Mysterio is the name of three fictional characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Mysterio was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #13, although it was later retconned that the aliens seen in 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. [1]
Fictional character biography
Quentin Beck
Quentin Beck was born in Riverside, California. Before becoming Mysterio, Beck was a special effects wizard and stunt man who worked for a major Hollywood studio and had dreams to make a name for himself in the film industry. However, he lacked the looks and talent to be a star and the patience to be a director, and saw his career in special effects to be a dead-end job. When a friend jokingly suggested that the quickest way to become famous is to take out a costumed hero, Beck realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective supervillain. Choosing Spider-Man, a relatively weak and inexperienced target, Beck prepared his resources for a few months before attempting to eliminate the wall-crawler. Mysterio, his chosen identity, became one of Spider-Man's most elusive and persistent foes.
Mysterio showed his full range of talents in his first battle with Spider-Man, fogging the hero's Spider-Sense with a special gas and dissolving his webbing with a chemical abrasive.[2] He later joined the original Sinister Six in a failed attempt at revenge on Spider-Man.[3] Mysterio created the alias of world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Ludwig Rinehart and used technology and hypnosis in an attempt to convince Spider-Man that he was losing his mind.[4] Mysterio later established a brief partnership with the Wizard in a failed plot to kill Spider-Man and the Human Torch on a Hollywood movie set.[5] He convinced Spider-Man into believing he was 6 inches tall using a post-hypnotic suggestion.[6]
Some time later, Beck's cellmate Daniel Berkhart briefly became the new Mysterio on the original's behalf.[7] Much later, Beck resumed his Ludwig Rinehart identity to manipulate Spider-Man's Aunt May into revealing the whereabouts of a supposed fortune hidden in her house.[8] Beck used bogus alien disguises to frighten May Parker into revealing the location of the fortune, but then learned that the money had long ago been eaten by silverfish.[9] Some time later, Mysterio tricked Spider-Man into believing that he had caused the death of a bystander.[10] Mysterio then attempts to scare the tenants from an apartment complex in real estate thwarted by the preteen superhero team, Power Pack.[11] He was recruited by Doctor Octopus to form the second Sinister Six, and battled Spider-Man.[12]
In other encounters, Mysterio has faked the death of Spider-Man's Aunt May, and made deals with demons from Limbo. 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.
After his final imprisonment, 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. Obsessed with enacting 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). Mysterio decided to change his plan and focus on Daredevil, who he had encountered recently during an insurance scam that the Man Without Fear had thwarted; he 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 all the information he possessed about Daredevil's past, Mysterio developed an elaborate plot to drive Daredevil insane. Daredevil was nearly manipulated into killing an innocent baby (falsely accused of being the Antichrist), 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, Matt Murdock's partner Foggy Nelson was framed for murder after cheating on his current lover, and Daredevil nearly lost his mind as he appeared to be tormented by the forces of Hell.
However, Daredevil's will proved stronger than Mysterio expected, and he 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 verbally abused Mysterio's plot and very existence, dismissing 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. Broken in every sense of the word, Mysterio, saying he was stealing an idea from Kraven the Hunter, pulled out a gun and shot himself dead. While Mysterio has faked his own death several times in the past, this act was legitimate, as Mysterio had nothing left to live for.
Daniel Berkhart
Daniel Berkhart as Mysterio.
Someone claiming to be Mysterio appeared later with the revised Sinister Six, making references to his 'death', stating how after fighting Daredevil he had exited in a 'most spectacular fashion'. There was some confusion to this Mysterio's identity until Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto hinted that it was Daniel Berkhart, an old friend of Beck and a previous Jack-O-Lantern who had taken over the mantle of Mysterio during a period when Beck had previously faked his death, and has reassumed it after Beck's death. This issue was not addressed again until a Mysterio briefly fought Spider-Man and was captured in Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. III) #7. In a recent storyline in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #12, Berkhart was confirmed to be this second Mysterio by Quentin Beck.
Francis Klum
A teleporting mutant named Francis Klum was seen purchasing Mysterio's costume from the Kingpin, swearing revenge on Spider-Man for the events in Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do. This would make him the third Mysterio, and the first Mysterio to have actual powers instead of using illusions.
