Set photos from the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, somewhat clumsily titled Spider-Man: Far From Home, have revealed Jake Gyllenhaal in costume as Spider-Man’s new foe, Mysterio.
Who is Mysterio?
Mysterio is a classic Spider-Man villain, but relatively unknown to the general audience of non-comic book fans. While Gyllenhaal looks a bit like diet Doctor Strange in those photos, he isn’t actually a wizard; he’s more of a magician, the Las Vegas kind.
Mysterio’s original origin story saw him as a talented special effects artist working in Hollywood, who challenged himself to defeat Spider-Man. He has no super (or supernatural) powers, no victim of radioactive accidents or experimental serum; he’s just a freakishly smart individual, like Iron Man.
Mysterio’s iconic outfit includes a one-way glass dome covering his head, which kind of resembles a fish bowl. The freaky face covering isn’t present in the set photos, but we can assume that he takes it off from time to time; perhaps the helmet will be rendered in CGI, like the nanotech masks that remove themselves in Infinity War.
Mysterio’s schtick is creating convincing illusions, and the manipulative showman utilizes psychology, mind-altering drugs, props, and persuasion to mess with Spidey’s head, severely disorienting the superhero, and sometimes making him believe he is somewhere else entirely. Far from home, perhaps?
Mysterio also uses his extensive, Carrot Top-esque knowlege of props to craft weapons designed to match Spider-Man’s powers, and is even able to (loosely) replicate his web-serum, which is pretty damn impressive for a special effects artist. He was even able to convincingly pose as Spider-Man for a time, using his gadgets to mirror Spidey’s abilities, which convinced Peter Parker that he was having a nervous breakdown.
And that is the most interesting aspect of Mysterio; his challenge to Spider-Man is less physical, and more mental, often prompting the web-slinger into questioning his own sanity. And Jake Gyllenhaal has certainly shown himself capable of playing a manipulative sociopath, as his terrifying performance in Nightcrawler proved.
Another interesting tidbit about Mysterio, is that he happens to be a founding member of the Sinister Six; he even came up with the showbizzy monicker of the villainous boy band. Vulture is another member of the six, and he’s still alive and well after the last movie, meaning there might be a possibility of Marvel putting the team together.
Sony famously tried, and failed, to assemble the six in Amazing Spider-Man 2, after doing a DC and cramming too much sequel set-up into one movie. Marvel might well be doing them a big favor, seeing as Venom, their first attempt to set up a Spidey-verse without Spidey, gathered some very mixed first reactions from critics.
Tread Talks called Venom “pretty much this year’s Fant4stic” (ouch), while Forbes own Scott Mendelson generously said the film was “better than expected.”
Hmm. Let’s hope Mysterio gets to stick around in the MCU.
