Jake Gyllenhaal suited up as Mysterio in
Spider-Man: Far From Home, but the big screen debut of the villain very nearly happened back in 2011 with Sam Raimi's
Spider-Man 4.
Concept art has shown an overweight Mysterio being arrested by the police, and it's thought that he would have just made some sort of cameo appearance rather than being an actual bad guy with illusion powers the wall-crawler was set to square off with (instead, The Vulture and Felicia Hardy/The Vulturess would have been the movie's big bads).
Now, Bruce Campbell - who made cameo appearances throughout the previous three films - has confirmed that he never actually talked to Sam Raimi about playing Quentin Beck.
"That was a fanboy thing that started," he said, putting an end to rumours which have been swirling for at least a decade now. "Do you know Sam Raimi never sent, like, an email or a phone call saying, 'Hey Bruce, uh, prepping Spider-Man 4, what do you think about Mysterio?' That conversation never happened."
Would you have liked to see Campbell play Mysterio in Spider-Man 4?
Hit the "View List" button to check out some spoiler
stills of Spider-Man: Far From Home's Mysterio!
Spider-Man's stealth suit looked spectacular on the big screen, and considerably better than what we saw in set photos. This shot with the fireworks in the background is downright stunning.
Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures didn't shy away from showing this suit in the trailers and it's been all over the place in terms of merchandise. They're missing a trick not selling those goggles!
We later learned that this was all an illusion, and in order to fool Peter Parker into handing over E.D.I.T.H., Quentin Beck pretends that he's going to sacrifice himself to stop this Elemental.
That is, of course, Molten Man and while this version of the character is a lot different to the one in the comics, there's a very good chance that Mark Raxton still exists as this was just an illusion!
As redesigns go, Molten Man looked great and was probably the most impressive Elemental in the movie. Mysterio claimed that it was responsible for destroying his Earth, and that's believable!
Spider-Man hadn't mastered his Spider-Sense at this point in the film so we see him here on the run from Molten Man as he attempts to help Beck bring an end to the Elemental threat for good.
The level of detail on Molten Man is outstanding and a testamant to just how hard VFX companies like Luma work to bring characters like this to life. The whole sequence was a standout.
Given the moniker "Night Monkey" by Ned to stop Betty from figuring out that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are both in Prague, here we see the web-slinger attempting to save them from Molten Man.
This is, of course, the Elemental that Peter and MJ discovered in the part of the drone that she recovered from the Molten Man battle and what led Spidey to realising that Mysterio is a fraud.
Continue reading below to see 10 MCU characters we
think should make a cameo appearance in Spider-Man 3!
Valkyrie
Spider-Man's secret identity has been revealed to the world and he needs somewhere to hide out, so why not New Asgard? The presumably sovereign nation was set to make an appearance in
Spider-Man: Far From Home, so we know it's been on director Jon Watts' mind at some point in the past.
Valkyrie wouldn't necessarily have to get involved with whatever threat Peter Parker faces upon realising he needs to return home and face his responsibilities, but putting Tessa Thompson in the movie's marketing materials would be no bad thing. Bear in mind that Sony Pictures has a pre-existing relationship with the actress after
Men in Black International, too.
It would also be great fun to see how New Asgard is doing under Valkyrie's leadership!
Daredevil
Mysterio framed Spider-Man for his murder, and that means Peter Parker is a wanted man (for questioning, if nothing else). The Marvel Cinematic Universe has never really done secret identities, so this puts the hero in a very unique position and he's going to need some sort of legal help.
Enter, Matt Murdock.
Assuming Marvel Studios will legally be able to use the Man Without Fear by then, it makes perfect sense for Daredevil to finally make the leap to the big screen, especially after season three of his TV show managed to redeem the character. Even if he's only ever used in a supporting role on the big screen, this seems like the perfect place to reintroduce Charlie Cox's version of the hero.
Ant-Man And The Wasp
As of right now, we don't know if Marvel Studios has plans for an Ant-Man and The Wasp sequel, but another movie featuring the characters is bound to happen at some point. For now, though, what if they decide to give Spider-Man a helping hand? There's plenty of humour to be mined from putting Tom Holland and Paul Rudd on screen together, that's for sure.
