Quentin Beck was a former employee at Stark Industries who became embittered when Tony Stark stole credit for his holographic technology before firing him. Seeking his retribution, Beck joined forces with other bitter ex-Stark employees to act as a new superhero named Mysterio. Knowing that he needed to create world threatening events to "save" the world from, Beck used weaponized drones and his holographic technology to create an illusion of having superpowers to fight his Elemental illusions. Mysterio had then gained the trust of Nick Fury in order to get closer to Spider-Man, as he knew that Stark had gifted Spider-Man with access to the Stark technology he needed. However, when Spider-Man discovered Mysterio's deception, he defeated Beck in London, with Beck's overconfidence resulting in his own death. However, in the moments before his demise, Beck managed to record a falsified confession that incriminated Spider-Man for the Elemental attacks and exposed the webslinger's true identity to the world.
Having proved himself as both a skilled designer and inventor, Quentin Beck was employed by Stark Industries and began working as an engineer for Tony Stark.[2] In 2012,[5] Beck specialized in developing holographic technology and created a holographic emitter capable of producing realistic illusions, which Stark named "Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing", or B.A.R.F. for short.[2] Beck then filed a patent his holographic invention, although it did not go through.[1] Stark then filed a patent for B.A.R.F. himself, although he took out Beck's name and listed himself as the inventor. The patent then went through, legally listing Stark as the creator for the technology,[6] which caused Beck to develop hatred towards Stark.[2]
Humiliated by Tony Stark[]
"He renamed my life's work B.A.R.F.. I told him it was a mistake, that my technology could change the world... and then he fired me, said I was... unstable."
Although Beck had full confidence that his holographic technology would change the world, Tony Stark took the designs and opted to use the system for therapeutic pursuits, by giving people a second chance at dealing with traumatic situations. With the technology modified to access a patient's hippocampus, Stark then announced it publicly as Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or B.A.R.F., much to Beck's displeasure.[2]
In 2016, Stark had held his lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he used the B.A.R.F. technology to revisit his last moments with hisparents before their untimely deaths.[7] During the presentation, Beck watched from behind, furious at Stark for giving his work a laughable name and for stealing his invention. Stark then fired Beck from Stark Industries, claiming he was emotionally unstable.[2]
Becoming Mysterio[]
"There is a window of opportunity and someone will step up. But these days, you can be the smartest guy in the room, the most qualified, and no one cares. Unless you're flying around with a cape or shooting lasers from your hands, no one will even listen. Well, I've got a cape. And lasers."
Beck formulated a plan to launch illusionattacks disguised as natural disasters across the world and used projections to disguise the attacks as the Elementals. He had rallied disgraced members of Stark Industries, including Victoria and William Ginter Riva, who had similar grievances towards Stark. Using his uncanny skills in trickery and illusion, Beck and Gutes Guterman created a falsified narrative that he was a tragic warrior from an alternate dimension in the Multiverse, stating the Elementals killed his family, allies, and left him as the sole survivor before being brought to Earth due to a dimensional tear caused by the Snap.
Furthermore, Beck and Janice developed a decorative and well made armor; which made it appear as if it enabled him to control his abilities, as well as his holograms including a holographic version of himself in full armor, making his superpowers seem real. Seeking access to the Stark Industries network, Mysterio and his crew learned that Peter Parker was bequeathed access in the form of a pair of sunglasses in place of Stark's death.[2]
In 2024, with his transformation into Mysterio, Beck used the Elementals to attack Ixtenco, Mexico, gaining the attention of 'Nick Fury' and 'Maria Hill'. Once they arrived at the scene of the attack, Mysterio flew down to meet Fury and Hill, asking them who were they before the Elemental had appeared on the ground.
Once Beck's crew projected Sandman to attack Fury and Hill, Mysterio told the group that they shouldn't be apart of this, as they started firing at it with their handguns. Mysterio used his energy blast to fight off Sandman and seemingly destroyed the Elemental. Mysterio then introduced himself to Fury and Hill and shared his false story with them, manipulating them into believing it. Sometime after this, he sent the Air Elemental Cyclone to attack Morocco and "defeated" it in battle as well.[2]
Upon arriving in Venice and spying on Parker, Beck prepared for the attack that was about to ensue in the Grand Canal. Once Hydro-Man had started to bring havoc in Venice, Mysterio arrived at the scene, flying down from the sky and channeled his energy shields to fight Hydro-Man, who had arose from the canal water. As Hydro-Man began attacking Mysterio, he avoided its blow and used his energy blasts that appeared to have damaged the creature. Flying around the Elemental's surrounding, Mysterio used his energy shield to block its punch.
As Mysterio struggled his attempt to block Hydro-Man's blow, he was then attacked again by its punch, causing him to fly across the shore and crashing on a boat. As Hydro-Man withdrew its power from water, Mysterio arose from battle and began confronting it and dodging its attacks. While harming Hydro-Man, Parker garnered Mysterio's attention and asked him that he could help him battle. Mysterio told Parker to lure Hydro-Man away from the Canal, flying away from the Elemental's reach and cross the city.
