OK, so my feelings about this movie are a little different than they might have been had I seen it sooner. The difference, for anyone not paying attention, is the recent announcement that Disney's deal with Sony that allows Spider-Man to appear in Marvel films has ended, and a dispute over money makes it seem unlikely -- for the moment, at least -- that the deal will be resurrected.

I love Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, and I enjoyed certain aspects of Andrew Garfield's take on the role. But let's face it, Tom Holland has owned this part since his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War in 2016. He wears the Peter Parker persona like a comfortable pair of jeans, and his Spider-Man is equally strong. The plotlines that have surrounded Peter Parker in the MCU films to date -- besides Civil War, he's been in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame before Far From Home -- have woven him inextricably into the fabric of the Marvel tapestry. Even the cliffhanger ending from Far From Home's mid-credits scene will be hard to resolve without leaning on various MCU references.

So, c'mon Disney and Sony, get to the table and make this thing work.

Now, Far From Home. Wow, this was really good.

Far From Home juggles a lot of balls, and it's not just about teenage Peter Parker being a wise-cracking superhero from Queens. Peter is dealing with a lot of issues -- his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is dead; Peter, along with many of his friends, has just returned from a five-year period of nonexistence, and the world has moved on without them; he's trying to live a normal life after going to space and fighting in a massive, universe-saving battle; he's being actively recruited by the world's top spymaster; he really likes this girl but he's kind of shy about telling her; and his aunt -- the younger, hotter Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) of the new series -- seems to be dating a guy Peter works with, and....

Circumstances of the film place Peter in Europe on a science trip with his classmates. Circumstances also place him in the sights of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who wants his help on a mission. Circumstances also place him in the path of an apparent series of world-destroying attacks by these things called Elementals, and with the Avengers all either dead, off-world or otherwise unavailable, there's only Spider-Man -- and this new guy Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who's apparently dropped in from a parallel dimension, to help.

The plot is well crafted, the action is great and the cast is great in their roles. Holland leads them all, of course, and he's got this down to a science. Spider-Man is super strong, has amazing abilities and, with it all, is very confident, but Peter is just a boy who's not so sure he knows what he's doing. And, yes, he wants to save the world and all, but there's this girl....

By the way, the budding romance between Peter and MJ (Zendaya) is handled really well. It's awkward, it's sweet, it's exactly how teenage romances fumble along for a lot of people. Zendaya -- along with Jacob Batalon as pal Ned Leeds and a handful of other classmates and teachers -- really play this school trip thing well, despite the disasters that keep dogging their heels as they move from country to country (and never seem to do any of the science stuff that brought them there).

There are also really good performances by Jackson, Gyllenhaal, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Coby Smulders as Maria Hill, and others ... but we've come to expect nothing less from these staples in Marvel's long-running cinematic universe.

I could probably talk at length about this movie, but for most viewers, they're either Marvel fans or they're not. People who don't like superhero movies won't like this one either, I assume, but genre fanatics will love it. I loved it, and I would love to see it again.

And I very much hope Disney and Sony figure out a way to keep Spider-Man in the MCU where he belongs.