| Mysterio | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Quentin Beck |
| Alias(es): | Mysterio New Guy L'uomo di misterio Man of Mystery The Next Iron Man The Greatest Hero on Earth Interdimensional Warrior The Greatest Superhero of All Time Drillbit Taylor |
| Portrayed by: | Jake Gyllenhaal Samuel L. Jackson (illusion) |
| Only Appearance: | Spider-Man: Far From Home |
- "These days, you can be the smartest guy in the room, the most qualified, and no one cares. Unless you're flying around with a cape, or shooting lasers with your hands, no one will even listen. Well, I've got a cape and lasers. With our technology, and with you, Mysterio will be the greatest hero on Earth!"
- ―Mysterio[src]
Quentin Beck was a former Stark Industries employee who worked for Tony Stark and the main antagonist of Spider-Man: Far From Home. He was the one who created the B.A.R.F. technology who Tony Stark took as his own, Beck was furious Tony then called him unstable, and fired him from Stark Industries. Beck staged several Elemental catastrophes across the world with the use of his suit, drones and hologram technology, seeking attention from the public as a new superhero named Mysterio.
Beck used his skills in illusions and trickery to gain the trust of "Nick Fury" and Spider-Man. After his fraudulence was uncovered, and his plan to continue his adventures across the continent of Europe was revealed, Beck had proven himself to be a worthy adversary to Spider-Man, however his arrogance eventually proved to be his downfall, leading into his eventual defeat. Beck then succeeded his extra plan in exposing Spider-Man's identity to the world, as he sent modified footage of their fight to the Daily Bugle.
Biography[]
Beck first appeared when "Nick Fury" and "Maria Hill" encountered Sandman, which he later destroys using his powers. Once Peter Parker and his friends get attacked by Hydro-Man in Venice, Beck saves Peter from its wrath. The two fight together and Beck destroys the Elemental, appearing as a hero to Italy. Later that night, Nick Fury brings Spider-Man to his hideout, where Spider-Man meets Beck. He unintentionally gave him his hero name Mysterio (something he was called by his classmates), a name which he liked. Beck tells Spider-Man that he came from an Earth of a different dimension that was destroyed by the Elementals, and that they’re on the original Earth. He reveals that there are four of them and their elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Fury suggested that Spider-Man team up with Mysterio to fight the last Elemental Molten Man, but Spider-Man refuses as he is too busy hanging with his classmates on their field trip.
Eventually, Spider-Man decides to leave his class' trip and help Mysterio fight Molten Man at the Prague Carnival. The two battle the Elemental for a long time, attacking it with their webs, lasers, and mists, along with surrounding rocks and water. However, they are unsuccessful in stopping the Elemental, as it absorbed enough metal to make itself unstoppable. Mysterio summons all his power and punches the giant in its chest, making it explode and dissipate forever. After the defeat of Molten Man, Spider-Man and Mysterio head over to a bar, where Spider-Man confides in his relationship trouble and declares Mysterio worthy for a style Avenger. He then hands over his glasses (containing an intelligence system called E.D.I.T.H. built by Stark), saying that Mysterio should be worthy of being a great superhero just like Stark. However, after Spider-Man leaves, the bar is revealed to be an illusion, and Mysterio happily cheered for his team, (composed of former Stark Industries employees, mostly William Ginter Riva, Victoria Snow, Guterman, Janice Lincoln and Doug).
It turns out that Beck himself was a former Stark Industries employee who created a projection prototype that Stark would later rename as B.A.R.F., and that Beck felt jealous and furious because of this event. Beck also commented that Stark fired him for his unstable behavior and that he actually plans to usurp Stark as the world's greatest hero, since the latter sacrificed himself to destroy Thanos and the Black Order. It also turns out that the Elementals are projection drones (built by Riva) as part of Mysterio's true plot to cement himself as a hero to the world and that he tricked Spider-Man into handing over E.D.I.T.H. to further facilitate his plans.
As Peter prepares to reveal his feelings for MJ, the two happen upon a piece of detritus and end up activating it, proving that Mysterio didn't notice that he accidentally bumped into one of his Drones and it lost a projector, which reveals that the Elementals are cybernetic beings and not magical monsters. They then realize that Beck is a fraud who was using them to make himself look like a hero to the public. Around the same time, Mysterio realized the missing projector was orchestral in a rehearsal to his next battle, planning an Avengers-level threat. Knowing that his plan will be compromised, Mysterio later uses E.D.I.T.H. to find out that Spider-Man and MJ knew his true colors. He also prompts Giva that once he had to kill Spider-Man, Giva will get the blame. Once he gets to Berlin, Mysterio shoots 'Nick Fury' with one of his drones, then Spider-Man then encounters Mysterio, who fights against and torments him by making him go through separate illusions, such as Mysterio in full armor dropping MJ from the top of the Eiffel Tower, a dozen of mirrored Spider-Men attacking, a zombie Iron Man, a spider whose eyes form a marching army of Mysterios, and also trapping Spider-Man inside his helmet as a snow globe version of New York City including the Avengers Tower.
