonah 2.0 as what I'd call the Alex Jones of the MCU.

Nick Fury and Maria Hill were originally going to be revealed as Skrulls, but the writers scrapped it

Originally, Nick Fury and Maria Hill were not going to be the actual Fury and Hill in this film, they were going to be Skrulls. However, the writers felt it would be a disservice to Fury to have him tricked by an illusionist when he's supposed to be one of the world's most cunning spies, so that idea was dropped.

Overall, I definitely think the changes work a lot better, and the film got me hooked on what could come down the line. It was a smart move for the film to play out the way it did, and I really can't wait to see what's next for the webhead.

Would you have preferred Mysterio's identity being exposed during the final battle instead of the post-credits reveal?