Make Hope Van Dyne a mentor to Peter and this possible cameo is ripe for strong storytelling potential. Plus, if Sonny Burch's mysterious "benefactor" really was Norman Osborn, there's a very good reason to combine these franchises and set the stage for Dark Reign. Heck, how cool would it be to see a tiny Spider-Man swinging from ant to ant?
The Hulk
The Hulk is probably never going to get another solo movie, but that obviously doesn't stop him from popping up elsewhere (hence why we saw him in
Thor: Ragnarok back in 2017). Well, what about a team-up with the wall-crawler? These two have crossed paths many times in the comics, and Bruce Banner could be just the scientific mentor Peter needs after losing Tony Stark.
After all, it's hard to imagine he still has access to E.D.I.T.H. after being branded a criminal, and so the intelligent version of the Jade Giant helping the wall-crawler out with his predicament could be a lot of fun. Plus, it would give us chance to see how The Hulk is doing after he was so badly injured at the end of
Avengers: Endgame.
Doctor Strange
Spider-Man and Doctor Strange have a very unlikely friendship in the comic books, and it was during J. Michael Straczynski's run that they grew particularly close. We've obviously seen the heroes interact on screen in
Avengers: Infinity War, but an actual team-up would be even more satisfying.
Plus, we're sure you haven't forgotten how Strange helped to once again make Peter's secret identity secret in the source material! While it might be a tad too soon for that, it certainly wouldn't hurt for the wall-crawler to at least ask if there's a magical solution to his problem, and that would hopefully lead to the heroes being forced to work together to take on some sort of new threat.
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel briefly met Spider-Man in Avengers: Endgame, and while it definitely appears as if she's once again busy in outer space, she must now know a fair bit about the web-slinger - especially as Talos spent quite a bit of time with him. While the age difference rules out any possible comic book-style flirting, these two working together could still be awesome to see.
Carol Danvers is ridiculously powerful so it's no good having her fly in to take on someone like the Scorpion, but depending on what Marvel Studios does with her over the next few years, she could at least give Peter a pep talk and help him deal with what he's going through. From a marketing point of view, this is another cameo that would definitely be a smart move on Sony's part.
Ironheart
It's obviously important for the Spider-Man franchise to move away from Iron Man, but the wall-crawler's world does seem like the most logical place for Ironheart to be introduced. She could be a fellow high school student and someone Peter can finally trust to both take charge of E.D.I.T.H. and actually fill Tony Stark's shoes now that Spidey has been branded a menace.
This passing of the torch fully allows Peter to move out of Iron Man's shadow, introduces a new hero to the MCU, and gives Riri Williams an origin story that works on screen. There's a clear demand for Ironheart in a live-action setting, and this seems like the best place to make that happen.
Captain America
It's been widely reported that Captain America was set to make an appearance in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but plans changed and it now seems like we'll have to wait until
Falcon & The Winter Soldier on Disney+ before getting to see Sam Wilson wield the shield and don the red, white, and blue.
Assuming that's happened by the time this sequel rolls around, who better than Captain America to track down Spider-Man and possibly even attempt to arrest him? This would be a classic hero vs. hero fight that culminates in a team-up when Sam realises that the world is actually wrong about Peter!
Deadpool
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has debunked claims that Deadpool is going to be introduced in the next
Spider-Man sequel, but would it really be such a bad thing for that to happen here?
This could serve as an easy way to re-introduce the Merc with the Mouth to moviegoers, while also giving Spidey someone to riff off. As team-ups go, it would be better off being brief, but posters teasing a meeting between Tom Holland's Peter Parker and Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson would definitely result in dollar signs appearing in the eyes of Sony Pictures studio execs.
Venom
Okay, so Venom isn't an MCU character but it certainly sounds like Sony would like him to be! This would require the character to be rebooted to some extent, but if the Lethal Protector were to arrive in New York City looking for the web-slinger, then a fun team-up could follow that finally sees Peter Parker don that powerful alien costume.
Marvel Studios could find a way to tie Venom into Oscorp (perhaps by making The Life Foundation a subsidiary of some sort) and there's no denying that Eddie Brock would be an awesome addition to the Sinister Six/Dark Avengers. This is probably unlikely in the grand scheme of things, but stranger things have happened.