Jake Gyllenhaal in talks to play Mysterio in Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel.
Whilst he was heavily rumoured to be taking over from Ben Affleck in the role of The Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves’ upcoming solo Batman movie, it appears that Jake Gyllenhaal may well be following in the footsteps of a previous Batman actor and taking the lead villain role in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel.
News has began to spread that Gyllenhaal is in serious negotiations to take on the role of Mysterio in the second film featuring the Tom Holland iteration of Spider-Man. Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduced Mysterio to Marvel Comics in 1964. The character is a special effects expert named Quentin Beck who uses his talents to create elaborate illusions to commit crimes and fight off Spider-Man. The character has yet to have been used in any of the previous live action Spider-Man movies, but interestingly Gyllenhaal was once in contention to take on the role of Spidey when actor Toby Maquire injured his back prior to filming the second instalment of the Sam Rami trilogy of Spider-Man films.
Keaton is also believed to be returning in the upcoming sequel, reportedly reprising his role of the Vulture for which he garnered much praise in the first film. Most interesting of course is the news that Tom Holland will be back as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, seemingly providing confirmation that the click Of Thanos’ fingers at the end of Avengers: Infinity War may not have been as final as many Marvel fans have feared it would be.
Spider-Man: Homecoming managed a global box office return of $880 million and the sequel has a July 5, 2019 release date with Jon Watts back as director and also the return of Homecoming’s writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Cosmic Book News.