In Spider-Man: Homecoming, we saw the Vulture, a villain who had never been adapted for a movie before. The trend will be continuing in Spider-Man: Far From Home where Spider-Man will be meeting a mysterious new hero, Mysterio. Of course, comic fans will know that Mysterio is one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains so…spoiler alert! Let’s get into Mysterio and how the chromedome became one of the Web-Head’s Rogues Gallery.
1. Mysterio Was One of Spider-Man’s First Villains
Of all his classic villains, Mysterio is one of the oldest. Mysterio was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko way back in 1964’s The Amazing Spider-Man #13.
2. Mysterio is All About Special Effects
In the comics, Mysterio started out as a stuntman and special effects genius named Quentin Beck. Beck wanted to be rich and famous but thought his career had hit a dead-end when he failed to cross over into acting. He realized that his skill at illusions gave him an edge as a criminal, so he turned to a life of crime using those effects. The special effects-driven villain should lead to some amazing visuals on the screen.
3. Mysterio Has No Super-Powers
Mysterio traditionally has no powers, unless you count his skill at creating and maintaining illusions and high-tech weaponry. Using a combination of devices, stage illusions, hypnotism, chemistry, and robotics, Mysterio can make people see or experience almost anything.
4. Mysterio Wears a Bowl
One of Mysterio’s most iconic (and occasionally mocked) features is the silvery round helmet he wears on his costume. His helmet is made of one-way plexiglass, meaning he can see out but no one can see in, putting the “mystery” in Mysterio since no one can see his face or head while wearing it. It also aids him in combat since Spider-Man can’t tell which way he’s looking so it’s hard to sneak up on him. Unfortunately, the helmet has also led to a lot of jokes about him wearing a “fishbowl” on his head.
5. Mysterio Impersonated Spider-Man
In his first appearance, Mysterio used his special effects and costuming skills to pose as Spider-Man to rob banks. Mysterio was so good at it that even Spider-Man was fooled, thinking he might have a split personality and was committing crime sprees in his sleep. Fortunately, Spider-Man put a tracer on Mysterio and found out the truth before Ol’ Web-Head had himself committed to a mental hospital.
6. Mysterio Has Gadgets
While Spider-Man is known for a lot of gadgets, Mysterio puts him to shame. Some of Mysterio’s regular tools include smoke machines, and Mysterio can see through the mists because his helmet uses sonar to help him navigate. He also has holographic projectors that can make small or large three-dimensional objects appear; monsters are a favorite for him. While Batman uses a grappling hook to appear and disappear quickly, Mysterio’s boots have magnetic springs that make him jump high and stick to surfaces.
7. Mysterio Has Gas
Mysterio uses a lot of different gases in his work. We’ll start with basic smoke and mist clouds to hide his appearances and disappearances, as well as make it harder for enemies to see him. If the holograms aren’t enough, his gloves and boots can spray a hallucinogenic gas that makes people see things. He also has smoke that can confuse Spider-Man’s spider-sense, and gases that can paralyze, hypnotize, put people to sleep, and even a gas that can dissolve Spider-Man’s webbing.
8. Mysterio Beat Wolverine
As much as Mysterio has been the butt of a few jokes, he’s still deadly. For instance, Wolverine can heal quickly and his skeleton is laced with unbreakable adamantium, but Mysterio managed to beat his mind instead of his body. In 2008’s Old Man Logan miniseries, we saw an aged Wolverine who refused to kill. We eventually learned that some of Marvel’s greatest supervillains attacked the X-Mansion, and Wolverine fought them all, only to discover Mysterio had used his mind control on him. Instead of fighting Bullseye and Mister Sinister, Logan had been killing his fellow X-Men. The guilt drove him to take a vow of non-violence, one that his enemies later forced him to break.
9. Mysterio Staged an Alien Invasion
In Amazing Spider-Man #2, Spider-Man had a bizarre adventure where he faced a criminal genius known as the Tinkerer. The Tinkerer was working with a group of extraterrestrials who were placing spy devices in people’s radios to analyze Earth for an alien invasion. Spider-Man beat them, but in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #51, the story was retconned. It turned out that the aliens were really human criminals planting bugs in electronic equipment of inventors and government officials to steal their secrets and sell them to the highest bidder. The alien costumes and spacecraft were fakes created by Mysterio.
10. There Are Four Mysterios
Like a lot of Marvel villains, there’s more than one supervillain who took on the name Mysterio. The second Mysterio (Daniel Berkhart) was created in 1975’s The Amazing Spider-Man #141. The third Mysterio (Francis Klum became Mysterio in the final issue of Kevin Smith and Terry Dodson’s Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #1 (2002). The fourth Mysterio (called “Mysterion”) first appeared in 2013’s Avenging Spider-Man #22.
What do you think of Mysterio? Are you looking forward to Spider-Man: Far From Home? Let us know in the comments!
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