Mysterio's Best MCU Trick Was Copying Thor (Not Iron Man)

Mysterio was the threat to defeat in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and concept art reveals he was very close to copying Iron Man, but he did best by copying another Avenger: Thor. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought various characters from Marvel Comics to the big screen for over ten years, and one that fans waited years to see as part of this universe was Spider-Man. This was finally possible after Sony and Marvel reached a deal, allowing the web-slinger to be part of the MCU and Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters as well.

After making his debut in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man got his first solo movie in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and returned for more adventures in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. His second solo movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, was his first adventure post-Thanos snap and post-Iron Man’s death, and saw the young hero finding a new mentor in Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who ended up being the actual villain of the story. Beck had connections to Tony Stark, and he almost recreated his most famous work, but the designers (luckily) went in a different direction.

Mysterio presented himself as a hero from another part of the multiverse who had arrived in this version of Earth to save it from the Elementals, but it all turned out to be a very elaborate lie. Beck was actually a regular human being from the main timeline, but he was a genius. He worked for Stark Industries and helped develop the hologram technology Tony was showing in Civil War, but he was fired sometime after that. Beck then teamed up with other former Stark Industries employees and created the “superhero” Mysterio with the help of their Combat Drones and the aforementioned hologram technology. Now, Mysterio was very close to being even more similar to Iron Man, wearing armor similar to Stark’s, but he ended up being more inspired by Thor and Doctor Strange.

Mysterio uses his powers of illusion in Spider-Man: Far From Home

In the book The Moviemaking Magic of Marvel Studios: Spider-Man, head of visual development Ryan Meinerding explains a bit of the making of Mysterio with a couple of concept art pieces that ultimately didn’t make the final cut. Meinerding explains that Beck was creating a persona for himself and getting inspiration from established heroes, hence his similarities to other MCU characters. An option for Mysterio and his suit was a “big, mechanical-suit version that looks like an Iron Man suit that has the fishbowl”, but ultimately, they decided that mixing the technology side of the character with the “mystical, magical stuff” like Thor and Doctor Strange worked better for the character. These actually improved Mysterio a lot, as it gave him an otherworldly vibe that was necessary as Mysterio supposedly came from another dimension, and separating him from Iron Man helped keep the twist of his actual connection to Stark Industries a secret – and after everything he did, carrying armor like that of Iron Man (which actually looked more like the Hulkbuster) wouldn’t have been that functional nor would it have allowed Beck to sell his story about coming from a different world.

It’s interesting to see how the ideas for a character can change as more elements are added, and Mysterio benefited more from magical, god-like characters as are Doctor Strange and Thor than the genius who led him to a villainous path, to begin with. Mysterio wearing armor like Iron Man’s would have changed his role in Spider-Man: Far From Home completely and he wouldn’t have had the same impact, but it can be fun to imagine how Peter’s reaction would have been to see a new “hero” very similar to his recently deceased mentor.

Next: Why Mysterio Will Be So Important In No Way Home (Despite His Death)