Jake Gyllenhaal Wanted for Mysterio in Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel
It’s been a long time since Jake Gyllenhaal first flirted with the Spider-Man movieverse. The now-veteran actor was only widely known for Donnie Darko back in 2003 when he was on deck to play the Wall-Crawler if Tobey Maguire‘s back didn’t improve after an accident on the set of Seabiscuit. Now, Gyllenhaal is toying with the idea of joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe via Sony’s Spider-Man franchise as, not the hero, but a villain. According to THR, the Oscar-nominated actor is in talks to play illusionist-turned-criminal mastermind Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, in the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Mysterio is one of the oldest villains in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, having first appeared way back in 1964, but his kooky costume and lack of any real powers kept him from becoming one of Web Head’s more menacing, or popular, enemies. The character has made appearances in several animated series and video games, but has yet to appear on the big screen. Though, according to Jeffrey Henderson, who did storyboard art for the doomed Spider-Man 4, none other than Bruce Campbell would have suited up as Mysterio to menace poor ol’ Peter Parker (Maguire).
Entering spoiler zone…
Little is known about the plot of the movie other than the possibility of it taking place one year later, during Peter’s (Tom Holland) junior year of high school. Given that there even is a sequel to Homecoming after the events of Infinity War, it seems safe to assume that Spider-Man will somehow be resurrected in Avengers 4, and that can’t be easy for a high schooler to deal with, on top of the fact that he’s, you know, a teenage superhero.
Jon Watts is returning to direct, with Homecoming contributing writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna penning the screenplay. So far, only Marisa Tomei, Michael Keaton and Zendaya are confirmed to reprise their roles of Aunt May, Adrian Toomes and MJ, respectively, but there’s no doubt Jacob Batalon will return as Ned Leeds and Laura Harrier as Liz, and we might even get another another appearance of Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man. And, given how in-demand Donald Glover is these days, another appearance of Aaron Davis isn’t out of the question.
The as-yet-untitled sequel is tentatively slated for July 5, 2019, two months after Avengers 4 debuts in theaters.
Maybe the only actor in history who could make snoozeville Mysterio intersting. Come on, the gold fish bowl helmt barely plays in comics, in real life…?