As Mysterio lured the Hydro-Man out of the Canal and into the town square, many onlookers were recording with their devices. Reaching an open area in town, the chase ended in full view of onlookers, including students of Midtown. Mysterio continued to attack Hydro-Man with his energy blast once it was out of the water. Mysterio further attacked it with his powers but sustained a couple of blows from the Water Elemental's reach.
After suffering from an attack by Hydro-Man, Mysterio dramatically used a spell against it by sending a tiny portal from his energy shield and grappled its neck before escaping his grasp. Using another spell, Mysterio used his energy portals behind Hydro-Man and grappled both of its arms, tearing the Elemental's whole body. After subsequently killing the water Elemental, Mysterio then landed on the ground for a moment to let the crowd take a good look at him, and saluted the crowd for their praise.
Mysterio is praised by the many onlookers
After Parker's classmates were in awe of Mysterio's battle and applaud him for his bravery, he then flew off into the sky. While the mysterious hero was gone, the media then named him Mysterio, due to them misunderstanding an Italian News report on the attack. Afterward, Mysterio settled inside the headquarters of Nick Fury's crew in Venice.[2]
"They first materialized on my Earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them. All we did was delay the inevitable." "The Elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it."
Right after the battle in Venice, Nick Fury arrived in Peter Parker's hotel and took him to a hidden base where Mysterio was working alongside them. Once Fury introduced Parker to Beck, he was shocked to see Beck and called him Mysterio from the media. Confused by his sudden alias, Beck was told that Mysterio was something that his friends call him, leading to him to tell Parker to just call him Quentin.
After shaking hands with Parker, Beck told him that he did a good job out there in Venice while he was fighting the Water Elemental, telling him that he saw what he did with the tower that he tried to protect from falling and that he could use someone in his world. Once Fury told Parker that Beck was from Earth and not his own, he clarifies that the Earth that Parker lives on is dimension-616 and he was from dimension-833.
When Parker was ecstatic about the possibility of a Multiverse being true and was seen to being too happy about the idea, Beck smiled at the hero, telling him to never apologize for being the smartest person in the room. Once Maria Hill had now started to showcase a holographic projection of Beck's story without knowing that he's manipulating the group, he explained the origins of the four creatures that inhabitant Earth natural resources, calling them the Elementals, as Hill noted they're perceived as myths but Beck clarifies as them being real in his world.
Fabricating his story even further, Beck told the group that he and his battalion had fought them each but with every battle they fought, they grew stronger. Beck noted that he was the last of trying to stop them but was later too late, causing his Earth's destruction to rise. Hill tells the group that the Elementals are here on their Earth and are still attacking the same coordinates, Fury added on by saying that only one Elemental had survived after Beck killed the rest of them.
Beck speaks about his world's destruction
Now knowing that there is one left, Beck told Parker that the Fire Elemental was the strongest of them all and caused his Earth's destruction by the hands it, saying that he had lost his family to it as well. After Parker expressed his condolences to Beck, Hill told him that the Elemental will be in Prague and Fury concluded that they're going to kill it, recruiting Parker alongside them. Parker rejected Fury's mission out of the risk of his secret identity being figured out.
Once Fury understood Parker's situation, he let him go back to his hotel room with Dimitri Smerdyakov. Beck said his farewell to Parker before he left the facility in relief. Although Parker turned it down due to not wanting the world to know his identity, Fury hijacked the school trip, sending them to Prague so Parker could be there to help, something Beck referred to as kidnapping.[2]
"Move it away from civilians if you can, but most importantly, keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it'll be able to draw power from the Earth's core. After that, there's no way to stop it."
A day later, Beck met up with Peter Parker as well as 'Nick Fury' and 'Maria Hill,' waiting for the final Elemental attack. While Parker was distracted about his trip, Beck told Fury that he was not bored and was just thinking about how Fury kidnapped him.
After Fury told them that he removed obstacles from Parker away, they were noted by 'Maria Hill' that the citizens of Prague are not evacuating the city. Once Parker set up a plan for Fury that resulted into letting Beck and him attack the Fire Elemental, Beck clarified his hero name to now be Mysterio along with the plan. Beck noted to Parker that he is the only hope to pull off the mission successfully and to keep the Fire Elemental away from metal, otherwise there is no way to stop it.
Parker further told Beck that his friends are in danger before Fury yelled at him for using Tony Stark's Glasses to blow up his friend with a Drone Strike. After Parker was told that he wasn't ready for the battle, Beck met up with him on top of a building and sarcastically told him that Fury felt bad for yelling at him, wanting him to comfort Parker as well. Beck asked Parker how he was feeling, being told that he was planning to express his feeling toward a girl.
