WARNING: Major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.
Joe Russo confirms once more that Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. From the moment that Sony and Marvel Studios announced that the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming would be hitting theaters just months after the believed conclusion of Phase 3, fans have been wondering how it will connect to the preceding installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was further complicated when Avengers: Infinity War saw Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) be one of many characters to be turned to dust at the end.
This was one of many signs that Avengers: Endgame would see all of said characters come back to life, as it was previously said that Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place minutes later. While this was believed at the time, many began to wonder how this was the case after seeing Avengers: Endgame. Thanks to a five-year time jump, every character who survived the snap would be significantly older, but all of Peter's classmates, like Michelle (Zendaya), Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), and Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori), are returning in the sequel.
During a Q&A with Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo posted on Chinese website Tencent QQ (and translated by Reddit), he confirmed that Spider-Man: Far From Home picks up after the undusting happened. He explains that this is why Peter's reunion with Ned was so emotional, not because they haven't seen each other for half-a-decade, and that this makes for a complicated world.
Yes, those people whom was lucky to survive the snap are 5 years older than the people who just got back. The reason Spider-Man saw his friend again in high school at the end was simply because his friends was unfortunately also dusted like Spider-Man was. Of course, there are people in his grade whom didn't die and they are probably already in colleges by now. To those dusted people, they had no conscious in these past 5 years. They didn't know what happened. It's as if they had just woke up from a long sleep. The only one who was aware about how many years has passed was Doctor Strange, because he has already seen that when he was time mediating on Titan. Parker's reunion with Ned was a touching moment. There are also people whom indeed moved on but suddenly was reunited with their lost ones. Yeah it's kind a complicated world now.
With this additional confirmation, the casualties and survivors of the snap continue to be extremely coincidental for the larger MCU story. The snap kept all six of the original Avengers around so they could have major roles in Avengers: Endgame, but also made Peter's entire friend group also disappear so they can stay the same age in Spider-Man: Far From Home and any subsequent appearances. The odds of this happening weren't great, but it does make for a more compelling story (hopefully).
Of course, the shared fates by Peter and his friends won't be the only way that Spider-Man: Far From Home has to deal with the end of Avengers: Endgame. One major through line will be how Peter deals with death of his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). This is likely why he's not completely up to being a superhero during the first trailer for his sequel, and why Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) turns to him to try and stop The Elementals. With the timeline on Spider-Man: Far From Home solidified, there's plenty of new intriguing possibilities for what the movie could hold.
Source: Tencent QQ [via Reddit]