He gets shot by Fury, which asks Peter who did he tell about his identity. Peter tells him that he only told Ned and MJ. Fury turns out to be a disguised Beck, who leads Peter in front of a speeding train. Beck and his team unleash his largest illusion yet, The Elemental Fusion in London, which is supposed to kill Michelle and the rest of Peter's classmates. He then comes to the rescue and jumps into the Elemental Fusion's mouth and uses the Peter-Tingle to destroy each of the Drones projecting the inside of the Elemental. Mysterio with anger orders the Drones to attack Spider-Man. Spider-Man then went past and destroyed some of the Drones, standing in his way upon being fed up with Beck, which he then confronts the latter to give him the E.D.I.T.H. glasses. Mysterio then taunts peter which he then creates an illusion where Peter has to get through, similar to the one which Beck used to trick him before, with this time with the help of using his Spider-Sense again. After overcoming the illusions Peter then sees Beck, lying there with supposedly redeeming himself then choosing gives Peter the glasses but it turns out to be yet another illusion, as his own real self, still wearing the glasses attempted to shoot Peter as a last effort into killing the latter. Peter then acknowledged Beck but takes the glasses from him which Beck then collapses in defeat with suffering a shot from one of his drone through misfire from earlier. As Peter watches as Mysterio succumbs to his wounds, he asked E.D.I.T.H. to confirm there were no active holograms in use within their vicinity, to ensure whether or not Beck was tricking him with another illusion. E.D.I.T.H. confirmed there are none, assuring Spider-Man that Mysterio is truly dead. However, it turns out that Mysterio, knowing that his plan could fail and that he could potentially die, had his crew edit the footage of him and Peter fighting the Elementals to frame Peter as the culprit behind the attacks and his death while revealing his true identity in revenge for foiling his plans. The footage is then given to and displayed by J. Jonah Jameson, exposing Peter's secret identity to the entire world and branding him as a menace to the world, much to Peter's distraught, as now the authorities are going to try to arrest him for crimes but he never committed crimes and all his loved ones are in danger from all those criminals he trapped as Spider-Man over the years while Mysterio goes down in history as one of the greatest superheroes who ever lived while fooling everyone into thinking Spider-Man is the enemy, presumably from beyond the grave. After Beck managed to fool the world into believing that Spider-Man was an enemy to society and making them turn against his enemy, Peter was arrested along with his loved ones on the charge of Mysterio's death, and for them to be interrogated for their part in Mysterio's death. Mysterio was mentioned throughout in the movie and by a random individual who was throwing a brick towards the household which said WE BELIEVE MYSTERIO while shouting MYSTERIO FOREVER afterwards, but was caught by Matt Murdock himself after helping Peter on the charges that he was accused of.
Peter seeked out Doctor Strange so he could make everyone forget Spider-Man's true identity. However, the spell was accidentally botched, allowing six supervillains from different worlds - the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, the Lizard, Electro and unknowingly, Venom to be transported into the MCU. When the intruders were transported back to their respective worlds, Doctor Strange would then cast another spell, which this time worked as intended, making the Population forget about Spider-Man's true identity, although with a huge cost; Everyone who knew Peter Parker would forget about his existence, including his loved ones and Strange himself. While Mysterio's plan was ultimately foiled, it brought irreparable consequences. To make matters worse, a tiny piece of the Venom symbiote remained in the MCU and slithers off, presumably to go find Peter, instead of being transported back into the universe it belongs in.
Personality[]
- "You guys do have sarcasm on this Earth, right? I like you, Peter, you're a good kid. There's a part of me that wants me to tell you to just turn around and run away from all of this and then there's another part of me which knows what we're about to fight and what's in stake. Saving the world requires sacrifice."
- ―Mysterio to Spider-Man[src]
During his days as an employee at Stark Industries, Quentin Beck had always shown a glorious desire for using his skills of technology to work with Tony Stark. He designed and invented the B.A.R.F. (Binary Augmented Retro-Framing) prototype, but after Stark noticed his callous and unstable nature, Beck was fired, leaving him embittered and vowing revenge. Beck later witnessed his former employer die in the Battle of Earth (in Avengers: Endgame), seizing the advantage to use his skills to create drones that project the Elementals and an advanced suit of armor with a helmet to shield his identity. He decided to use the Elementals to cause massive destruction across the continent of Europe and defeat them himself to be seen as a great hero in the eyes of the wide public. He did all of this despite everything Tony did to save the Earth. A first of many signs of Beck being nothing more than a petty psychopath. He also alleges that everyone laughed when Tony presented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, when in reality no one laughed when Tony said the invention's name and that he had yet to come up with a better one, proving his self-serving nature.