Sitting down with Parker, Beck told him that he wasn't a jerk for wanting a normal life and how it was a hard path to do the right things. Beck told Parker that even when you win a battle, sometimes your loved ones will die, expressing his likeness to him and wanting to let him get away from the battle. However, Beck further noted that the ones who are fighting knew what's at stake, leading Parker to express his worries about putting his friends in danger from the mission.
Beck told Parker to plan out the mission by letting them be inside a place away from the battle for a few hours to keep them safe. When Parker thanked Beck for the conversation about super-heroics, Beck appreciated his time with him and jokingly noted that once this was finished he'll have all summer to kill Brad Davis. Beck was told good luck from Parker before he left the rooftop to prepare for the mission and distract his friends from the upcoming battle.[2]
Once the Fire Elemental had arrived in the Prague festival, Mysterio arrived once Spider-Man assume his position. Mysterio then arrived to confront the Fire Elemental and told Spider-Man to attack it with a piece of debris.
Mysterio blasts the Fire Elemental with his energy beams, as Spider-Man cooled the monster with a fire hydrant to weaken its power. After Spider-Man avoided the Fire Elemental's attacks and noticed it getting bigger, Mysterio arrived to assist him with an energy field to protect themselves from the Fire Elemental's attacks. Mysterio offered another plan and was told that Spider-Man needed to attack it with something it can't absorb.
Mysterio told Spider-Man to dodge away from their opposite direction. After Spider-Man attack the Fire Elemental with a piece of concrete, Mysterio was told to shoot at the monster, harming the monster at the place it was attacked. As they kept harming the Fire Elemental, Mysterio was swooped away from its attack and told Spider-Man to keep his distance. As the Fire Elemental was on the urge of destroying the Ferris wheel that had Ned Leeds and Betty Brant on it, Mysterio blasted the monster away to keep it away from the ride.
During the battle, Mysterio failed to notice Spider-Man accidentally hit one of his Stark Industries Combat Drones, causing it to lose a projector, which was then stolen by Michelle Jones. While Spider-Man supported the weight of the ride with his webs, Mysterio let the Fire Elemental draw its power from a metal crate, growing it larger. Knowing there is no way to stop it, Mysterio seemingly attempted to sacrifice himself to stop the Fire Elemental by channeling his energy powers, expressing that he should have done it the last time.
Mysterio recovering from the aftermath
After channeling his energy through his body, Mysterio flew into the Fire Elemental and destroyed it by denoting himself from the inside. After the battle, Spider-Man checked on Mysterio, while Fury and Hill arrived to check upon them. Mysterio woke up from his fight and got up from the ground with the help of Spider-Man. Mysterio noted to Nick Fury's Crew that the Fire Elemental was the last of them, leading Fury requesting Mysterio come to a meeting in Berlin.
Mysterio took upon the request of Fury's offering so that he could stay on Earth and help him fight future threats. Wanting to keep up his deception, Mysterio agreed to stay with Fury, while he talked to Spider-Man about stepping up to the task of doing better for Tony Stark's sake and how he and the world needs an Avenger face powerful threats. Knowing Spider-Man was upset, Mysterio offered him to get some drinks, which the teen eventually agreed to.[2]
Following the defeat of the Fire Elemental, Beck and Peter Parker got drinks at a bar, which was secretly also an illusion. While looking at Parker as he was drinking a glass of lemonade, Beck patted him on the back and told that he did good in his mission and should celebrate for it.
Beck listened to Parker about how 'Nick Fury' was right about Tony Stark wanting him to be better than him and owed it to everyone else. Beck questioned Parker if he wanted to be better than Stark, in which he answered that Stark gave him a chance and Fury wanted him to live up with that. Beck further questioned Parker into asking him what he wanted right at this second of talking in a bar. Beck was told that Parker wanted to go back to his trip with his friends.
As Parker went along confessing his love for a particular girl, he told Beck about his plan to tell her his feelings atop the Eiffel Tower and give her a kiss, much to Beck's teasing with him. Beck told Parker he'll won't do it and questioned him why he won't do the things he really wants to do, being told that he has too much responsibility before someone notice the E.D.I.T.H.glasses on the ground and gave to Parker.
Once Beck was shocked to see the glasses were on the ground, he told Parker to try them out so he sees how they look like. After Parker wore his glasses and told Beck that he liked them, he told Parker that they looked really stupid on them and that maybe he should have a contact lenses version of them. Parker gave Beck the glasses to see if they looked good on him, much to him acting like he doesn't want to. Beck puts on the glasses and asked Parker what he thinks.
While Parker said Stark's message about the next version of him, Beck was confused and jokingly asked how many lemonades he had. Parker told Beck that Stark knew every mistake he made and only trusted him to choose which person to be the next Tony Stark. Listening to Parker about picking someone with experience, Beck refused his offer of the glasses but Parker put them on again and told E.D.I.T.H. to transfer control to him.
