Forget about Jake Gyllenhaal as Batman, the prospect of that happening is long dead. And if it wasn’t, this news surely puts the nail in the coffin. Deadline reports Gyllenhaal is in talks to join Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, not as a hero, but as Sinister Six villain Mysterio.
Gyllenhaal would be joining Tom Holland in the sequel, once again to be directed by Jon Watts. Not much else is known about the film but its position as the launch of Marvel Phase 4 means it should be crucial to the MCU.
Mysterio is one of the most recognizable characters in Spidey’s rogues gallery. He’s pretty hard to forget since he wears a giant fishbowl (or a bio dome) on his head. Real name Quinten Beck, he’s a mastery of illusion, special effects, and hypnotism who has used deception to create havoc in Peter Parker’s life since he was first appeared in 1964.
Some consider Mysterio a joke, and to some extent its true. But to be fair virtually all of Spidey’s villains have been considered a joke at some point. Mysterio is actually quite effective and deadly under the right circumstances, and he has ties to the criminal underworld. I can see Gyllenhaal finding the dark crevasses in Mysterio’s personality and really running with them. Maybe something creepy along the lines of his performance in Enemy?
Hopefully this becomes a reality soon. Gyllenhaal has a ton on his plate already with Cary Fukunaga’s Leonard Bernstein biopic The American, and video game adaptation The Divsion alongside Jessica Chastain.
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 opens July 5th 2019.
