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Mysterio
Mysterio by Todd Nauck.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(Beck) The Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June 1964)
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Quentin Beck Daniel Berkhart Francis Klum
Team affiliations	Sinister Six
Notable aliases	(all) Master of Illusion (Beck) Ludwig Rinehart
Abilities	(Beck and Berkhart) Special effects expert and masterful illusionist (Klum) Teleportation

Mysterio is the name of three fictional characters, all supervillains and enemies of Spider-Man in the Marvel Comics Universe. The original Mysterio (Quentin Beck) 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]

[edit] Fictional character biography

[edit] Character overview

Debuting in Amazing Spider-Man #13, Mysterio is Quentin Beck, a special effects wizard and stunt man working for a major Hollywood studio with dreams of making a name for himself in the film industry. However, he came to see his career in special effects as a dead-end job, but realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective supervillain.

In his first battle with Spider-Man, Mysterio obstructs the hero's spider-sense with gas and dissolves his webbing with a chemical abrasive.^[2] He later joins the Sinister Six in an attempt at revenge on Spider-Man.^[3] Mysterio later creates the alias of world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Ludwig Rinehart, using technology and hypnosis in an attempt to make Spider-Man lose his mind.^[4] Mysterio then establishes a brief partnership with the Wizard in a plot to kill Spider-Man and the Human Torch on a Hollywood movie set.^[5] He goes on to convince Spider-Man he is 6 inches (150 mm) tall using a post-hypnotic suggestion.^[6]

While incarcerated, Beck's cellmate Daniel Berkhart briefly becomes Mysterio on the original's behalf.^[7] Out of prison, Beck resumes his Ludwig Rinehart identity to manipulate Spider-Man's Aunt May into revealing the whereabouts of a lost 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] In his next appearance, Mysterio tricks 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 is recruited by Doctor Octopus to form the second Sinister Six, and battles 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Return of Beck

Mysterio unmasked in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #12. Art by Todd Nauck.

In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11-13, a teleporting mutant named Francis Klum plots to destroy the recently unmasked Spider-Man in revenge for events shown in The Evil That Men Do. Klum purchases the Mysterio costume, and turns the school Peter Parker teaches at into a 'haunted house', filling it with death-traps. Klum's actions bring the attention of Daniel Berkhart, who arrives and prepares to team up with Spider-Man in order to defeat Klum.

Beck appears in the school auditorium in a dark red version of his costume and confronts Klum, before leaving him for Berkhart to deal with. Beck then confronts Miss Arrow, revealing that half his head is missing from the gunshot wound, and explains that, having gone to Hell for suicide, his "superiors" in the afterlife sent him back to Earth to maintain a cosmic balance. He also believes Miss Arrow to have a similar role, for the "other side", although she denies this.

In Amazing Spider-Man #581, a flashback shows that prior to his suicide, Beck had been hired by Norman Osborn to fake his son Harry's death. According to the letters page of #589.

Mysterio returns in Amazing Spider-Man Art by Marcos Martin.

Beck is scheduled to make a return in a future Spider-Man story. According to writer Dan Slott, Mysterio will also return with his "fishbowl" helmet.^[13] He will also bring members of the Maggia crime syndicate with him.^[14]

[edit] Powers, abilities and equipment

Quentin Beck did not possess superhuman abilities but 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.

Daniel Berkhart, a former friend and protégé of Beck's, had some of the same training and skills as Beck.

Francis Klum has the mutant ability to teleport both himself and other objects, and the ability to control other people's body parts, as well as an understanding of the technologies in the Mysterio suit.

Mysterio's suit has personal weaponry which include a helmet with a 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.

[edit] Other versions

[edit] Old Man Logan

In an alternate future of the Marvel Universe, Mysterio casts an illusion which makes Wolverine believe that the X-Men are various deadly villains of the Marvel universe, and Wolverine slaughters them all, only discovering the trick after he killed the last "villain" (Jubilee, who appeared as Bullseye), and the illusion cleared up.^[15] Without the X-Men, the Red Skull's alliance of villains manages to conquer America and kill most of the heroes.^{[volume & issue needed]}

[edit] Marvel Zombies

A Zombie Mysterio appears with five other Spider-Man villains attempting to eat civilians, but all six are repelled by Magneto and Wolverine.^{[volume & issue needed]}

[edit] Marvel Zombies Return

A past version of Mysterio from Spider-Man's college days appears as a member of the Sinister Six and battles the reality hopping Zombie Spider-Man. This Mysterio has parts of his brain pulled out his dome head by the zombie and is infected, causing him to participate with other zombie members in eating Spider-Man's friends. Angered, the Zombie Spider-Man kills him.^{[volume & issue needed]}

[edit] Ultimate Mysterio

An Ultimate version of Mysterio was introduced in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #3. In his first appearance, he had a police technician to set up surveillance equipments to the police department. However, after NYPD's police captain Frank Quiad asked Spider-Man to aid them to find the crook who somehow able to stay ahead of his unit. Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man's love interest, figured out how the criminal does it after the hero informed her of the situation. After the police arrested his accomplice, the villain vowed to get even with Spider-Man and then escapes.^[16]

Mysterio appears again in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1, blasting Kingpin out the window of a skyscraper.^[17]

[edit] Reception

In 2009, Mysterio was ranked as IGN's 85th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.^[18]

[edit] In other media

• It has been rumored that Bruce Campbell will play Mysterio in the 2011 Spider-Man sequel, Spider-Man 4.

