Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Reveals That Mysterio Is Peter and Nick Fury’s Ally

The Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer gave us a brief introduction to Jake Gyllenhaal’s version of Mysterio, who appears in a big action sequence to aid Spider-Man in battling the “Elementals,” aka big monsters each patterned after one of the core elemental forces (fire, water, earth, air). Now, thanks to a new interview, we know more about how Mysterio and Spider-Man first cross paths in the film.

It may come as a surprise to longtime Marvel Comics fans, but apparently in Far From Home, Msyterio isn’t so much of a foe, as he is a friend!

EW sat down with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home director Jon Watts, and during that discussion we got the following reveal:

“Fury also connects Peter with a new ally: Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, a powerful magician played by Jake Gyllenhaal. “If Tony Stark was sort of the mentor in the previous films, we thought it would be interesting to play Mysterio as almost like the cool uncle,” Watts says.”

It will be interesting to learn more about how Quentin Beck / Mysterio’s MCU backstory connects to Nick Fury and/or SHIELD. It will also be interesting to learn how, exactly, this version of Mysterio qualifies as a “magician,” in the modern context of the MCU, where actual sorcerers are active.

Of course, Marvel Comics readers know that all these things said in the interview above are likely smoke and mirrors meant to help conceal Far From Home‘s big (but obvious) twist: that Quentin Beck isn’t at all what he initially seems to be. Mysterio’s entire M.O. is using technology to create convincing illusions, all designed to psychologically manipulate or torture his foes. He’s proficient in special effects, hypnotism, chemisty and robotics – as well as physical prowess learned as a stuntman.

It’s not hard to imagine that background being flipped for the MCU to make Beck a SHIELD agent or asset who specializes in Mission: Impossible-style assignments requiring coercion or interrogation. It’s equally easy to imagine that, at some point, Beck’s loyalties got flipped, and now his masterful techniques for mind-screwing are being used against Fury and SHIELD, instead of working for them. As stated, it’s an obvious twist for longtime Marvel Coicsfans to see coming, but could still be a great journey to take, nonetheless.

If nothing else, it suggests that Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio arc will be much more dynamic than it originally seemed.

Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel are now in theaters. Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters on July 5th.

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