Despite Beck's reluctance, Parker confirmed the transfer and gave the glasses over to Beck, welcoming him to the Avengers. Beck accepted the ownership of E.D.I.T.H. and put them on, being complimented by Parker afterward. Beck shook hands with Parker and thanked him for giving the glasses to him. Before Parker left the bar, Beck bid him farewell, and told him good luck on professing his feelings for his girl, much to him telling that he is pretty awkward.
Beck smirks at the success of his deception
After Beck had made sure that Peter left the bar and kept walking down the street, Beck disabled the illusion set up there, while members of his crew come out of their hiding places. Beck told his crew that getting E.D.I.T.H wasn't so hard causing the crew to cheer and shouted out that he needed someone to get his costume off of him. After getting the costume off of him, Beck told his crew member to connect E.D.I.T.H into their system and told the rest about how they have a lot of work to do.
Showing camaraderie, Beck gave out toasts to each of his teammates at the urging of his crew, grabbing champagne from Doug. Beck gave a toast for Stark before his crew booed him but Beck gave a speech about his tenure in Stark Industries, and being discredited by the egotistic Stark for his work. After sharing the story of his lay off, Beck proceeded to thank multiple members of his crew and celebrated their roles.
Beck credited William Ginter Riva for his weaponized drones getting extra damage, Gutes Guterman for providing his fake backstory, Victoria for her work messing with Fury's satellites to confirm the crew's lies, and Janice for providing who Stark will give up E.D.I.T.H to. Beck concluded that with their tech, Mysterio will the greatest hero on Earth and now everyone will listen to them. Beck happily gave a toast to them and Parker, feeling sorry for the kid afterward.[2]
"I am trying to fool seven billion people here, including Nick Fury, who happens to be the most paranoid and most dangerous person on the planet. And if he catches on before I've killed him, then he'll put a bullet in my head and nobody wants a bullet in their head. Right?"
Unbeknownst to Beck by that point, one of the projectors used in the Prague attack was taken by Michelle Jones. Before Beck's clean-up crew came to recover their tech, Peter Parker and Jones ended up activating Beck's projector, revealing his deception. Meanwhile, Beck and his crew began editing the footage and rehearsing for the next planned battle in London, England.
While watching how the next battle will play out, Beck told William Ginter Riva to pause the footage and fast forward to the end, watching its choreography before pausing at the moment of Mysterio's blasting at the Elemental Fusion. Beck told Riva to kill the image and decloak the Drones so that he can see it being weaponized while rehearsing the illusion. Beck told Riva to stop and thought about what should be doing, realizing to double the damage on the drones.
Running the footage again, Beck saw the climax of Mysterio blasting the Elemental Fusion away, killing it for good. Now having what he wants, Beck asked his crew if everything is on schedule, being told by Riva that E.D.I.T.H. had been uploaded to Beck's network where the drones will be able to cover up an entire city. Beck told Riva to ensure every drone is ready to do maximum damage: However, Gutes Guterman pointed out that it'll cause a lot of casualties.
Beck speaking of the fame he will receive
Knowing the fact that there will be a lot of casualties, Beck justifies by telling Guterman that more casualties will have more coverage, telling him that London is a beautiful city and it'll suffer but they could rebuild. Projecting an avatar onto himself, Beck tells his crew that he needs to fight an Avengers-level threat if he's going to be the next Iron Man, while all those casualties will be forgotten once he becomes the new hero to be worshipped.
While telling Janice to be in charge of his wardrobe change, Beck realized that the hologram for his suit was slightly incomplete, and asked Riva what was going on. Being told that a projector was missing in Prague, Beck quickly found out where the missing projector is from his wrist display. Since Riva told Beck that it was a minor flaw, he became paranoid that someone will find the projector, leading people to know what they're doing and how they're doing it.
Beck realizes he is at risk of being exposed
Knowing the plan has not gone as intended, Beck became furious at the prospect of getting caught and killed by Nick Fury, and aimed his armed drones at his crew, threatening Riva's life. Beck then used E.D.I.T.H. to locate the missing projector and discovered that both Parker and Jones had it in their possession, threatening to expose his plans. Beck then informed Riva that once he had to kill Parker, he will make sure that his blood is on Riva's hands.[2]
"You are just a scared little kid in a sweatsuit. I created Mysterio to give the world someone to believe in. I control the truth... Mysterio is the truth! If you were good enough, maybe Tony would still be alive."
With his plan on the edge of being exposed, Beck went to Berlin, while Spider-Man headed over there to meet with Nick Fury. When Spider-Man arrived in the Berlin, Beck projected Fury went over to his headquarters by setting up a building that is yet another illusion. After shooting Fury with one of his Stark Industries Combat Drones, Beck revealed himself, talking about how Spider-Man should've walked away and now he has to kill him. Beck trapped Parker in an elaborate series of illusions, such as him being in a high school hallway and tricked him into attacking Beck as well.
