Spider-Man: Far From Home had a few problems but was still top flight Spidey action. I particularly enjoyed its take on Mysterio, who was considered one of the more laughable members of the Spider-Man Rogues Gallery. But Far From Home‘s spin on him as a contemporary special effects expert wearing a motion capture suit was genius.
I particularly appreciated that Jake Gyllenhaal was clearly wearing the exact mocap suit we’ve seen the actors wearing in many behind-the-scenes pics from across the MCU. And now, we’ve got a look at some unused designs for Mysterio, which show how the design we saw evolved over time.
Most interesting is the way Mysterio’s fishbowl helmet changed. While the end product featured a pretty comic-accurate globe (as seen in Steve Ditko’s original design), these concepts reveal a few other ideas, like having it inset more deeply into the collar, a kind of glass helmet contoured to the human head and an alternate classic fishbowl. They’re all interesting takes on the character, though I’m glad they went with the one we saw in the movie.
With Mysterio trying to set himself up as the successor to Earth’s Avengers, it’s neat how he subtly incorporated elements that recalled the classic team. His outfit is a conscious mash-up of Thor’s cape, Iron Man’s armor and Captain America’s suit, which appeals to both the characters in the universe and the real-world audience.
Though the finale of Spider-Man: Far From Home certainly hints that this might be the end of Mysterio, it seems it’d be all too easy to bring back a character who prides himself on being able to deceive others (and even if he is actually dead, it seems ridiculously easy for his ‘team’ to engineer his return via hologram tech). Whatever the case, he’s one of the last big Spidey villains to be immortalized on screen and they certainly did him justice.
