Spider-Man: No Way Home sounds like the kind of movie that generated a ton of ideas in the planning stages, then whittled down what was possible so it all fit into a 2.5-hour movie. Some of those ideas may carry over to this summer’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – which has gone through its own stages of rewrites and additional photography – and others just ended up on the cutting room floor. One intriguing scene that showed up in concept-art form would have featured Mysterio battling Doctor Strange at the Statue of Liberty, the site of the film’s concluding battle. But Spider-Man: No Way Home co-writer clarifies that this battle never got farther than the planning stages.
During a presentation at the virtual IGN Fan Fest, Chris McKenna addressed the concept art that made the rounds, and threw some cold water on those who hoped to see the Sorcerer Supreme facing off against the Master of Illusion. One thing the writers would have had to address is the fact that Mysterio died at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, even though he was teased heavily in the trailers. Which is basically why McKenna said:
We've worked on a few of these [movies] now and they'll bring you concept art. You're like 'Wow, someone thought this up, and now it's going to be a set piece.' So when we didn't know what the movie was quite going to be, we were playing around with a lot of different ideas. You're dealing with the Multiverse, and a lot of different ideas get thrown around. Brilliant artists are taking their own ideas or taking inspiration from the director, the producers, and making incredible artwork. … I am familiar with what you're talking about. Look, I will say that when you open up the Multiverse, you get a lot of conversations where anything can happen.
OK, so, those statements make it seem that the Mysterio facing off against Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange in the below concept art could have been a Multiverse Quentin Beck. Taking the idea one step further, this would have ensured that the Quentin Beck who died at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home was indeed dead… and not fooling Peter Parker with another one of his illusions. Mysterio gets the last laugh, manipulating footage to make it seem like Spider-Man was the mastermind of the attack on the Tower Bridge. Maybe Marvel scrubbed the idea of Mysterio showing up in this movie because they want to bring Beck back. Wasting a well-cast Jake Gyllenaahl would not be a smart idea.
New #SpiderManNoWayHome concept art features a battle between Doctor Strange and Mysterio. pic.twitter.com/JRxRoEGuyoJanuary 25, 2022
It’s possible we can see Mysterio in the next Spider-Man movie, though we don’t really know when that movie is going to be released. Kevin Feige has said that they are in early development on a fourth Spider-Man. But then, Tom Holland turned around and announced he’d be taking a break from acting after he does an AppleTV+ series. Does this mean that Andrew Garfield might get the chance to slip his suit back on? Or will Sony possibly explore the casting of Miles Morales, and bring the character to life in live action?
There are options. Until they are finalized, we still have plenty of Upcoming Marvel Movies to look forward to, scratching our collective itch for comic-book movie content.
