Mysterio made his big screen debut in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but he could have done so years before in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, had things gone differently – and he would have been nothing like what the Marvel Cinematic Universe did. Back in 2002, Spider-Man made the jump to the big screen in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, which introduced Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborne/Green Goblin.
Spider-Man is credited for redefining the modern superhero genre and the summer blockbuster, and made way for two sequels. Spider-Man 2 had Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus as the villain, and is considered one of the best superhero movies of all time – sadly, Spider-Man 3 didn’t live up to that, and its overloaded storylines, subplots, and too many villains made it the most criticized movie of the trilogy. Spider-Man 3’s failure put an end to all plans for future sequels, even though Raimi already had an idea of what he wanted to tell and the characters he wanted to bring in Spider-Man 4.
Over the years, details on what Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 would have looked like have emerged, and some of the characters Maguire’s Spider-Man would have encountered are Vulture, Black Cat, and Mysterio. Vulture went on to become the villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming, with Mysterio arriving in the sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, Raimi’s Mysterio would have been very different to the MCU’s version, and wouldn’t have had a major role in the plot, as he only appeared in an opening sequence where Spider-Man deals with several C- and D-list villains. However, Mysterio would have been played by Bruce Campbell, who cameoed in all Spider-Man movies under Raimi’s lead, which would have definitely been fun to watch.
Of course, this would have been a very different Mysterio than the one played by Jake Gyllenhaal in Spider-Man: Far From Home. The MCU’s version of the character presented himself as a hero from another universe who arrived to save this Earth from the Elementals, but it all turned out to be a lie, and he was actually a former Stark Industries employee who helped develop the holographic technology seen in Captain America: Civil War, but was fired. Along with other angered ex-Stark Industries employees, they created the Elementals and Mysterio’s “hero” persona through drones and the aforementioned holographic technology. Mysterio’s final move was framing Spider-Man for all the attacks as well as his death, and the cherry on top was him revealing Spider-Man’s real identity.
Given that Mysterio would have had a very small role in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, there’s not much information to compare the two versions, but judging by the concept art that has been revealed, Mysterio wouldn’t have been in his best moment in Spider-Man 4, which is why he would have been considered a D-list villain. While it would have been interesting to see Raimi’s take on the character, Mysterio’s big screen debut was one to remember, and will have big consequences in Spider-Man’s future adventures in the MCU.