Jake Gyllenhaal is reportedly in talks to play the villain in the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel…
The upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel may have just found its villain.
Jake Gyllenhaal — best known for roles in films such as Donnie Darko, Nightcrawler and Southpaw — is reportedly in talks to play the villain Mysterio in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel from Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios.
Mysterio is a classic Spider-Man villain, who has been part of several major storylines over the years while also serving part of the bad guy super team the Sinister Six.
Mysterio — real name Quentin Beck — is a former stuntman turned special effects expert, who wanted to make it big in Hollywood as an actor but lacked the looks or charisma to carry any kind of leading role. Beck was a master of special effects but felt that was a dead end job until a friend suggested the best way to gain some notoriety would be to take out a costumed superhero. That’s when Beck became Mysterio, a villain who is also the master of illusion, and he set his target on Spider-Man.
Over the years, Mysterio has challenged Spider-Man dozens of times both on his own and as part of the larger Sinister Six. Mysterio also took part in a classic comic book story written by Kevin Smith called ‘Guardian Devil’ where Beck, who was dying of cancer, decided to drive a hero insane and he targeted Daredevil as his prey.
Of course there’s no telling how Spider-Man: Homecoming will treat Mysterio as a villain or his backstory with Gyllenhaal in the role.
The Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel is set for release on July 5, 2019 with all of the original cast returing including Tom Holland as the webslinger as well as director Jon Watt and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who worked on the first film as well.
H/T: Hollywood Reporter