Once Beck projected a scream from Michelle Jones outside of the Eiffel Tower, Mysterio confronted Spider-Man and used his projection to drop her into the ground, tricking Spider-Man into falling into the ground. As Spider-Man was out for the open, Mysterio punched him away from the building, letting him land on the hood of a truck. Using more of his drones, Beck projected a dozen of mirrored Spider-Men to strip Parker into his homemade suit. Mysterio attacked Spider-Man with his energy blasts only to trick him into hurting himself.
After web pulling a statue and landed on top of him, Beck projected Tony Stark's tombstone which unleashed a zombified Iron Man crawling towards him and a spider whose eyes form a marching army of Mysterios. Now trapping Spider-Man inside his helmet as a snow globe version of New York City, Beck then cast a false illusion by making it suddenly cut out, and supposedly acted like he was shot in the back by Fury, who arrived with an escort of several armed Interpol agents.
After Parker told Fury about the other people who knew about Beck's real plan, Beck revealed himself to be Fury and told Parker that now all of his friends have to die. Beck cast another illusion to trap Parker again and told him that for what it was all worth, he was sorry for what he had to do. Before Parker could react, he was hit and swept away by a bullet train. Confident that Spider-Man was dead, Mysterio had E.D.I.T.H. alter Parker's school trip to London, killing off any loose ends that could expose his plans.[2]
Tricking Nick Fury[]
Beck is informed of the pulse being ready
"Alright, alright. I'll meet you there." "You be careful." "Never apologize for being the smartest one in the room."
Preparing for the next battle in London, Beck hired a group of actors as bystanders in order to record the fight from afar. Drinking his healthy green drink, Beck told the actors to remember to get as much footage as they could get, clarifying that anybody uploading their footage to social media will be dead. William Ginter Riva then noted to the actors where the Drone strikes are so they could be safe.
Victoria told Beck that the drones are prepared for take off, leading to him telling her to fire it up. Beck used his Bluetooth device to wait for Nick Fury's signal so that his crew could respond. Beck answered the call in character and was told that one of his energy pulses had surfaced in London. Acting very serious about the situation, Beck told Fury that he'll meet him there and as the call had ended, he told the actors to never apologize for being the smartest one in the room.[9]
Beck headed over to the Tower Bridge in London with the Mysterio persona intact for when he meets 'Nick Fury'. Beck communicated with Gutes Guterman, who was posing as a London bus driver, and instructed him to move the bus holding Peter Parker's classmates into a suitable 'kill zone' so the drones that made the Elemental Fusion could kill them.
Beck went to Fury and told him that looked over where in the bridge and found nothing until 'Maria Hill' found an energy spike in the middle of the bridge. Mysterio flew in to take another look, telling that this shouldn't be happening and that God helps them all. Once the call ended, Beck communicated with William Ginter Riva and notified him no Avengers had been surfaced. Beck then ordered Riva to send out the Drones from the Stark Satellite.
Beck contacted Janice to get the wrinkles out of his costume's cape, hoping to look good for the Queen. Beck then contacted Guterman for his position and moved on to Victoria to make sure the pulse has been increased. Beck made sure of any loose ends were in place through E.D.I.T.H. and once his targets are in place, he ordered to show off the Fusion. Once the Elemental had been showcased, Beck que to finally attack the bridge.
Beck then staged the fight between the hologram of Mysterio and the Elemental Fusion, yelling for his family as he attack it with his energy blasts. Once Fury asked for a report on the battle, Beck asked Guterman for a response, coming up with how the Elemental had merged by drawing power from the Earth's core. Beck noticed the drones breaking formation and decided to take manual control over one of them, only to come across that Spider-Man had turned out to be alive.
Realizing that Spider-Man is trying to stop his plans by going inside the Fusion's illusions and destroying drones inside, Beck took notice to this and threatened to kill him. Once the illusion had fallen apart, Beck noticed Spider-Man was about to attack him and ordered E.D.I.T.H. a drone strike on him. Beck told Riva to kill the illusion, despite of ruining the plan he continued on. Beck then noticed the Stark Jet and destroyed it, leading him to find and kill Parker's friends.
Now having Parker's friends trapped inside the Tower of London, Beck ordered E.D.I.T.H. to send all of the active drones to kill Spider-Man, while planning to kill the rest of the classmates and Happy Hogan. As Beck used once of the drones to follow the group inside the Crown Jewels Vault, he carefully looked for them until Betty Brant and Michelle Jones distracted the drone by pushing down a suit of ornate armor, making the drone fire at it, giving them time to hide in the vault.