[edit] Television

• Mysterio was a villain in the 1960s Spider-Man animated series in two popular episodes from the first season, The Menace of Mysterio (one of two half-hour episodes of the season) and Return of the Flying Dutchman. Mysterio also appears in a third-season episode The Madness of Mysterio, although he appears out of costume and has red hair and green skin. In all three episodes, he was voiced by Chris Wiggins; this portrayal of the character has since inspired later actors to give Mysterio a British accent.

• He later appeared in the Spider-Man episode "The Pied Piper of New York Town", hypnotizing the youth of New York. He then made an appearance in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, in the episode "Spidey Goes Hollywood" voiced by Peter Cullen.^[19] He blackmails a director to persuade Spider-Man to star in a movie, rigged with devices he created.

• 

  

  Mysterio in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
  In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Mysterio, voiced by Gregg Berger.^[20], was a supervillain who blames Spider-Man for ruining his reputation. In his first appearance, Mysterio frames Spider-Man for various crimes, but his plan is exposed by Spider-Man and Detective Terri Lee, and he is jailed. Later, he becomes a member of the Insidious Six in the episodes The Insidious Six and Battle of the Insidious Six. In Mysterio's final appearance in the series, The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson, he creates a studio in secret. Spider-Man discovers that Mysterio was in love with a woman named Miranda Wilson, a former actress who was disfigured and planned the entire kidnapping to swap bodies with the similar-looking Mary Jane. The studio exploded, Spider-Man saved the Mary Jane clone, and Mysterio apparently died in the explosion, staying with Miranda to the end. In the five-part Six Forgotten Warriors storyline, in which the Kingpin hires the Insidious Six again, the Vulture replaces the late Mysterio.

• .
  

  

  Mysterio in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
  Quentin Beck appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Xander Berkeley. He, along with Phineas Mason, is one of the Chameleon's henchmen. After Chameleon impersonates Spider-Man and goes on a crime spree, the group are taken down by the real Spider-Man and the Black Cat. Quentin takes on the identity of Mysterio in the season two episode "Blueprints". He steals some mechanical objects from Tricorp and Oscorp, pretending to be a sorcerer. He defeats Spider-Man twice but Spidey discovers his lair and defeats him after realising that he doesn't use magic but technology and illusions. At the end, Mysterio is freed from the police by the Tinkerer and it turns out that they are both working for the enigmatic Master Planner. He returns in the episode "Reinforcement". Joining the Sinister Six, he attacks Spider-Man alongside Kraven the Hunter, and the trio end up in a mall. He doesn't really fight, but helps the hunter with robot duplicates of himself. When Kraven is defeated, Mysterio tries to escape but is stopped by Spidey's web fluid. He is the only member to be captured because the others are extracted by the Tinkerer before the police can arrive. ^[21]

[edit] Video games

• Mysterio appears in the Spider-Man Questprobe game.

• Mysterio appears as the first boss of The Amazing Spider-Man for Game Boy.

• Mysterio appears as the final boss in the sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

• Mysterio appears in the Sega CD version of The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.

• Mysterio is the main villain in Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace.

• Mysterio is the main villain in the game The Amazing Spider Man.

• Mysterio appears in Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six.

• Mysterio appears as a boss in both the SNES and Sega Genesis games based on the animated series.

• Mysterio appears as a boss in the Japanese only Super Nintendo game The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes.

• Mysterio appears as the first boss in the Game Boy Color game Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six.

• Mysterio appears in the 2000 Spider-Man PC, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and PlayStation game, voiced by Daran Norris.

• Mysterio appears in the Spiderman 2 video game voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He is a boss and has to be defeated several times.

• Mysterio appears as a boss in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. He appears a member of the Masters of Evil and joins MODOK and Crimson Dynamo in the attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base. He has special dialogue with Spider-Man and Venom.

• Mysterio is the main antagonist in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.

• Mysterio appears in the Playstation 2 and PSP versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows voiced by Greg Baldwin. He is an assist character who takes down enemies with his illusions.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Toys & collectibles

• Mysterio has been the subject of two different action figures produced by Toy Biz under their Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Spider-Man Classics lines. The Toy Biz Mysterio was repainted for the first wave of Spider-Man figures by Hasbro.

• Mysterio has been reproduced as a mini-bust and as a thirteen-inch (330 mm) 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.

• Hasbro will be adding a Spider-Man 2 game version Mysterio to their Spider-Man 3 Movie figures series as well as Shocker and Vulture. Source can be found on Cooltoyreview.com.

[edit] External links

• [2] at Marvel.com
• Profile of Mysterio I at Spiderfan.org
• Profile of Mysterio II at Spiderfan.org
• Mysterio III at Marvel Appendix

[edit] References