Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer Nets Record Views For Sony

It's safe to say that fans are ready for more Spidey.

The trailer first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was released on Tuesday, racked up an astonishing 130 million views in its first 24 hours. The number represents the biggest digital trailer debut in Sony Pictures' history, according to Deadline.

Fans the world over had been waiting impatiently for the spot ever since it was first previewed in early December to raucous crowds at Brazil Comic-Con. When it finally arrived, it didn't disappoint, giving us a solid idea of the flick's story without giving away too much. We know that Peter Parker will accompany his friends and classmates in a European jaunt, which will be rudely interrupted by none other than Nick Fury, who has Parker's wall-crawling alter ego in mind to help deal with the emergence of towering, elemental monsters who go on the rampage in several tourist-y locales. Of note is the fact that even though these creatures — who are seen harnessing the powers of water, earth, and fire — are said to be inspired by Marvel antagonists the Elementals, they also seem to invoke the abilities of classic Spider-Man villains Hydro-Man, Sandman, and the Molten Man, respectively. The trailer also showcases the burgeoning relationship (and fantastic chemistry) between Peter Parker and Michelle Jones (Zendaya), who now appears to be going by "MJ" on a full-time basis.

We also know, thanks to his badass entrance near the end of the trailer, that Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio — although his comics incarnation has harassed Spider-Man for almost as long as ol' webhead has existed — appears to have a heroic motivation in the new picture, telling Spider-Man that he "[doesn't] want any part of this" before rising to do battle with the raging water monster himself. Although the film version of Mysterio appears to have far greater powers than have ever been assigned to the character in the past (one of Peter's classmates refers to him as "Iron Man and Thor rolled into one"), it should also be noted that Mysterio is typically presented as a master of illusion and misdirection, characteristics which just might come into play in the movie.

Fans absolutely gobbled up the new spot, which clobbered the 116 million views garnered by the teaser trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming in its first day. That film was, of course, the first solo vehicle for the MCU incarnation of Spidey, and to describe its trailer as "highly anticipated" would be a severe understatement. The flick went on to gross $880 million dollars worldwide, and was widely received as the best live-action Spider-Man film since 2004's Spider-Man 2, which at the time of its release was pegged as the best superhero film ever made by the likes of the late, great Roger Ebert.

Sony seems to be making the most of its three-pronged approach to the wall-crawler. Their shared stewardship of the live-action version of the character with Marvel Studios couldn't be going better, with Tom Holland's Peter Parker having been integrated seamlessly into the MCU beginning with 2016's box office-busting Captain America: Civil War. Meanwhile, their development of standalone features based on peripheral Spidey characters got off to a much better start than expected with last October's Venom, which did nearly as well as Homecoming at the box office; that flick's success prompted Sony to immediately greenlight a sequel, as well as another feature centered on longtime Spidey nemesis Morbius, the Living Vampire. On yet another front, Sony Pictures Animation's foray into animated films based on the property has produced perhaps the most shocking success of all. December's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, featuring alternate Spidey Miles Morales as the main character alongside a plethora of Spider-People (and one pig) from other universes, has been rapturously received as perhaps the greatest big-screen treatment of the character thus far. The flick has already scored a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature, and speculation is high that it could take home some serious gold at next month's Academy Awards.

All of these factors likely contributed to the rabid consumption of Far From Home's first trailer — not to mention the fact that when last we saw Holland's Peter Parker, he was crumbling to dust in the arms of Tony Stark on the ravaged surface of a barren moon in Avengers: Infinity War, thanks to the genocidal efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. Pointedly, the new trailer makes absolutely zero reference to this event, which has prompted much speculation from fans as to exactly how the surviving heroes will manage to reverse the event known as "The Decimation" in the forthcoming Avengers: Endgame.

While that film will be the one to answer all of the burning questions we've had since the end of Infinity War, Spider-Man: Far From Home will kick off Phase 4 of the MCU with a smaller, more character-focused story in the vein of Homecoming. Pretty much the entire band is back together from the first flick; in addition to Holland and Zendaya, Jacob Batalon (Ned), Laura Harrier (Liz), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), and Michael Keaton (Adrian Toomes/The Vulture) will all return, as well as director Jon Watts and screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna (who also contributed to Ant-Man and the Wasp). One notable exclusion: Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark, whose name is not so much as mentioned in the trailer. We would speculate as to why this is, but we don't feel like running to the store for a fresh box of tissues.

Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters on July 5, 2019.