New Spider-Man: No Way Home concept art shows Mysterio fighting Doctor Strange. Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Spider-Man: Far From Home, where the technological illusionist became the main villain. Although he seemingly died in the end, Mysterio played a massive role in Spider-Man: No Way Home's story after he revealed Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits reveal became the foundation for the threequel's multiverse plot.

In the end, Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Tom Holland's Spider-Man fight villains from across the multiverse who also knew Peter Parker was a superhero. This brought Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They fought Holland's superhero in Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending, although the web-slinger was aided by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men, as well as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). However, it appears Mysterio was almost in the Statue of Liberty fight too.

Related: How Mysterio's Spider-Man Illusions Secretly Spoiled No Way Home's Story

Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home has been out in theaters for more than a month, alternate ideas for the movie have continued to surface online. Concept artist Andrew Reeder shared a few different pieces he did for Sony's MCU movie, which included an idea for Mysterio to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The concept art shows Mysterio fighting Doctor Strange in a battle of illusions and sorcery around the rebuilt Statue of Liberty. Check it out below:

As is the case with most unused movie concept art, it is unclear how seriously Spider-Man: No Way Home considered using Mysterio or why the movie left him out. There's a chance the artist had some creative freedom to imagine any previous Spider-Man villain. However, this is also the first potential sign that Jake Gyllenhaal's MCU villain was nearly in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That's an intriguing notion, as it could've confirmed Mysterio didn't die at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. That would require the Mysterio pictured above to be from the main MCU timeline. However, it is also possible this Mysterio would've been from the multiverse, for real this time.

Depending on how Mysterio's Spider-Man: No Way Home appearance would've been explained, it would dramatically change this fight. The MCU's regular Mysterio is no match for Doctor Strange in a fight because his powers aren't real. Strange would easily win a fight against the MCU's Mysterio and his illusions. The more compelling fight would be between a multiverse version of Mysterio who actually had magical powers, as he would be a good match for Doctor Strange. Unfortunately, Spider-Man: No Way Home didn't show Mysterio and Doctor Strange fight, so there is no telling if this battle will ever happen in live-action.

More: Mysterio Can Still Hurt Spider-Man Even After No Way Home

Source: Andrew Reeder [via The Direct]

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