**MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME**
Mysterio aka Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) finally makes his cinematic debut and entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Spider-Man: Far From Home – Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) second outing in the growing cinematic universe and the official epilogue to Phase 3. In the sequel, Mysterio’s unique powers are brought to bear and given a much-needed updated origin. This time around, the Master of Illusions uses modern-day technology to cast his signature illusions and mind games.
However, in the comics, the specifics of Mysterio’s abilities and even his weaknesses are different. The movie changes a few details, but the character remains relatively intact. Here are 5 superpowers that Mysterio keeps hidden and 5 of his strangest weaknesses.
Hidden Power: Master of Disguise
Before acquiring digital illusions in his first cinematic appearance, Mysterio used practical effects to fool his victims and opponents. One such method was the use of his illusion-creating gas, which alongside Beck’s acting experience allowed the failed actor to gain the trust of many unsuspecting people.
He even impersonated Spider-Man in the villain's debut comic, using an artificial recreation of Spider-Man's webs to make himself more convincing. Mysterio continues this tradition in Far From Home when he pretends to be different people – including Nick Fury – with the use of the BARF technology that Beck invented.
Hidden Weakness: He Was An Android
One of Mysterio’s biggest illusions to date was fooling the heroes of the Ultimate Marvel Universe into thinking that he was real. In reality, the Mysterio that the Spider-Man and Avengers of that timeline fought was an android masquerading as Beck.
While the android itself was convincing and threatening, it was still a robot that was only imitating its creator. Because of this, the android wasn’t able to keep up the ruse for too long before finally losing in battle. Still, it held its own and gave the heroes a hard time.
Hidden Power: Pharmacology
If Mysterio uses Augmented Reality (AR) technology to cast his illusions in Far From Home, he frequently used gasses and chemistry to confuse his opponents in the comics.
Not only is Beck a special effects wizard but he’s also an expert pharmacologist who concocts gasses for a variety of applications. In the past, he’s made hallucinogens to drive his enemies insane, a substance that could dissolve Spider-Man’s webs before they even reached him, and a special airborne agent that inhibited the web-slinger's crucial Spider Senses for more than 30 minutes.
Hidden Weakness: The Famous Dome
While the technology constantly changes with the passage of time, Mysterio’s helmet has almost always been the source of his powers and his protection from his gasses. This is why his iconic fishbowl headpiece made for an incredibly obvious and vulnerable weak spot.
Many of Spider-Man’s fights with the Master of Illusions end with Beck getting punched in the face, usually breaking his dome in the process. Far From Home follows a similar logic, wherein Mysterio’s helmet served as the control panel for the EDITH system, though Spider-Man (sadly) doesn’t punch through the dome to get to Beck’s face.
Hidden Power: A Supernatural Phase
Mysterio’s powers traditionally come from a grounded place, but there was one time when his illusions were extraordinary in nature. Following his death (more on that later), Beck is resurrected by demonic forces and blessed with the otherworldly ability to conjure illusions.
Since then, Beck has been coy as to whether or not his powers are psychic or not. It should be noted that even with this upgrade, Beck was still Beck. His incompetence annoyed the demons so much that he was eventually stripped of his powers before being demoted back to a regular human with a fishbowl helmet.
Hidden Weakness: A Massive Ego
Beck is a special effects wizard who failed as an actor, as his genius wasn’t recognized by those around him. This only increased Beck’s cynicism, and he used his alter-ego as Mysterio to lash out and fulfill his ambitions.
The fact that Beck isn’t even respected as a super-villain further embitters him, which is why he overcompensates and gloats every chance he gets. Time and again, Spider-Man uses Mysterio’s habit of overdramatic speechmaking and theatricality as an opening to land a decisive hit. In fact, the Master of Illusions has become predictable.
Hidden Power: Mutant Powers
The third Mysterio, Francis Klum, bought Mysterio’s discarded armor and used it to commit a string of petty crimes and robberies. What makes Klum different from the previous incarnations is that he is a mutant with telekinetic, telepathic, and teleporting abilities.
Combined with Mysterio’s built-in illusion technology, Klum became a powerful Master of Illusion before Spider-Man and the previous Mysterios – Quentin Beck and Daniel Berkhart – stop him. He manages to escape jail time by teleporting at the last second, but not before he gets stabbed during the melee. He hasn’t been seen since.
Hidden Weakness: He’s Just A Guy
For all his grandiosity and mastery of deception, Mysterio is literally just a guy. Even with his state-of-the-art special effects, gasses, and trademark illusions, Beck is still a conman with a catchy gimmick.
This isn’t much of a surprise since many of Spider-Man’s villains are regular criminals with some enhancements, but Beck is notably the weakest of the lot. Simply getting past Mysterio’s mind games and knocking him out is more than enough to put an end to his charade. At one point, Mysterio’s criminal career even stopped because Beck relocated to Las Vegas for his retirement.
Hidden Power: Multiverse Travelling
Far From Home hinted that the multiverse exists, and Mysterio is (apparently) a hero on his Earth. While this was later proven to be another one of Beck’s lies thus temporarily shelving the idea of a multiverse in the MCU, Mysterio is one of the few characters to successfully breach the multiverse in the comics.
After losing one too many times to Spider-Man, Mysterio relocates to a parallel Earth where his nemesis is dead. He tries to retake his Earth of origin using an android impersonating him but, as mentioned earlier, his robotic doppelganger doesn’t succeed.
Hidden Weakness: Terminal Cancer
As if to emphasize that Mysterio is truly a regular human, filmmaker and comic writer Kevin Smith gave him cancer when he wrote Beck’s crossover with Daredevil. After years of breathing in hallucinogenic gasses and absorbing the radioactive energy emitted by the technology in his helmet, Mysterio contracts a brain tumor and lung cancer.
This motivates Mysterio to go out in a blaze of glory by driving Daredevil insane, which he fails to do. Beck then pulls off one last plan, namely shooting himself in the head – an idea he “stole” from Kraven the Hunter.