Mysterio origin

Origin of Mysterio

Spider-Man: How Does Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio Stack Up to the Comics? Let's Compare

Spider-Man: Far From Home introduces yet another iconic Marvel Comics villain to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the form of Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio. The MCU version of the character makes his debut in Spider-Man: Far From Home as a superhero mentor to Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who hails from an alternate Earth that was destroyed by Elemental monsters.

In the comics, Mysterio is a master of illusion and deception, which has made it hard for hardcore Marvel fans to believe their eyes when it comes to Gyllenhaal's version. Now that Spider-Man: Far From Home is out, we now know just what MCU Mysterio's story is truly all about.

No Marvel fan worth their weight in comics should be surprised to learn that Mysterio's true identity and origin in Spider-Man: Far From Home is much closer to his comic book counterpart. In a major heel-turning scene, Quentin Beck (Gyllenhaal) is revealed to be a former Stark Industries employee, who was let go for being deemed unstable. Specifically, Beck was a master of holographic projections and visual effects, who helped to develop Tony Stark's famous "B.A.R.F." technology from Captain America: Civil War. When Tony Stark died defending Earth against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, Beck saw an opportunity to create, control, and market the world's next big superhero, Mysterio.

Beck gathered together a team of former Stark Industries emloyees who had also had bones to pick with their former boss, and together the enacted a scheme to make Mysterio an Avengers-level hero. That group included another big MCU connection, as Beck's primary tech guy was none other than William Ginter Riva (A Christmas Story's Peter Billingsley), the tech who Obidiah Stane coerced into building the Iron Monger armor, back in Iron Man. Beck's plan consisted of using the hologram tech and Stark drones to create the epic fights between Mysterio and the Elementals - as well as the larger goal of getting possession of "E.D.I.T.H.," Tony Stark's control system for the Stark Industries array of satellites, drones, and other deadly tech. By gaining Peter Parker/Spider-Man's trust as a faux mentor, Beck gets Peter to give him E.D.I.T.H., which allows him to scale up production and control of his Mysterio illusions.

Spider-Man's battle with Mysterio turns out to be deeply intense (and visually awesome), as Beck and his army of Stark Drones create twisted and disorienting illusions, forcing Peter to ultimately rely on his "Peter Tingle" (aka Spider-Sense) to "see" through the illusions enough to take Beck down. Unfortunately for the villain, wayward gunfire from a drone leaves him seemingly fatally wounded - but he doesn't go before first exposing Spider-Man's identity to the world!

Do you like the MCU version of Mysterio? Let us know in the comments!

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