This plan would succeed, with people such as Flash Thompson giving him praise. Brad Davis states that Beck is similar to Thor and Iron Man together, implying how powerful he truly is without knowing the issue would require the attention of Spider-Man, 'Nick Fury' and 'Maria Hill'. Beck manipulated them by claiming that he is from another Earth, as well as the Elementals, presenting himself as an expert on them and that they are entities from his dimension, all as a move to advance his plan.
While being portrayed as a superhero, he had a selfless and caring nature, appearing to risk his life to protect innocents and allies. Beck would also become somewhat of a father figure to Spider-Man showing sympathy for his desires for a normal life and advising Peter to think about what he wants, rather than following other people's expectations. He even encouraged Peter to show off his intellect.
However, beneath his superhero guise lies an egotistical, dark, ruthless, petty, destructive and manipulative psychopath who would stop at nothing to get what he wants. He does not hesitate to threaten the lives of his crew when their missteps exposed the truth about Mysterio to Peter Parker whom Beck was supposedly fond of. Beck also cares less about the casualties caused by his performances than the attention he would receive for them, expressing giddy excitement at staging an "Avengers-level threat", nonchalantly watching Spider-Man get hit by a bullet train, taunting him with illusions of Tony, and plotting to kill MJ, Ned Leeds and Betty Brant for knowing his true intentions.
Despite his depravity and willingness to threaten his crew, he did appear to show some genuine support and appreciation with his team, as seen when he individually complimented each member for the work they did and their contributions to the overall plan, although this could simply be interpreted as him acting as he cares or that he just cares for them as long they are useful to his plans. Additionally, when he scolded his crew for their mistakes, he angrily stated that Peter Parker's blood would be on their hands, possibly demonstrating some small semblance of regret and anger for having to kill Peter, further supported by the fact that he told Peter for what it was worth, he was sorry. However, this did not stop him from sadistically taunting and attempting to murder the teenager later on. Even if he did truly care about Peter, he discarded any sentiment he initially had by framing him for murder and revealing his identity, nor did he hesitate to kill him once he became too much of a threat.
Even though he is arrogant, ruthless, and callous in the face of death, he is very methodical and cautious and does not overlook the smallest of mistakes, allowing him to continue his plans longer. An example of this is when one of the cameras from the drones was taken off during the fake battle; instead of brushing it off as Riva did, Mysterio immediately saw this as a major threat to him and took quick actions to find the missing projector and take care of anyone who discovered it. Another example was when the drones were breaking formation during the Elemental Fusion attack on London, Mysterio observed it, saw it was wrong, and found out it was Peter instead of ignoring it and allowing the hero to do more damage. Indeed, his only real mistake was underestimating Peter's superhuman powers as he thought that merely getting hit by a train would kill him as well as not expecting Peter's Spider-Sense to adapt to his illusions.
Beck accentuated his psychopathy in the illusions he conjured during his first fight with Peter; one such illusion featured him throwing MJ from the Eiffel Tower, manipulating Peter's feelings for her and fears for her safety. He created dark, terrifying and foggy illusions that terrified Peter, trapped him inside an illusion of a snow globe of New York with the Avengers Tower and causing an illusion of Mysterio's giant arm to fall on him. He even blamed Peter for Tony's death with the purpose of hurting him for no reason other than spite.
He grew much more desperate and bloodthirsty in his second confrontation with Spider-Man, unleashing all of his destructiveness to ensure his plan's success; but his lack of emotional stability brought him down, as he turned against E.D.I.T.H.'s advice, only to be riddled with his own drones' gunfire. In spite of this, Beck was partially successful in his goals, as he balanced his still-heroic image to expose Spider-Man's true identity and frame him for the destruction he never caused, even though he may not have lived to see it.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Holographic Projection: Using special equipment and motion capture suit, Beck can project a "Mysterio" hologram that participates in the fake battles against the "Elementals". Whenever Mysterio is required to physically interact with someone, Beck can overlay the hologram with himself while wearing a costume to give the impression that he was there the whole time. The physical "Mysterio" costume that Beck wears does not have the "fishbowl" helmet that the hologram Mysterio features, as the costume itself is nothing but a prop.
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intellect: To be added
- Master Scientist: To be added
- Master Engineer: To be added
- Actor: To be added
- Master Tactician: To be added
Equipment[]
- Combat Drones: To be added
- Illusion Projectors: To be added
- Mysterio Suit: To be added
- Tony Stark's Glasses: To be added
- E.D.I.T.H.: To be added
Relationships[]
- Mysterio's Crew - Allies
- Tony Stark - Former Employer
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Temporary Ally and Attempted Victim
- Nick Fury/Talos - Former Ally
- Maria Hill/Soren - Former Ally
- Michelle Jones - Attempted Victim
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Jake Gyllenhaal was initially considered to replace Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2 after Maguire suffered injuries to his back while filming Seabiscuit. Maguire recovered and returned to reprise his role.
- Coincidentally, Gyllenhaal was dating Kirsten Dunst at the time.
- In the Latin-American Spanish dubs of the Raimi trilogy and Far From Home, Spider-Man and Mysterio share the same dub-over voice actor.