Spider-Man: Far From Home represented the final film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s third phase, concluding the events of the Infinity Saga while simultaneously positioning the franchise for future entries. The film featured Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck, known by his villain moniker, Mysterio. Despite only appearing in one film, the MCU’s iteration of Quentin Beck influences the franchise’s trajectory far into Phase 4. We’ve compiled a guide to the events of the character as he appears in the MCU. Spoilers throughout.

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Maria Hill (Colbie Smoulders) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) respond to a tip in Ixtenco, Mexico, where locals claim attacks from an enormous rock golem. Upon arriving they encounter a cloaked superhero, who warns: “You don’t want any part of this.”

Mysterio in the MCU

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Later, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates embark on a school trip to Europe. On their first day exploring Venice, a water monster appears, wreaking havoc on the city. Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck appears and quickly dispatches the creature with Peter’s help. That night at the hotel, the students watch Italian-language news coverage of the event, where the headline reads “Mysterio”, and the students wrongly interpret this as the superhero’s name, when in reality the broadcast is noting the mysterious nature of the new hero.

That night, Nick Fury comes to Peter’s room, offering him a pair of A.I. enhanced glasses that were left to him by Tony before the events of Endgame, and introduces him to Quentin Beck in a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base. It’s here that Beck begins to weave his fictitious backstory. According to Beck, he comes from an earth that is nearly identical to ours; the MCU taking place in dimension 616 and Beck supposedly hailing from dimension 813. Allegedly, there are four creatures from his earth, dubbed the Elementals, bestowed with the power of earth, wind, water, or fire. He served as part of a battalion of soldiers tasked with fighting these creatures, and with each battle, the monsters grew stronger. The strongest elemental, fire, claimed the lives of his family, and he posits that it will next appear in Prague.

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Image via Marvel Studios

Quentin Beck and Peter defeat the fire elemental, and, disheartened by his responsibilities as a superhero, Peter hands over the A.I. enhanced glasses to Beck. It’s here that Quentin drops the facade. He is not, as he claimed, a mystical warrior from a multiverse dimension, but rather a disgruntled ex-Stark Industries employee. He worked as a holograph illusionist at the company and was fired due to his instability. He now leads a small group of disillusioned ex-Stark employees in staging elaborate battles with the holographic elementals, which are actually digital projections created by drones. With Tony Stark’s A.I. glasses in his possession, he plans to stage his largest battle in London, where he claims that defeating the monster will instill Avenger-level trust in his character.

Peter learns of Beck's deception after MJ (Zendaya) finds debris from one of the fights, which is a portion of a projector drone that displays the wind elemental. Peter attempts to warn Nick Fury in Berlin, but the Fury he speaks to is actually an illusion created by Mysterio. Mysterio sends Peter into an existential crisis, positioning him on the tracks of a speeding train, where Peter is struck.

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Image via Marvel Studios

Peter and Beck stage their final fight in London, where Beck has created an amalgamation of the four elementals into his largest illusion. Beck uses his drones to attack Peter, but Peter ultimately gains the upper hand, and Beck dies from injuries sustained during the fight. However, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the character. Downloading data from the drones, one of Beck’s employees leaks a doctored video of Peter and Beck’s fight to none other than J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). The heavily edited video appears to show Peter ruthlessly commanding the drones before turning to Beck. Before the video ends, Quentin Beck reveals that Spider-Man's true identity is Peter Parker.

Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker and the drama born from that dynamic are a mainstay of Spider-Man films and comics. Between Spider-Man: Far From Home ending on such an abrupt and dramatic note, and Gyllenhaal’s endlessly charismatic performance, his version of Mysterio has been cemented as one of the most entertaining Spidey villains to be put to film.