While Hogan and Parker's friends hide inside the vault, Beck used the drone to laser through it in order to open it up. While Spider-Man avoided the drones attacks, Beck found him above the bridge and ordered the drones to attack him. As Spider-Man used his powers and abilities to fight off the army of drones until some hit him with a car and knocked him into the water around the London Bridge, Beck assumed that he was finally dead.[2]
Once Beck asked William Ginter Riva on how he's doing, he was noted that the Elemental Fusion is back up, despite some heavy material to work with. Now that Spider-Man survived his fall and coming towards him, Beck was then ambushed by him in the Tower Bridge viewing area and punched by the web-slinger, breaking his control over Drones that were about to kill Happy Hogan and Parker's friends.
While Beck was suspended in mid-air, Parker told him that his lies are over but he responded that the situation wasn't ideal but always had contingencies before a Combat Drone knocked them apart through control over E.D.I.T.H. Now furious and motivated to murder Spider-Man, Beck arrogantly challenged him to fight for Tony Stark's Glasses, sending the last swarm of combat drones after him while projecting a pitch-black, silent hallway to hide them.
Spider-Man used his enhanced senses to detect the invisible drones, which were being easily destroyed. Beck then noticed the drones nearest to him were not firing. Even after learning from E.D.I.T.H. that he was in the crossfire of the drones, Beck angrily yelled at it to order the attack. Spider-Man dismantled the drones, and inadvertently sent the last active drone spiraling towards Beck, which shot him in the abdomen, knocking him to the floor.
Lying down from the misfired gunshot, Beck told Parker that tricking him was the most disappointing part of his whole campaign. Beck then held out the glasses for Parker to take, saying that Tony Stark was right all along, and that he was worthy of them. Unknown to Spider-Man, the Beck he was talking to was another illusion. The mortally wounded Beck attempted to kill Spider-Man with a pistol, but Spider-Man quickly disarmed him and reclaimed the glasses.
Mysterio succumbing to his gunshot wound
Beck collapsed to the ground, as Parker told E.D.I.T.H. to turn off the drones, letting them go back to the Satellite. Beck told to Parker ominously that "people need to believe and nowadays they'll believe anything", before succumbing to his wounds. Spider-Man asked E.D.I.T.H. if there were no active holograms in use within their vicinity, to ensure whether or not Beck was tricking him; E.D.I.T.H. confirmed there were none, ensuring Spider-Man that Mysterio had truly died.[2]
Legacy[]
Remembrance[]
"There you have it, folks; conclusive proof that Spider-Man was responsible for the brutal murder of Mysterio! An interdimensional warrior who gave his life to protect our planet, and who will no doubt go down in history as the greatest superhero of all time!"
In spite of his heinous actions, Mysterio's crimes went unrevealed and he was praised as a hero who saved London from destruction. Before Mysterio's death was confirmed, Queen Elizabeth II requested his presence as well as Spider-Man's at Buckingham Palace for tea in gratitude for their "service" during the Battle of London, but as Mysterio had mysteriously "disappeared" after the Elemental attack on London, her invitation was for naught.[4]
"When Mysterio revealed my identity, my entire life got screwed up, and I was wondering, I mean, I don't really know if this would actually work, but I was wondering, maybe you could go back in time so that he never did."
Despite his great defeat, Mysterio took advantage of being subdued by Spider-Man prior to his death in order to release heavily altered filmed footage of the Battle of London. Beck's crew used the footage to implicate Spider-Man as the ringleader of the Elemental attacks. Upon Parker's return to New York City, the footage was sent to The Daily Bugle, who worked hard to decrypt it, releasing bits of the footage at a time. Eventually the entire footage was released and sent to NY1, where Pat Kiernan reported on it.[4][2]
Mysterio's apparent murder at Spider-Man's hands led to most of the public to turn on the wall-crawler, believing Mysterio to have been a true hero and championing him for his alleged heroics, even after Matt Murdock cleared Parker from all the charges. This controversy upended Parker's private life, with him and his friends getting rejected from every college they apply to because of it. The situation only worsened when he attempted to have Doctor Strange cast a memory-wiping spell and get his friends into MIT, which the former botched and ended up rupturing the Multiverse instead. Individuals from alternate universes were transported into this reality as a result, one of them being Green Goblin, who would murder Parker's aunt May in cold blood.
Mysterio would ultimately gain the last laugh when Parker was forced to sacrifice his identity―including his relationships with his friends and other allies―to fix the multiversal crisis; however, his damage to Parker's life and reputation were ultimately erased from memory. Parker would also abandon his use of Stark technology, instead stitching and using a simpler suit once he became an unknown in New York.[10]
Personality[]
"You are so gullible. I mean, you're as smart as a whip, just a... sucker. Now all your friends have to die."
As an employee at Stark Industries, Quentin Beck prided himself on working on various technologies with Tony Stark. Beck designed and invented the B.A.R.F. prototype, but Stark fired him for his unstable nature. An embittered Beck took advantage of news of his employer's death in the Battle of Earth, seeking to masquerade as a superhero with advanced projector drones, and an advanced suit of armor with a helmet to shield his identity. Beck used the Elementals to cause massive destruction across Europe, only to "defeat" them himself to fool the world into idolizing him.
