According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Okja) seems finally poised to enter the superhero realm as the actor is reportedly in talks to portray the Marvel supervillain Mysterio in Marvel Studios’ forthcoming sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. The actor has had a long flirtation with playing a comic book character, having costume tested to replace an injured Tobey Maguire for Spider-Man 2, screentested for Batman Begins, and was circling but ultimately turned down the role of Rick Flag in Suicide Squad. There have also been rumors of Gyllenhaal replacing Ben Affleck in the DCEU for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, though this MCU casting leaves that in doubt.
The character of Mysterio has had several iterations in the Marvel Comics Universe, the first being Quentin Beck who first appeared way back in The Amazing Spider-Man #13 in 1964. Beck was a Hollywood special effects wizard who uses his skills to become a supervillain, with The Tinkerer (played by Michael Chernus in Spider-Man: Homecoming) having created his signature bubblehead suit. Mysterio has been at times a prominent member of The Sinister Six, and has also existed in different versions, notably Daniel Berkhart, Francis Klum (created by Kevin Smith!) and an African American version known as Mysterion.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige previously confirmed that the 2019 sequel to Homecoming will take Peter Parker out of New York for a European adventure in London that will reflect the global aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4.
Spider-Man: Homecoming writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers will write the sequel, and Jon Watts will return as director on the Sony and Marvel film.
The Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel (which Kevin Feige has said will not be called “Homecoming 2”) is already scheduled for July 5, 2019, and Tom Holland recently confirmed a third film is also in the works. The follow-up will feature Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in his Junior year at Midtown School of Science and Technology following the events of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and its summer 2019 sequel, which will also feature Holland as Spider-Man.
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