Return of Beck
In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11, Klum plots to destroy the recently unmasked Spider-Man in revenge for the events that took place in The Evil That Men Do. Enacting his plot by turning the school Peter Parker worked in into a 'haunted house', Klum fills it with hauntings and death-traps, including luring the children away from Peter's protection. To prevent interference, Klum cordons off the school with a barrier of toxic smoke, which only served as a beacon to Daniel Berkhart, who recognized the trick and was incensed that someone was stealing his Mysterio act. Penetrating the barrier, Berkhart prepares to team up with Spider-Man in order to defeat Klum.
Before the fight began, however, Klum had already encountered a third man in a more radical, purple and red Mysterio costume. Lecturing Klum on the aspects of showmanship, he eventually removes his helmet to reveal that he was apparently Quentin Beck, back from the dead, still with half of his head missing. The full nature of this alleged resurrection has yet to be revealed (although Beck did cryptically state "While I was done with life, it appears life was not yet done with me", implying that the resurrection was not intentional on his part and Beck had meant to stay dead).
In a conversation with Miss Arrow, he revealed that his "bosses" and her "bosses" had further plans for Peter Parker and that she should keep him employed in the school.
Powers, abilities and equipment
Quentin Beck was an expert designer of special effects devices and stage illusions, a master hypnotist and magician, and an amateur chemist and roboticist. He had extensive knowledge of hand-to-hand combat techniques learned as a stuntman but didn't otherwise possess superhuman abilities.
Daniel Berkhart, a former friend and protégé of Beck's, presumably has much of the same training and skills that Beck does, though to what extent is unknown.
Francis Klum, having purchased the identity from the Kingpin, has not been identified as having any such training. He is, however, depicted as being at least knowledgeable enough to operate some of the Mysterio equipment and techniques. Additionally, he has the mutant ability to teleport both himself and other objects, and the ability to control other people's body parts.
Mysterio (in any incarnation) has personal weaponry that includes a one-way plexiglass fishbowl helmet (with 30 minute air supply) with holographic projector and gloves and boots armed with nozzles which emit hallucinogenic gas. He developed a gas that can cancel Spider-Man's spider-sense, and when he is cloaked in his mist gases, he uses sonar to detect objects and beings nearby. He also has more advanced technology (not of his own design) at his disposal.
Other versions
Ultimate Mysterio
No counterpart for Mysterio has thus far been written into the Ultimate Marvel universe. However, the character was alluded to in the "Hollywood" arc of Ultimate Spider-Man (which poked fun at the Spider-Man movies) as a villain in a movie about Spider-Man.
He is stated by writer Brian Michael Bendis to debut in the third Ultimate Spider-Man annual.
In other media
Television
- Mysterio, voiced by Chris Wiggins, appears in the 1967 Spider-Man episodes "The Menace of Mysterio", "Return of the Flying Dutchman", and "The Madness of Mysterio".
- Mysterio appears in the 1981 Spider-Man episode "The Pied Piper of New York Town".
Video games
- Mysterio appears in the Spider-Man Questprobe game.
Toys & collectibles
- Mysterio has been reproduced as a mini-bust and as a thirteen-inch statue by Bowen Designs. He has likewise been crafted as a mini-bust by Art Asylum as part of their Rogues Gallery line. He also makes up one-seventh of the "Sinister Six" statue set from Diamond Select.
- The Marvel Figurine Collection & magazine have released a Mysterio figure. He is number 57 in the collection.
Novels
- Mysterio is a member of the Six in the Sinister Six novel trilogy by Adam-Troy Castro set shortly before his terminal illness and including references to his feeling ill. In Castro's novels, he is heavily implied to be gay; he states in the first book that one of his murder victims, explicitly identified as gay, was once "more than [a] friend"; in the third book, he says that by "life preference," he does not have a sexual interest in women.
External links
References
- ^ Roger Stern (w), Marie Severin (p), Jim Mooney (i). "Aliens And Illusions!" The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 1, #51 (January, 1981) Marvel Comics
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #13
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #24
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #66-67
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #141
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #198-199
- ^ Spectacular Spider-Man #50-51
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #311
- ^ Power Pack #55
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #335-339
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