This plan would succeed for some time, with people such as Flash Thompson giving him praise and Brad Davis calling him "Iron Man and Thor rolled into one," implying how powerful he truly is without knowing that his true nature would require the attention of Spider-Man, "Nick Fury" and "Maria Hill." An incredible liar, Beck convinced the trio into joining forces with him with a story about the Elementals and his life as a superhero from an alternate dimension after his entire family perished, all to further his plan.
While portraying himself as a superhero, Beck managed a selfless and kind front, appearing to risk his life to protect innocents and allies. Beck would also become somewhat of a father figure to Peter Parker, showing sympathy for his desires for a normal life and advising Parker to think about what he wants, rather than following other people's expectations. This led Parker to see Beck as a role model and trust him enough to give him control of E.D.I.T.H..
However, beneath Beck's superhero guise lies an egotistical, vain, fame hungry and manipulative narcissist who would stop at nothing to get what he wants. While Beck may show some camaraderie to his crew that helped him become Mysterio, Beck is a dangerous perfectionist who would not hesitate to murder them for the smallest missteps. Beck also cares less about civilian casualties caused by his performances than the attention he would receive for them, expressing giddy excitement at staging an "Avengers-level threat," nonchalantly watching Parker get hit by a bullet train, and plotting to kill highschoolstudents who knew of his chicanery.
Beck accentuated his disregard for people in the illusions he conjured during his first fight with Peter; one such illusion featured him choking MJ and throwing her from the Eiffel Tower, manipulating Parker's feelings for her and fears for her safety. Beck created a dark, terrifying, and foggy theme of illusions that terrified Parker, locking him inside an illusion of a snow bowl of New York with Avengers Tower and causing an illusion of Mysterio's giant arm to fall on him.
Beck grew much more desperate and blood-lusted in his second confrontation with Parker, unleashed all of his destructiveness to ensure his plan's success; but his lack of emotional stability brought him down, as he turned against E.D.I.T.H.'s advice, only to be riddled with his own drones' gunfire. Yet Beck was partially successful in his malice, as he leveraged his still-heroic image to expose Spider-Man's true identity and frame him for a mass murder that never happened making him go down as a great hero.
Even though Beck possessed no powers, he used his technical knowledge to holographically display his Mysterio persona as having a plethora of powers, most prominently the powers of flight and emit energy blasts from his hands. Beck had access to a wide range of advanced realistic holographic projectors controlled by William Ginter Riva's drones, which he had then used to make illusions of the Elemental attacks, and him stopping them. With the drones, he could cause real damage, and real casualties, which made the public believe that the illusions were real. Beck's Holograms extended to showing an extension of himself as Mysterio as well, the entire battle between him and the Elementals being pre-made before then being unleashed on the public. Beck was able to trap Spider-Man in an elaborate maze of illusion, showing him horrific visions, such as Mysterio dropping Michelle Jones from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and a zombie Iron Man crawling with spiders attacking Spider-Man. Beck then attacked Spider-Man with an illusion of a giant Mysterio in full armor.
Abilities[]
"It's easy to fool people when they're already fooling themselves."
Genius-Level Intellect: Quentin Beck is very intelligent, with his intellect having secured himself a job at Stark Industries. Beck was a principal developer of the technology that would later be appropriated by Stark, who rejected his views on how the technology should be utilized and instead used it as the framework for what he would call B.A.R.F.. Beck displays his technical skills in the development of illusions and skillful applications of advanced drones, skills so refined that they are even capable of fooling intergalactic beings such as Talos and Soren, as well as the majority of the public who witness his acts of "heroism." Beck was also that mastermind behind his entire plan, which came close to succeeding, and in a way did, as after exposing Spider-Man, the public believed that he was the real hero.
Master Engineer: While working for Stark Industries, Beck proved his skills in engineering, using them all to develop B.A.R.F. and used his scientific knowledge to develop the drones. During the process of transforming into Mysterio, Beck created the suit and the helmet which would defend his identity secretive from the rest of the world.
"Beck is a liar. Mysterio, the Elementals, it's all fake. He has some illusion tech. And that's how he tricked you guys, and me into giving him E.D.I.T.H.."
After getting fired by Stark Industries, Beck formulated a plan to get back at Tony Stark. This involved teaming up with many employees, that also got fired by Stark, to help him create a story believable enough to deceive both Spider-Man and Nick Fury. He used holographic projection to make everyone believe he was a hero and even had followers past his death. Beck's adaptability intense situations allows him to adjust the spin of the story on the fly. Beck made Peter Parker believe Nick Fury saved him, only to effortless coerce information of who else could know of Beck's deception. Even as Spider-Man revealed his illusions, Beck turned the story of his reported death into martyrdom by having William Ginter Riva edit the London footage to make it seem as though Parker commanded the drone attack and killed Beck, just to turn Spider-Man into a public enemy.
