SPOILER WARNING!

Yeah, I’m putting up the SPOILER WARNING at the very start of this post because, although I do believe this is a twist that has a modicum of knowledge regarding Spider-Man, Marvel comics or who has a connection to the Internet, there is going to be that teeny-tiny percentage of the population that are going to scream and whine about how I’m spoiling someone else’s fun by talking about Spider-Man: Far From Home’s “major twist” and how I’m ruining it for everyone. So, just to be on the safe side, I’m warning that I will be discussing SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The hype for Spider-Man: Far From Home has been… good. I won’t say it’s overwhelming because it’s actually in a bad spot. It’s the Marvel film that has to follow up Avengers: Endgame, a film that pretty much closes the book on the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, I’m still excited for it because it does look like a good movie and it does set the stage for what’s in store in the future.

Also, the trailer looks awesome. It shows what to expect from the film. A budding romance between Peter Parker and MJ. Nick Fury enlisting Spider-Man’s help to fight an unknown threat. Of course, there’s the new character who shows up: Mysterio. It seems he’ll be someone that’ll work with Peter Parker to battle the unknown threats.

Being a big Mysterio fan, Spider-Man: Far From Home immediately put itself into my “must-watch” list. Of course, since I really like the Marvel character, his placement in the film looked weird. Oh, his costume looked on point and they even made his fishbowl helmet, something that always looked rather ridiculous, looked cool. Getting Jake Gyllenhaal to portray the fan favorite character was a stroke of pure genius. Still, as a fan, I just wanted to confirm a theory that popped into my head the instant that Mysterio reared his fishbowl head (it’s a term of endearment) in the trailer. After going through a couple of SPOILER reviews of Spider-Man: Far From Home, my suspicions were confirmed.

Mysterio is the bad guy. Why, you could’ve bowled me over with a feather!

Look, I’m not trying to be a wise guy by saying I knew Mysterio, the supposed new hero who helps Spider-Man take on the mysterious arrival of Elemental monsters, was going to be the villain because I’m a comic book nerd. I’m really not. The thing I’m trying to say is that this is presumed to be the big twist of Spider-Man: Far From Home and it’s something that someone with a modicum of knowledge of Spider-Man’s exploits will see coming from a mile away! I wasn’t the only one since there are so many people who knew the lore and made the same guess I made when the first trailer came out!

Mysterio being the primary antagonist, using his special effects knowledge to create big, scary things, was going to be this big reveal to shock viewers. I can say that because Marvel and Sony put up a lot of effort to keep this twist a secret for a long, long time. At least, that’s what I felt they were doing, anyway.

Why would this be this big reveal if that’s always been Mysterio’s gimmick? In fact, that’s the primary reason why Mysterio’s become such a beloved Spider-Man villain! For me, it was the really cool looking costume. I dug the fishbowl helmet because of the mist that’s usually inside it that obscures Quentin Beck’s face. But I also like the unique take on why he became a villain. He was a special effects wizard and stuntman and, when his career started to fail, he decided to use his skills to pretend to be a hero while framing Spider-Man for crimes at the same time. In retrospect, What Marvel and Sony are doing with this version of Mysterio is in line with the character, at the very least, his first appearance.

The twist that Mysterio is actually the villain of Far From Home isn’t really a gripe. From the reviews that I’ve seen, fans are enjoying the movie even if they did come in knowing that Mysterio was going to be revealed as the big bad. My issue is Marvel and Sony trying to make it a big twist when we can all see it coming a mile away.

Marvel has tried to pull a few twists in their films for some time now and they felt really big. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it turns out that SHIELD has been under Hydra’s control. In Iron Man 3, the Mandarin wasn’t really the Mandarin that we all know. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, it’s revealed that the Vulture is Liz Allen’s father. Even the Skrulls being helpless refugees in Captain Marvel felt like it came out of nowhere. Mysterio being a villain all this time? It should be a big curveball if Mysterio wasn’t a villain in the comics! I mean, if Mysterio was a true blue hero but turns bad, sure. Or if they had him be a good natured soul who just wanted to be a hero after the events of Avengers: Endgame but went about it the wrong way. Those would be twists. But making Mysterio the same Mysterio from the comics isn’t.

Now, I’m not saying that because I know the surprise that I think Spider-Man: Far From Home will be a terrible movie. I firmly believe that, if the only thing a movie has going for itself is a plot twist that no one sees coming, it’s a bad movie. That’s because it’s reliant on catching the viewer off guard and, once you know what’s going to happen, the magic is gone. I don’t believe Marvel and even Sony aren’t dumb enough to bank on that for a tentpole franchise film like Far From Home. Especially with a surprise that can be spoiled by simply doing a little research on a character’s long and colorful history in the comics.

I’m still going to watch Spider-Man: Far From Home with the full knowledge that Mysterio has been pull the wool over Spider-Man by pretending to be a good guy. But I’m still going to enjoy the film if the action is good and the story, despite the obvious plot twist, is actually good. Actually, I’m kind of curious if anyone in the theater will be shocked when it’s revealed that Mysterio is the baddie. Because it’s something that they should’ve seen a mile away.

What’s your take on the Mysterio “plot twist” in Spider-Man: Far From Home? Let me know in the comments section below!