Mysterio is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June 1964). He is one of the superhero Spider-Man's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. He is also a founding member of the supervillain team the Sinister Six, and has fought other heroes, including Daredevil. In Wolverine: Old Man Logan, an alternate Mysterio serves as the archenemy of Old Man Logan, an elderly Wolverine tricked by Mysterio into killing the rest of the X-Men, with another alternate Mysterio serving as the villain of Spider-Man: Fake Red, becoming Venom.
The first and best-known version of the character is Quentin Beck, a former special effects artist, illusionist and actor who turns to crime. The second incarnation of the character, Daniel Berkhart, is a stuntman initially hired by J. Jonah Jameson to pretend to be Mysterio's ghost before assuming the mantle for real. The third incarnation of the character, Francis Klum, is a mutant with the ability to teleport who blames Spider-Man for the loss of his leg. The fourth incarnation of the character, Mysterion, is a black man who buys the Mysterio identity from Roderick Kingsley, opposing the Superior Spider-Man and Squirrel Girl.
The character has been adapted in various media incarnations, including feature films, television series and video games, with Mary Kate Wiles voicing an original composite incarnation of Mysterio named Frances Beck in Ultimate Spider-Man in 2016. Jake Gyllenhaal portrayed Mysterio in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
Publication history Mysterio was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June 1964). It was later retconned that the aliens seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 had been Mysterio and his men in disguise. It was revealed that he had been hired by the Tinkerer to disguise himself as an extraterrestrial and uncover military and industrial secrets. Like the Kingpin, he has crossed over and been a major villain of Daredevil. In the story arc "Guardian Devil", he crossed into Daredevil's territory, almost pushing Daredevil over the edge.
Fictional character biography Background and first appearances Quentin Beck is a special effects master and stunt man working for a major Hollywood studio with dreams of making a name for himself in the film industry. However, he came to see his career in special effects as a dead-end job. His attempts to become an actor were poorly received, but he realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective criminal. In his first battle with Spider-Man, after he frames Spider-Man for robbing the Midtown Museum, Mysterio obstructs the hero's spider-sense with gas and dissolves Spider-Man's webbing with a chemical abrasive. However Spider-Man tricks Mysterio into revealing he robbed the museum, then Spider-Man revealed he had captured it on tape. Mysterio was then jailed, blaming Spider-Man for his ruined career.The Amazing Spider-Man #13 (March 1964)
Mysterio later joins the Sinister Six in an attempt at revenge on Spider-Man. In an elaborate scheme, Doctor Octopus gives each member of the Sinister Six a card with the location of the next battle written on it. Each location was carefully selected to best suit that member's particular talents and Spider-Man will have to fight them one after the other. Only once Spider-Man has defeated each opponent, will he be able to obtain the card that will identify the next location. Doctor Octopus believed that with this plan, each of the Sinister Six would weaken Spider-Man a little bit more so that his chances would grow slimmer after each battle. When Spider-Man reaches Mysterio, his third opponent, he is immediately attacked by a group of highly developed robot replicas of the X-Men controlled by Mysterio. After successfully defeating the robots and Mysterio, Spider-Man gets the next card that enables him to go on to battle the Sandman.The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Further appearances and decline
Mysterio later creates the alias of world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Ludwig Rinehart, using technology and hypnosis in an attempt to make Spider-Man lose his mind, and nearly convincing him to unmask himself, though ironically Spider-Man was helped by J. Jonah Jameson suddenly bursting into the house. Spider-Man then unmasked Mysterio.The Amazing Spider-Man #24 Mysterio then establishes a brief partnership with the Wizard in a plot to kill Spider-Man and the Human Torch on a Hollywood movie set by pretending to enroll them in a film. However, they were both defeated and arrested.The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4 He threatens to destroy the city while on TV, and goes on to convince Spider-Man he is tall using a post-hypnotic suggestion and a miniature funfair, but Spider-Man sees through the illusion and captures Mysterio yet again.The Amazing Spider-Man #66–67
While Beck is incarcerated, his cellmate Daniel Berkhart briefly becomes Mysterio on the original's behalf.The Amazing Spider-Man #141–142 Out of prison, Beck resumes his Ludwig Rinehart identity to manipulate Spider-Man's Aunt May into revealing the whereabouts of a lost fortune hidden in her house.The Amazing Spider-Man #198–199 Beck used bogus alien disguises to frighten May into revealing the location of the fortune, but then learned that the money had long ago been eaten by silverfish.The Spectacular Spider-Man #50–51 In his next appearance, Mysterio tricks Spider-Man into believing that he had caused the death of a bystander.The Amazing Spider-Man #311 Mysterio then attempts to scare the tenants from an apartment complex in a real estate scam thwarted by the Power Pack,Power Pack #55 much to his later humiliation. He is recruited by Doctor Octopus to form the second Sinister Six, and battles Spider-Man.The Amazing Spider-Man #335–339 In other encounters, Mysterio has faked the death of Spider-Man's Aunt May,The Amazing Spider-Man #200 and made deals with demons from Limbo.Spider-Man/Deadpool #5 Despite this, however, Mysterio was constantly beaten by Spider-Man and usually arrested. He joined Doctor Octopus' Sinister Six on several occasions, but this never gave him the edge against his foe that he desired. Eventually, he began to lose credibility as a supervillain, with his defeat at the hands of Power Pack being a particularly humiliating moment.