Stark Industries Combat Drones: Beck has used combat drones that were made by Stark Industries in order to project holograms of the Elementals and to control them to carry out his plan, but also to wreak havoc across London when fighting Spider-Man, who was on the urge of destroying his drones for his fraudulence. The drones were equipped with cloaking devices so that no one would see them within the illusions that Beck's crew had created.
Illusion Projectors: The drones were also equipped with special hologram projectors that created the Elementals and showed Mysterio flying and using his powers. They could also project their cloaking effect on their surroundings, making their targeted subject invisible, in which Beck used them to attempt to hide from Spider-Man while he kept being tricked into being in the real world.
Heckler & Koch P30: Beck carried a handgun as a last resort during the Battle of London, in case he needed it. Once he was almost defeated, Beck created an illusion of himself lying on the floor, and then he tried to shoot Spider-Man in the head. However, Spider-Man was able to use his Spider-Sense to grab Beck's arm, make the shot miss and disarm him.
Other Equipment[]
B.A.R.F.: While working as an engineer at Stark Industries, Beck used his technology and science skills to create holographic projection technology, powerful enough to create realistic illusions. However, the technology was renamed B.A.R.F. by Tony Stark, who opted to use Beck's illusion technology for his own therapeutic purposes, much to Beck's displeasure.
Mo-Cap Suit: Beck has utilized a motion-capture suit to outsmart "Nick Fury" and Spider-Man in the illusions that he has created. Beck used it to manipulate the holograms of his persona and to have his suit projected onto him for complicated shots, like him putting on or taking off his helmet.
Beck wore a suit specifically designed by Janice to look heroic and otherworldly to best suit his plans. Beck wore it whenever he didn't need to fly or other such feats, like talking to someone that is in the same room with him.
Tony Stark's Glasses: A pair of sunglasses that belonged to Tony Stark and equipped with E.D.I.T.H. Beck used the sunglasses to command his Combat Drones to kill Spider-Man and later command them to kill off his friends that were hiding away from a vault in London.
E.D.I.T.H.: An A.I. designed by Tony Stark for Peter Parker which provided the user with access the Stark satellite network in an augmented reality interface with advanced data analysis and hacking capabilities. Parker granted access to E.D.I.T.H. to Beck which he used to increase the efficiency of his illusions and even detail Parker's friend's personal information and their location through security feed.
Facilities[]
Nick Fury's Hideout: While being in character in Venice, Mysterio had visited the main base of operations that was being used by Nick Fury's crew. Once Spider-Man had visited the hideout, Mysterio explained information about the Elementals and why they are attacking around the world, using tech from the hideout to illustrate the catastrophes.
Quentin Beck's Hideout: Mysterio and his colleagues used this undisclosed location as their headquarters to orchestrate and rehearse their plans to deceive Parker and Fury.
In the comics, Quentin Beck was a visual effects artist who wanted to make a name for himself in the film industry. Due to lack of recognition, Beck realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective supervillain, choosing his identity of Mysterio. Also, he was one of the founding members of Spider-Man's recurrent group of enemies, the Sinister Six alongside Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and Electro.
Mysterio was originally intended to appear as a villain, played by Bruce Campbell, in the canceled film Spider-Man 4, part of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man franchise.
Mysterio's actions in Spider-Man: Far From Home are similar to his origins in the comics. In the comics, Mysterio is a former special effects man for movies, who wanted to ruin Spider-Man's reputation by framing him for crimes and then defeat him as a new superhero. In the film, Mysterio is a former employee of Tony Stark, who wants to replace the fallen hero as "the next Iron Man", using his illusions of the Elementals to stage his debut. Screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna thus had to deal with the challenge of updating Mysterio for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the post-Avengers: Endgame era.[12]
Gyllenhall himself had previously been considered for the role of Doctor Strange.
Early versions of the story of Spider-Man: Far From Home had Mysterio's status as a villain revealed from the beginning, being an out-and-out villain that Spider-Man and Nick Fury would chase around all Europe as he pulled off the Elementals threat. However, as Mysterio dealt so much in deception, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers accepted that it was sort of natural that Mysterio's ruse would lead to a story structure where his entire identity was completely misleading.[14] Another early idea involved Mysterio actually being a Skrull, but it was dropped.[12]
When asked if Mysterio died at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Jon Watts didn't rule out the possibility of Mysterio surviving by responding "It's Mysterio, so who knows?" yet commenting that for him, Mysterio seemed pretty dead.[15] Producer Amy Pascal, when asked the same question, responded "You don't know".[16]Jake Gyllenhaal also commented that for him, Mysterio is "a dead man".[17]
