Spider-Man: No Way Home featured five of the webhead’s most dangerous enemies from across the multiverse teaming up. While that provided more than ample stakes for the ambitious threequel, it was always a little mystifying that Marvel and Sony didn’t just sling another one in there to form the Sinister Six. A new piece of concept art, though, hints that this might’ve been the original plan. And the additional enemy could’ve been Mysterio.
Concept artist Andrew Reeder has shared his work on the movie on his Artstation account, and one piece in particular has caught fans’ attentions. It teases an alternate version of No Way Home‘s big third act in which Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange battles with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck at the Statue of Liberty (which notably isn’t holding Captain America’s shield). See it for yourself via the tweet below:
This artwork obviously raises a lot of questions, but it does appear to confirm that Mysterio was once supposed to return in the closer to the trilogy. After he died in Far From Home, fans were convinced Beck merely faked his death in order to frame Peter Parker and he’d be back in the next film. Maybe that was the original plan, but he was ultimately fazed out once all the legacy villains were locked in and there was no room left in the plot.
The idea of a Mysterio vs. Strange fight is an intriguing one. That said, it would presumably be a little one-sided. Beck’s illusions might’ve fooled Spider-Man, but would they really be much use against a bonafide Master of the Mystic Arts like Stephen Strange? The future Sorcerer Supreme could surely handle a stage magician like Beck, right?
If he was supposed to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, that might mean Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio could factor into Tom Holland’s next Spider-Man trilogy instead. We know the two stars would love to rekindle their bromance.