"Guardian Devil" and death After his final imprisonment during the "Guardian Devil" story arc, Mysterio was given an early release, as he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and lung cancer, both caused by the chemicals and radiation from his equipment. He was given one year to live, but this imminent death caused prison psychiatrists to grant him an early release.Daredevil (vol. 2) #7 Obsessed with exacting his final revenge on Spider-Man, he was disappointed when he deduced from newspaper articles that the current Spider-Man was just a clone and saw no dignity in overpowering a "copy" of the real thing (even though by then, the clone had been killed and the current Spider-Man was indeed the original).Daredevil (vol. 2) #1–7 Mysterio decided to change his plan and focus on Daredevil, whom he had encountered recently during an insurance scam that the hero had thwarted; Mysterio believed that he had found a 'kindred spirit' in Daredevil, in the sense that both were second stringers with little reputation outside their homes.
After the Kingpin gave Mysterio information about Daredevil's past, Mysterio developed an elaborate plot to drive Daredevil insane using a special designed drug to influence Daredevil's mood, presenting him with a baby girl and conflicting reports that she was the second coming of Christ or the Antichrist, with the drug rendering Daredevil violent if anyone suggested that the child was innocent.Daredevil (vol. 2) #1 In the course of the scheme, Karen Page was killed by Bullseye after Mysterio had convinced her that she was suffering from HIV due to her time as a porn star,Daredevil (vol. 2) #5 Matt Murdock's partner Foggy Nelson was framed for murder after cheating on his current lover,Daredevil (vol. 2) #3 and Daredevil nearly lost his mind while tormented by a demonic figure who was in fact Gabriel, an agent of Mysterio.
However, Daredevil's will proved stronger than Mysterio expected, and once Doctor Strange discovers and magically removed the drug from Daredevil's bloodstream, Daredevil unmasked Mysterio as the mastermind, shattering the villain's helmet in fury and revealing his now-languishing appearance. Beck had thought Daredevil would kill him upon discovery, which in his eyes, was a "grand way to end his final show". Daredevil denied him this and instead dismissed Mysterio's scheme as a basic 'B-movie' plot and calling Mysterio a 'human Xerox', incapable of having an original thought in his life; if nothing else, the Kingpin had already attempted to drive Daredevil insane and he had used the 'supernatural intruding on our world' idea in a previous attack on J. Jonah Jameson. Mysterio, saying he was stealing an idea from Kraven the Hunter, commits suicide. While Mysterio has faked his own death several times in the past, this act was apparently legitimate, as Mysterio had nothing left to live for.
Resurrection
Sometime later, Quentin Beck suddenly appears in the Midtown High School auditorium in a dark red version of his costume during a three-way battle between Spider-Man and the two successor Mysterios. He confronts Francis Klum before leaving him for Berkhart to deal with. Beck confronts Miss Arrow, revealing that half his head is missing from the gunshot wound and explains that, having gone to Hell for suicide, his "superiors" in the afterlife sent him back to Earth to maintain a cosmic balance. His superiors want Spider-Man to continue working at the school and Beck knows Miss Arrow has a similar role for the "other side". Berkhart and Klum briefly battle one another before Spider-Man captures Berkhart. While trying to escape, Klum runs into Arrow and tries to take her as a hostage, only to be stabbed by one of her stingers. He then teleports away, badly bleeding.
Mysterio reappears during The Gauntlet story line, which re-introduces several past Spider-Man villains with new twists. This Mysterio claims to be a returned Quentin Beck who had faked his death. He is under the employ of Maggia crime member Carmine, creating androids of various deceased Maggia (including their dead leader Silvermane) to give them a credibility boost in their gang war with Mister Negative. Beck controls the Silvermane robot himself and plants seeds of rebellion in Hammerhead, who had left the Maggia under the belief that Silvermane was deceased. He also tries to drive Spider-Man mad by making him think he's accidentally killed several gang members, while trying to convince him that a returned Captain George Stacy, who claims to have always been the gangster known as the Big Man, also faked his death years earlier. This turn makes Spider-Man realize that Mysterio must be behind the recent mysterious return of so many deceased individuals, and he vows to have Mysterio pay for making it personal. Shortly after, Mysterio uses the Silvermane robot to murder Carmine in an attempt to secretly seize control of the Maggia and its fortune. Spider-Man eventually exposes and confronts Mysterio, who flees. He later runs into the Chameleon, who tells him that he has some friends who are "dying" to meet him.The Amazing Spider-Man #618–620 The "friends" the Chameleon was talking about happens to be the Kravinoffs. He was present at the ritual where Spider-Man is seemingly sacrificed to revive Kraven the Hunter.The Amazing Spider-Man #635